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JOURNAL-WORLD
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75 CENTS
Strong storm
High: 76
Low: 65
Today’s forecast, page 10A
INSIDE
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDS Are you disposing of them properly?
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
TOM HOGAN, WASTE REDUCTION/RECYCLING SPECIALIST at the Lawrence/Douglas County Household Hazardous Waste Facility, carts away dropped-off household wastes at the facility recently.
LHS wins, advances in baseball tourney
Former SRS leader says overhaul of leadership, focus is troubling By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
SOFTBALL
ONLINE: Read the SRS news release at LJWorld.com
Lawrence blanked by Olathe East in state After a nearly three-hour weather delay, top-seeded Olathe East made Lawrence High’s stay at the Class 6A state softball tournament a short one, beating the Lions 11-0 in five innings. Page 1B WORLD
Parents won’t say if Storm is boy or girl A Canadian couple choose to keep the sex of their third child, now 4 months old, a secret so it won’t be influenced by society’s predetermined gender roles, they say. Page 7A
QUOTABLE
It just elevates your soul, that’s what it does. I don’t know how people live without it.” — Michel Loomis, an area teacher and Lawrence Arts Center board member, talking about the arts. Children and their parents spent Friday night painting and decorating cars, real and fake, to prepare for today’s 2011 Art Tougeau Parade. Page 3A
COMING SUNDAY We introduce you to graduating seniors at Free State and Lawrence high schools who’ve made a difference.
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INDEX Business Classified Comics Deaths Events listings Faith Horoscope Movies Opinion Puzzles Society Sports Television Vol.153/No.148
7A 1C-6C 8C 2A 10A, 2B 10B 7C 5A 9A 7C 9B-10B 1B-8B 5A, 2B, 7C 28 pages
Energy smart: The Journal-World makes the most of renewable resources. www.b-e-f.org
Sweeping changes made to welfare agency ——
The Lawrence High School baseball team took advantage of a late-game RBI double to beat Shawnee Mission West 2-1 the Class 6A state baseball tournament Friday night at Hoglund Ballpark. Lawrence advances to play Blue Valley West at 12:30 p.m. today in the semifinals. Page 1B
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LJWorld.com
SATURDAY • MAY 28 • 2011
‘We try to keep it out of the landfill’ By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
ONLINE: See the video at SunflowerHorizons.com
Tom Hogan is thankful every time someone makes an appointment to drop off items at the Lawrence Douglas County Household Hazardous Waste Facility, which is west of 23rd Street and Haskell Avenue. Ho ga n a n d h i s co wo rke rs co l l e c t i te m s people have their house from latex and oil-based paint (lots of it), old bottles of motor oil, aerosol cans and household cleaners to herbicides and pesticides. “Basically, we try to keep it out of the landfill, which will hopefully keep it out of the water table,” said the waste reduction and recycling specialist for Lawrence’s solid waste division. “Also, we don’t want it going into the sanitation trucks because it poses a hazard when they crush the waste. Both large and small containers can be crushed, and lots of stuff is corrosive or flam-
gasoline, even though it’s nearly $4 per gallon at the pump.
How to do it Call the Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 832-3030 to make an appointment to drop off household waste or to schedule a pickup of items that can be recycled.
Pesticides, herbicides substances in latex paint can be dangerous if poured down the drain or disposed in the trash, Hogan said.
mable. It can leak out of the truck.” Th e ce n te r, wh i c h makes appointments to accept household waste, collected 172,000 pounds of household hazardous waste from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, the most recent statistics available. Here’s look at main items collected:
Paint It’s by far the most collected item. Bulk latex paint represented 57 percent, or 98,000 pounds, and oilbased paint was 12 percent, or 20,500 pounds, of the household items collected during the 2010 fiscal year. Acrylics, vinyls and other
Motor oil Oil — about 9,000 pounds were collected in fiscal year 2010 — also poses a danger because it can pollute rivers, lakes, streams, soil and ground water.
