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FRIDAY • JUNE 17 • 2011
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Moran, Roberts oppose nomination of Six to 10th Circuit By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
ONLINE: Read the judicial questionnaire at LJWorld.com
Former Kansas Attorney General Steve Six’s bid for a seat on a federal appeals court will have to wait a week for a Senate Judiciary Committee vote after senators
Six
Hot and stormy
High: 92
delayed action Thursday apparently to debate his nomination. And the Lawrence attorney is not getting support of his home state’s two Republican U.S. senators. Sens. Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran — neither serve on the judiciary committee — announced they oppose Six’s
nomination to the federal bench. President Barack Obama nominated the Democrat in March to sit on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Six lost his attorney general election bid to Derek Schmidt in November. In a statement Thursday afternoon, Roberts, the state’s senior senator who urged judiciary
committee members to vote against Six, mentioned the former attorney general’s testimony at a May confirmation hearing. “Based on that hearing, a review of the committee record will show several areas where his answers were not forthcoming or where issues of his judgment in handling cases as attorney gener-
Research possibilities growing north of city
Low: 71
Today’s forecast, page 12A
INSIDE Arts supporters seek funding ideas Kansas lawmakers, artists and other proponents for public funding of the arts gathered in Lawrence to discuss ways to combat Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of funding for the Kansas Arts Commission. Page 3A
Butterfly Milkweed
A psychology professor who has made a career out of finding data that she says shows college students and others their age are more self-centered than past generations has turned up data showing that they also feel more superior about themselves than their elders did when they were young. Page 8A
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— House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, in a statement released moments after New York Rep. Anthony Weiner announced his resignation from Congress on Thursday in the wake of a scandal spawned by lewd photos of himself the lawmaker sent online to numerous women. Page 7A
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Regents approve $26M tuition, fee hike srothschild@ljworld.com
More young adults feel ‘above average’
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Please see SIX, page 2A
By Scott Rothschild
STUDY
Congressman Weiner exercised poor judgment in his actions and poor judgment in his reaction to the revelations. Today, he made the right judgment in resigning.”
al were called into serious question,” Roberts said. “Based on his own testimony, I could not support his nomination.” Initially Thursday, judiciary committee members were scheduled to vote on Six’s nomination, but Erica Chabot,
Yellow Coneflower John Young/Journal-World Photos
KANSAS BIOLOGICAL SURVEY senior scientist Kelly Kindscher inspects a plant Wednesday at the Kansas University Native Medicinal Plant Research Garden northeast of Lawrence. The three plants at right are among many grown at the site that will be studied for their medicinal potential. See story, page 6A.
TOPEKA — The Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday approved $26 million in tuition and fee increases for public universities, including Kansas University, and several board members blamed the Legislature for decreasing its tax dollar commitment to higher education. “I wish we didn’t have to do this,” said Christine DowneySchmidt of Inman. “This is the option we have left until our partners come back and help us with this process.” “Everything is going up except state funding. The question is who is going to pay for it,” said Dan Lykins of Topeka. For now, the answer is students will have to pay more. Starting this fall at KU, tuition and required fees will increase from $4,012 to $4,234, a $222 or 5.5 percent increase for an undergraduate taking 15 hours. The tuition for a non-Kansas resident will increase from $9,504 to $10,179, a $675 increase or 7.1 percent. Graduate students Please see REGENTS, page 6A
Lawrence no longer home to Hallmark retail store By Mark Fagan mfagan@ljworld.com
Lawrence is home to hundreds of Hallmark employees who work at one of Hallmark’s major production centers for Hallmark cards, Hallmark ribbons, Hallmark bows and Hallmark-brand stickers. But the city no longer is home to a Hallmark Gold Crown store. The former Rod’s Hallmark at 2329 Iowa now operates as Rod’s Cards & Gifts, a change effective two weeks ago for the entire 10-store Rod’s chain, which includes shops from Manhattan to St. Joseph, Mo. Employees and management at the Lawrence store referred questions to
the office of owner Rod Henning, who has been unavailable for comment. While the office voicemail still answers as “Rod’s Hallmark,” Henning’s chain no longer is receiving deliveries from Hallmark and instead is looking into offering cards and other products from either American Greetings or Designer Greetings. “It was a personal decision with Rod,” said Taylor Wallace, a supervisor at the Manhattan store. The Rod’s stores are selling out of their remaining inventories of Hallmark cards, wrapping paper and other items. Rod’s has several stores in and around Kansas City, Mo., where Hallmark Cards Inc. has its corporate
headquarters; Rod’s also has a store in Leavenworth, where Hallmark has a plant that makes Hallmark bags and other party items. Within the past year, Rod’s closed its store in Topeka, where Hallmark has another production center. While Hallmark sells cards through “mass channels” — such as supermarkets, drugstores and other retailers — in Lawrence and elsewhere, its Gold Crown stores are considered the premier channel for distributing its cards, gifts and other items for decorating and entertaining. There are more than 3,000 Gold Crown stores in the United States, of which 385 are owned by Hallmark itself.
Linda Odell, a Hallmark spokeswoman, said she could not comment about any individual retailer but acknowledged that Hallmark would look into opportunities to return the Gold Crown flag to Lawrence, which has had a production plant at 101 McDonald Drive since 1958. “Anytime a store closes, we are always looking at the location and what the business and consumer needs are to see whether it is feasible to put in another Hallmark Gold Crown store,” Odell said. “Clearly, if there’s Hallmark Gold Crown business to be done, we would like to do that.” — Schools reporter Mark Fagan can be reached at 8327188. Follow him at Twitter.com/MarkFaganLJW.
Ceremony recognizes graduates of GED preparation program By Joe Preiner jpreiner@ljworld.com
With the turn of a tassel, it was over. Chris Wilson and 24 other students put the finishing touches on their graduation from the Lawrence Public Schools’ Adult Learning Center on Thursday night at Free State High School. Wilson, a 28-year-old Lawrence resident, was one of two graduate speakers at the ceremony. He recounted his early struggles in the program aimed at preparing students for the GED test. He gave a heartfelt account of the time he spent working with teachers and fellow students, giving thanks to his mother, family and friends for their support. “I’ll miss the teachers,” Wilson said.
“They were big supporters that helped us and pushed us and got us there. Like that little engine that could, just barely nudged over the hill.” Teachers and staff for the Adult Learning Center were in attendance along with Lawrence School Board President Rich Minder and other education leaders. The 25 graduates at the ceremony Thursday were only a portion of the 88 who passed the GED test for the academic year. Many who finished the program last fall have since gone their own way. John Young/Journal-World Photo Chris Johnson, a teacher with the center, said the program attracted peo- DARIAN FRANKS, LEFT, OF LAWRENCE, FIXES Kristie Coffey’s hair ple from all walks of life and took hard Thursday before the start of the Adult Learning Center GED graduation ceremony at Free State High School. The Adult Learning Center Please see GRADUATES, page 2A helped 88 students earn their GED diplomas.