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TUESDAY • MARCH 22 • 2011
House panel looks for budget savings in state workers’ pay By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — State employees were targeted Monday by Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee. The GOP members pushed through a proposed $19 million state employee pay cut and started discussions on a proposal by Chairman Marc
Rhoades, R-Newton, for another 5 percent pay cut by shutting down government two hours early each Friday. Rep. Marvin Kleeb, ROverland Park, said the cut in hours was “employee friendly” because it would allow workers some time to tend to personal business. Rhoades eventually withdrew his plan but said he might revive it
Strong storms
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later in the session. Democrats, outnumbered by Republicans 17-6 on the committee, seemed relegated to an observer’s role as the panel worked on a budget for fiscal year 2012, which starts July 1. Legislators are looking to close a nearly $500 million revenue shortfall. Ranking Democrat Bill Feuerborn, of Garnett, said
state employees should start contacting their legislators to try to stop the proposals floating around the House budget. “There are some legislators who don’t appreciate the hard work our state employees do,” Feuerborn said. Republicans are pushing proposals that would make state workers pay higher
insurance premiums and pension contributions while eliminating longevity pay, and promised increases for state workers earning less than the private sector. And more cuts were coming as the Republicans on the committee continued fighting over ways to come in with a lower proposed budget than their Senate counterparts.
County’s chief probation officer to retire
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Today’s forecast, page 8A
INSIDE Next up: Spiders In its first game of the Sweet 16 round, KU will take on the Richmond Spiders. Get a look at how the teams could match up for their game Friday, which is set for 6:27 p.m. in San Antonio. Page 1B
But even some of the proposed cuts proved too deep for a majority of the committee. Rep. Anthony Brown, REudora, sought a nearly 6 percent across-the-board cut from fellow Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget recommendation. Please see HOUSE, page 2A
Higher gasoline prices are barreling closer ——
Summer blend will add 10 to 15 cents per gallon By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com
SCHOOLS
Virtual school leader takes job in Maize Gary Lewis, who built the Lawrence Virtual School into the largest of its kind in the state, will try to duplicate that effort in the Maize school district near Wichita. The school there will be aimed at nontraditional students. Page 3A
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QUOTABLE
This is a very good effort to solve a really bad problem. I think there’s been a good — a diligent — effort to make sure that we kind of stop pointing fingers.” — Jane Carter, executive director of the Kansas Organization of State Employees, on a plan being considered to address shortfalls in the state’s pension program, KPERS. Page 2A
COMING WEDNESDAY We’ll be at tonight’s school board candidate forum and tell you what’s on folks’ minds.
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INDEX Classified Comics Deaths Dilbert Events listings Horoscope Markets Movies Opinion Puzzles Sports Television Vol.153/No.81
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RON STEGALL, DOUGLAS COUNTY’S longtime chief probation officer, is retiring in May. Stegall, who has also worked as a minister, plans to return to the Mediterranean nation of Cyprus with his wife to work at a church they helped establish there in the 1990s.
Career spent helping others required firm but supporting hand By George Diepenbrock
sions in his life — as a pastor and a probation officer — might seem like a strange combination. But, if you think about it, he says, the similarities are definitely there. “In both ways, you are working with people, and you’re trying to help people,” said Stegall, 64, who will retire as Douglas County District Court’s chief probation officer in May. And colleagues say Stegall does a good job of separating his religious beliefs from his job, while still using insight he gained from helping people as a minister. “He has a good understanding of the people he supervises. He is fair with them but certainly doesn’t let them take advantage of him,” Chief District Judge Robert Fairchild said. Stegall started working full time as a probation officer in 1995 and has served as chief probation officer overseeing the community corrections and court services offices for the last 10 years. Before that, he worked part time and was a volunteer — at the urging of now
— Probation supervisor Ron Stegall retired Judge Jean Shepherd — and a probation officer from 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 1995, he and his wife, Kathy, who will also retire in May from a teaching job in Kansas City, Kan., were in Cyprus helping establish a church affiliated with their Lawrence Reformed Presbyterian Church, Christ Covenant Church, where Stegall had served as pastor until 1990. “He’s such an intelligent, calming force in an office that deals with a lot of emotional issues,” District Judge Michael Malone said. Even with his role as an administrator, Stegall has continued to work with people on probation. “We supervise those individuals who have been clearly shown to be the most risky people in our community,” Stegall said. “Long term, the very best way to promote public safety is through offender reformation. We don’t do it for them,
but what we can do is help them.” His officers are taught to be clear with people they supervise and what’s expected from them. They’re there to help, but if someone continues to disobey a judge’s orders, Stegall said, they’re not shy about getting them back to court to let a judge decide whether their probation should be revoked. “I don’t think that I’ve ever filed a probation violation on somebody who was surprised by that,” he said. Fairchild said due to budget constraints, Stegall won’t be replaced. Michelle Roberts, the chief court services officer, and Deborah Ferguson, current deputy director of community corrections, will take on supervisory roles. Court administrator Linda Koester Vogelsang will also be more directly involved. As for Stegall, he and his wife plan to return to Cyprus for about a year to help their church there. But he is proud of the team of probation officers he will leave behind. “Our job is to help offenders,” he said, “help change their lives.” — Reporter George Diepenbrock can be reached at 832-7144. Follow him at Twitter.com/gdiepenbrock.
