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SATURDAY • JULY 2 • 2011
Lawrence shocked by closure of its SRS office District attorney: This isn’t a reduction, but a ‘flat-out amputation’ By Karrey Britt kbritt@ljworld.com
Heart-breaking. Devastating. A nightmare. Those were just a few words that were used to describe Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services’ decision to close the Lawrence office at 19th and Delaware streets, which has 87 employees.
2012 budget plan calls for tax increase
The workers were notified Friday morning during a conference call that they will be reassigned to neighboring offices based upon service needs. The closure is expected to occur within three months, said Rachel Whitten, SRS public information officer. SRS provides a variety of services for low-income children and families, as well as for people with disabilities. For example,
it administers the food stamp program and provides child protection services. These clients value the office because they can drop off paperwork in a timely manner and get face-to-face time with SRS employees. Once the office closes, they are expected to use online and phone services or drive to another center. The closest are in
Judge blocks licensing rules for abortion providers
Progress made on power plant
By John Hanna Associated Press Writer
clawhorn@ljworld.com
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An expanded public library, an increase in wages at City Hall and a handful of new police officers all have the city’s property tax rate on the rise, under a budget recommended by City Manager David Corliss on Friday. Corliss’ recommended 2012 budget calls for an increase of 2.8 mills in the city’s property tax rate. If approved, it would be the first significant mill levy increase from City Hall since 2007. “There are no Corliss city services that I’m recommending be cut,” Corliss said Friday. “I think the citizens expect high-quality city services. I think the citizen survey shows they are appreciative of the services we provide. They want that to continue, but in order for that to continue, we need increased resources.”
Please see BUDGET, page 5A
— House Democratic leader Paul Davis, of Lawrence
Please see SRS, page 7A
By Chad Lawhorn
Funding needs Three areas account for the proposed mill levy increase. They are: ● 1.7 mills to fund a voter-
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I am becoming increasingly convinced that the vulnerable Kansans who rely upon some assistance from the state during tough economic times are not a top priority for the Brownback administration.”
John English/Special to the Journal-World
WORK IS UNDER WAY on a $25 million hyrdoelectric power plant under construction by Lawrencebased Bowersock Mills & Power Co. Construction on the plant on the north bank of the Kansas River is expected to continue until at least the spring of 2013. When completed, the plant will work in tandem with Bowersock’s 1800s-era plant on the south bank of the river, and will provide electricity to about 3,300 homes per year.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — A federal judge temporarily blocked Kansas from enforcing new abortion regulations Friday, in a ruling that suggested the state will be challenged to justify its demand that three abortion providers comply with the rules within two weeks of receiving them. U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia’s injunction will remain in effect until a trial is held in a lawsuit against the state’s new licensing process and accompanying health department regulations, which were to have taken effect Friday. The lawsuit involves two providers that wouldn’t have been able to continue terminating pregnancies. The new law requires hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices to COURTS obtain an annual license from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to perform more than five non-emergency abortions in a month. The regulations tell abortion providers what drugs and equipment they must stock and, among other things, establish minimum sizes and acceptable temperatures for procedure and recovery rooms. Supporters of the law and the regulations believe they’ll protect patients from substandard care. But abortion rights supporters see them as deliberately burdensome, designed to prevent clinics and doctor’s offices from offering abortions. They also didn’t trust the licensing process because Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is a strong abortion opponent, and anti-abortion groups pushed its passage in the GOP-controlled Legislature. Murguia said evidence presented during a hearing and in court documents showed the providers would “suffer irreparable harm” through the loss of business and patients, and that at least two women currently seeking abortions would be harmed by not being able to go to the provider of Please see ABORTION, page 2A
As new DUI law takes effect, county preparing for increased caseloads By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
Douglas County prosecutors on Friday were preparing to handle an influx of drunken-driving cases normally prosecuted in municipal courts as Lawrence, Baldwin City and Eudora were still researching the effects of the state’s new DUI law. The law passed overwhelmingly last session, and legislators touted its steeper fines and the requirement of ignition interlock devices for all first-time offenders. But Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson said Friday — as the new law took effect at midnight
— it appeared cities would need to pass new ordinances to be able to prosecute DUI cases in municipal court and adopt the same penalties the state now has. “It will take at bare minimum 30 days to get this rectified,” Branson said. Under Kansas law, cities can prosecute first- and second-offense DUI cases that occur in their jurisdiction in their own municipal courts as long as the penalties are not less severe than the state law. For traffic laws, most cities adopt a standard traffic offense code produced by the Kansas League of Municipalities, and Branson said that now cities likely have DUI
Low: 72
Today’s forecast, page 10A
— District Attorney Charles Branson penalties less severe than the state. “If ordinances aren’t substantially in compliance with the state statute, they’re no good, and that’s
where we find ourselves,” Branson said. He said the cities could go through a process to change their ordinances, but with publishing requirements on new ordinances that could take up to a month. So his office was preparing to file charges in all new DUI cases in Douglas County District Court. Branson said Baldwin City and Eudora likely only produce about a dozen cases per month, but in Lawrence that could mean a dozen or so cases per week that would be filed and processed in district court, creating an increased workload for prosecutors and court staffers. Chad Sublet, a city staff attorney,
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If ordinances aren’t substantially in compliance with the state statute, they’re no good, and that’s where we find ourselves.”
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said Friday that city leaders were still reviewing information about the effect of the new law. State Sen. Tim Owens, R-Overland Park, who was an architect of the new law, said he believed cities still had authority to prosecute DUI cases in municipal court with the penalties under the new law without passing a new ordinance. “I think the court probably has that jurisdiction to go ahead and do that,” Owens said. “They may disagree with me, and if they chose to disagree, that is a defensible position as well.” Owens did defend the new law Please see DUI, page 2A
COMING SUNDAY We’re heading to the Carnegie Library building, which now includes a $200,000 history exhibit.
Vol.153/No.183 28 pages
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