Batteries The center collects regular and automotive batteries to control the acids used in them. More than 13,000 pounds were collected in 2010.
Paint thinner and gasoline Hogan said it’s best to take these items to the HHW center because they are highly flammable, and yes, people still turn in old
The chemicals used in these products can be toxic, so it’s best to get them in the proper hands, Hogan said.
Household cleaners The chemicals in cleaning items can also cause contamination problems.
Aerosol The product in aerosol cans, including paint, can be hazardous if not disposed correctly. Also the cans are pressurized.
Mercury items, including fluorescent light bulbs Hogan said the center wants people to bring in more fluorescent light bulbs and thermostats that have mercury thermometers. If mercury spills in your house, it is very difficult to clean up.
Close-knit group of Veritas students graduates By Mark Fagan mfagan@ljworld.com
Veritas Christian School’s graduates like to refer to one another as family, many of them having spent the past 13 years together in class, worship and everything else that goes along with attending the nondenominational institution in north-central Lawrence. Following the school’s commencement ceremony Friday evening, Ethan and Nate Scott talked like brothers, laughed like brothers and looked to the future like brothers. Of course, they are brothers — siblings who account for 18 percent of the Veritas graduating class. “It’s been great because you always have someone there you’ve known your whole life,” said Ethan, the younger of the twins. Their close relationship looks to continue this fall, as the Scotts plan to attend Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla. “We’re friends,” said Nate, who
Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo
BRENDEN GARDNER, CENTER, SMILES during a lighter moment at graduation Friday as Veritas Christian School’s 11-member Class of 2011 got their diplomas during a ceremony at Free Methodist Church. entered the world 6 minutes earlier than his brother, but patiently waited a few steps behind him to accept his own diploma. “The comfort level has always been high.” The same could be said for all 11 members of the Veritas class of 2011, who gathered with family, friends and faculty to celebrate at Free Methodist
Church, 3001 Lawrence Ave. Salutatorian Caysi Gatts chronicled the graduates’ growth since kindergarten, as the 11 “became a family.” Attorney and former Veritas board member Jim Jarrow urged them to follow scripture, avoid drugs and alcohol, give 10 percent of their income to their church and choose relationships carefully. And most of all, Jarrow said, don’t forget such lessons learned in school, from parents and through God’s word. “Remember, remember and remember,” he said. Phillip and Saro Scott said they won’t soon forget their sons’ growth and successes at Veritas — in athletics, in academics, in church and all other aspects since their enrollment as first-graders. “It’s a measure of pride,” Phillip Scott said. “You’re glad to see them on good footing and headed in the right direction.” — Schools reporter Mark Fagan can be reached at 832-7188. Follow him at Twitter.com/MarkFaganLJW.
TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration on Friday announced an overhaul of the leadership and focus of the state welfare agency. “This transition marks a new day at SRS,” Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services Secretary Rob Siedlecki said. But a former SRS secretary, Robert Harder, Siedlecki said the changes were troubling. “I read it with a heavy heart,” said Harder after reading Siedlecki’s press release. Harder, the longest-serving SRS secretary in state history who held the post from 1973 to 1987 and briefly in 1991, said he was concerned that the changes Siedlecki announced were done Please see SRS, page 2A
Civil War tombstones to undergo careful cleaning By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
They’re old, but city leaders want to make sure they definitely are not forgotten. In the city’s Oak Hill and Maple Grove cemeteries, there are about 600 tombstones of Civil War veterans. And many of them are dirty. Crews with the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, though, will spend parts of the next two to three years There are a working to lot of hardchange that. core Civil War Mitch Young, the buffs who are city supervi- pretty into sor who this.” oversees cemetery — Mitch Young, the maintenance, said city supervisor who work has oversees cemetery begun to maintenance clean and sometimes straighten the tombstones of Civil War veterans and others who are mentioned prominently in the area’s Civil War history. “There are a lot of hard-core Civil War buffs who are pretty into this, and we expect to see more of them in the future,” Young said.
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Please see CIVIL WAR, page 2A