Please see GASOLINE, page 2A
City Commission candidates sharpen their messages By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Energy smart: The Journal-World makes the most of renewable resources. www.b-e-f.org
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Our job is to help offenders, help change their Ron Stegall’s two main profes- lives.” gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
A change in the season could soon result in another increase in gasoline prices. Gas prices, which are hovering around $3.39 per gallon in Lawrence, could rise another 10 cents to 15 cents when gas stations begin switching out winter fuel for summer fuel, said Jim Hanni, executive vice president of AAA Kansas. The summer gasoline blend, which produces less pollution but is more expensive, uses different fuel additives. Before each winter and summer, production slows at refineries as the transition is made. “In some parts of the country, (the switch) has already happened. In other parts it hasn’t happened yet. The general feeling is that it could be a 10-cent to 15-cent shift upwards as blends switch out,” Hanni said. Last month, gas prices in Lawrence were at $3.03 per gallon, and a year ago they were at $2.66. In the past two weeks, prices have stabilized, but that could change as the summer fuel arrives. Hanni doesn’t expect Kansas to hit the $4-per-gallon mark anytime soon, but notes that international factors make prices hard to predict. Along with unrest in Egypt and Libya, the market could be shaken by the earthquake in Japan. Already driving prices upward was an unusually cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere, brisk consumption of oil in China and strong investment in oil futures, Hanni said. To help ease the pain at having to pay high prices at the pump, Hanni offers some advice on how to conserve gas. ● Drive more efficiently: Driving less aggressively also means driving more efficiently, Hanni said. Rapid acceleration and braking uses 33 percent more gas at high speeds and 5 percent more gas while driving in city traffic. For every 5 mph over 60, Hanni said, drivers will use the
With the election about two weeks away, candidates for the Lawrence City Commission at a Monday evening forum became a bit more like boxers trying to pick up the pace. The jabs became a little more frequent and strategically placed as the five candidates participated in a forum hosted by the North
Lawrence Improvement Association. Here’s a glimpse at some of the action: ● Candidate Bob Schumm used his closing statement at the forum — attended by about 30 people — to suggest that several of the candidates represented the status quo and were not forward-thinking enough. “The difference is clear,” said Schumm, who is a downtown restaurant owner
who served on the commission in the late ’70s and early ’90s. “Do you want more of the same or do you want change?” Schumm said that he would be different than some of the other candidates on his staunch support for the living wage, his opposition to “sneaky” special taxing districts, and that he would insist on more leadership from City Hall on the homeless shelter issue.
● Mike Machell, a human resources director and chair of the city’s library board, sought to differentiate himself from Schumm on several occasions. Schumm said he was very interested in an idea to increase the size of the city’s inspection staff to deal with neighborhood blight issues. Machell said he thought the additional dollars for new positions could be better spent and the city could work more closely
with property owners to resolve issues. Machell also differed with Schumm on the issue of island annexations. The city recently approved a pair of island annexations near the Lecompton interchange on the Kansas Turnpike in hopes the area will develop industrially. Schumm told the crowd he generally was opposed to island annexations. Machell Please see CITY, page 2A