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WEDNESDAY • JUNE 15 • 2011
Public swimming pool should reopen this afternoon after pump repair Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center, 727 Ky., will remain closed through this morning because of a failed pump. Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department
Aquatics Manager Jimmy Gibbs said crews will arrive early this morning to install the repaired pump. Morning swimming lessons are canceled, but the pool should open by 1 p.m.
The pool initially closed Tuesday morning after officials discovered the problem. The Indoor Aquatic Center, 4706 Overland Drive, will be opened as scheduled.
Pulitzer Prize winner speaks on fatherhood
LJWorld.com
State losing record number of teachers By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
CLAUDIA OLEA AND HER HUSBAND, DAVID CARTTAR, LAWRENCE, SMILE as they approach Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. along with Robert Trepinski, right, Lawrence, during a book signing and following Pitts’ lecture “In the Measure of Man” on Tuesday at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School, 1400 Mass. Pitts lectured as the guest speaker for the Dad Days event in which he shared his opinions about the importance of active fatherhood.
Columnist: Men need to ‘step up’ By Joe Preiner jpreiner@ljworld.com
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING COLUMNIST LEONARD PITTS JR. of the Miami Herald speaks to about 100 people attending his lecture “In the Measure of a Man” on Tuesday as part of the Dad Days events sponsored by Dads of Douglas County.
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. spoke Tuesday evening about what it means to be a man. As a son, father, stepfather and grandfather, he knows a thing or two. The syndicated writer was invited to Lawrence to speak during the second year of Dad Days events, sponsored by Dads of Douglas County. Pitts, who works for the Miami Herald, took the stage at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School’s auditorium in front of more than 100 people. Many in attendance follow Pitts’ column, including Eudora resident Marcellus Jones. “One of my English professors at
KU turned me on to one of his writings, and I followed him periodically throughout the years,” Jones said. “That was 11 years ago.” Jones was not the only fan. Paul and Annie Stevens also waited to hear the columnist speak. “It gives me goosebumps sometimes when I read his writing,” Paul said. “It’s very challenging and intelligent.” Pitts used his wit and gift with words to explain to the audience the difference between being a man and being a father. He told life stories to illustrate his points. Please see PITTS, page 4A
More space for public safety departments discussed By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
Lawrence city leaders Tuesday talked about approaching other Douglas County public safety agencies about their space needs as they discussed potential for a new law enforcement facility several years down the road. The discussion came amid a City Commission study session about the Lawrence Police Department’s budget, as Chief Tarik Khatib has said the department needs more officers and would like to avoid being split between two facilities downtown and in west Lawrence. “I think the police department needs a 21st-century facility,” City Manager
David Corliss said. “They’re not in one at either of their locations now.” Currently, the department is largely split between its patrol division downtown in the same building as Douglas County District Court, and the Douglas County Sheriff’s operations division and its investigations and most administration at the Investigations and Training Center, 4820 Bob Billings Parkway, in a building originally designed as a laboratory. Commissioners largely said they would be wary of putting up money for major maintenance work in the west Lawrence building and instead talked about a five- to seven-year plan for a new law enforcement facility. Corliss mentioned a similar process about helping to build the new
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Today’s forecast, page 8A
Police Chief Tarik Khatib says the department needs more officers and would like to avoid being split between two Please see POLICE, page 2A facilities.
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Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical station near the intersection of 19th and Iowa streets, but he said there were no specific plans yet for a new police facility. City commissioners asked staff members to approach the sheriff ’s office and Kansas University Public Safety Office specifically to gauge interest in a joint law enforcement building over the next couple months. City commissioners also asked for much more specific information about the current police facilities. The facilities questions were one major part of the police budget discussion, but no decisions were made during Tuesday’s study session.
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TOPEKA — Kansas classrooms are losing teachers in record numbers, a report released Tuesday shows, and that is due to cuts to schools and changes in the public employee pension system, education officials said. “There are a tremendous number of attacks going on against teachers today,” said State Board of Education Chairman David Dennis, a Republican from Wichita. Dennis said low pay, increased pension costs and a push by Republican leaders to try to replace the current pension system and switch to a 401(k)-style plan are all factors. “If I was in college right now looking at what I want to do with the rest of my life, I am not sure I would chose teaching as a profession,” said Dennis, who is a public school teacher. In addition, the budget SCHOOLS signed into law earlier this month by Gov. Sam Brownback will cut school funding by about $100 million, according to the Kansas Association of School Boards. Base state aid will decrease $232 per student, to a 10-year low of $3,780 per student. The new report showed dramatic increases in teacher retirements and layoffs — called reductions in force — in Kansas over the last two years when public school funding has been cut. More than 1,500 teachers retired in the 2010-11 school year, as compared with a range of 1,028 to 1,092 over each of the four previous years, the report said. Reductions in force totaled 350 this school year and 260 last year. The previous three years had reductions in force of 49, 21 and 7. The statistics were in a report presented to the State Board of Education. And officials said those numbers may be low because they were collected in February. Pamela Coleman, director of teacher education and licensure at the Kansas Department of Education, said teacher retirements have increased because “people wanted to retire to ensure that KPERS (Kansas Public Employees Retirement System) would be there in their retirement.” — Statehouse reporter Scott Rothschild can be reached at 785-423-0668.
CITY COMMISSION
Review ahead for retail tax break option By Mark Fagan mfagan@ljworld.com
A plan that would add Olive Garden to the menu of retail offerings along South Iowa Street will get a hearing before an administrative committee that weighs applications for tax incentives, Mayor Aron Cromwell said Tuesday. At issue is what developers are calling an “essential” component of the project: using a share of increased property taxes to help finance what would be a private development, one envisioned for the northeast corner of 27th and Iowa streets. Called into duty will be the Public Incentives Review Committee, which typically assesses potential tax abatements for multimillion-dollar industrial, warehouse or bioscience projects often expected to generate hundreds of jobs. But Tuesday night, members of the Lawrence City Commission found themselves mulling whether a less-prominent public incentive — the Please see CITY, page 2A
COMING THURSDAY As the weather heats up, we pass along tips for ways to conserve water while quenching thirsty lawns.
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