Lawrence Journal-World 08-23-11

Page 1

GADHAFI AT LARGE

GOT THEIR BACK

The latest developments from Libya

KU student wins grant to study scoliosis

World 9A

Lawrence & State 3A

L A W R E NC E

JOURNAL-WORLD ®

75 CENTS

LJWorld.com

45%3$!9 s !5'534 s

Dogs make waves at Pooch Plunge

REDISTRICTING

Officials mulling district change options

INCENTIVES

City to discuss retail strategy

By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com

Nine years ago, Douglas County, one of the most Democratic-voting counties in the state, got sliced by a Republican-dominated Kansas Legislature and governor and placed in two congressional districts. Now, even stronger GOP majorities will be cutting up the state’s political boundaries during the once-a-decade redistricting process. Will Douglas County stay as it is — generally the western part is in the 2nd U.S. House district and the eastern part in the 3rd — get diced up in another way, or be reunited and put into the same district? The Lawrence City Commission will talk about what it would like to see happen today at City Hall as a precursor to Cromwell a public hearing of the Legislature’s Special Committee on Redistricting that will be held from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Sept. 2 at the Dole Institute of Politics at Kansas University. “We have to decide whether to weigh in,” said Lawrence Mayor Aron Cromwell. Every 10 years, the Legislature redraws district boundaries in state House, Senate, congressional and State Board of Education districts to bring districts into balance population-wise based on the updated census. Legislators will redraw the districts during the 2012 legislative session, which starts in January. Kansas has grown by 6.1 percent since 2000 with most of the growth occurring in northeast Kansas and around Wichita in south-central Kansas, while much of western Kansas continued to lose population. Seventy-seven counties lost population, while 28 counties gained. The 1st District has lost population while the 3rd has gained. So the 1st must take in more counties, and the 3rd will lose some area. This shifting may put Please see REDISTRICTING, page 4A

By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

They have been called everything from “Community Improvement Districts” to “sneaky taxes.” Whatever you call them, they’ll be making an appearance again at City Hall today. City commissioners at their weekly meeting are expected to have their most significant discussion yet about whether they want to offer financial CITY incentives to COMMISSION attract retailers to Lawrence. “I do have some concerns about whether we should be using these types of incentives right now,” said City Commissioner Mike Amyx. “If these are something we really don’t want to use, we should let the community know up front so we don’t create any false expectations.” The incentive drawing the most questions from commissioners is one that creates a special taxing district called a Community Improvement District. The districts allow for up to an extra 2 percent sales tax to be charged on all goods sold in the district. The money from the extra sales tax can be used to pay for public improvements — such as roads and sidewalks — or for private improvements — such as store expansions or special marketing. The idea of the special taxing districts was a hotbutton issue during April’s City Commission election. Candidate Bob Schumm, who went on to take the top spot in the election, branded the districts a sneaky tax because he’s convinced many shoppers aren’t aware of the higher rates. But whether city commissioners will outright ban the use of such districts in Lawrence is uncertain. “I think we may want to take some steps to discourage providing incentives for

Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo

SAVANNAH PEARCE PLAYS WITH A BOXER NAMED SABALIA at the Pooch Plunge on Monday at Lawrence’s Outdoor Aquatic Center, 727 Ky. The pool plays host to the dog-swimming event every year before the pool closes for the season. See video from the event at LJWorld.com, and see more photos on page 4A.

Please see CITY, page 2A

Twitter users monitoring police, fire and emergency service activities By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com

Michael Mikkelsen, a 29-year-old political activist from Kansas City, Mo., doesn’t support drunken driving. But he’s strongly against police DUI checkpoints, which he says violate

drivers’ constitutional rights. Mikkelson’s taken his mission to Twitter, tweeting out checkpoint locations and getting tips from other Twitter users about checkpoint spots. Sometimes he tweets out the link to a live stream he sets up to monitor checkpoints. Mikkelsen, who has more

gency dispatch scanners; everything from auto accidents to fires to police chases. “It keeps the community informed,” said Mike Frizzell, known in the Twitter sphere as @Operation100. Frizzell, 25, has been listening to police scanners since he was 13. “I’ve always been fascinat-

INSIDE

Storm chance Business Classified Comics Deaths

High: 96

than 400 followers, is one of several local Twitter users monitoring police, fire and emergency service activities online. Other local Twitter users, such as @KansasScanner and @Operation100, send out frequent Twitter updates from what they overhear on emer-

7A 5B-12B 11A 2A

Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion

12A, 2B 11B 5A 10A

Poll Puzzles Sports Television

Low: 72

Today’s forecast, page 12A

Join us at Facebook.com/LJWorld and Twitter.com/LJWorld

2A 11B 1B-4B 5A, 2B, 11B

ed by it,” said Frizzell, who has more than 1,500 followers. At his home in Shawnee, Frizzell has six scanners, which he uses to monitor several area counties. The hobby has also turned into a fulltime job, as he contracts with several news organizations,

including the Journal-World, providing information about accidents, fires and crime incidents overnight. Twitter users such as Frizzell can fill the gaps between what happens on the street and what ends up on Please see TWITTER, page 2A

COMING WEDNESDAY School reorganization has created a few traffic woes in the district.

Vol.153/No.235 24 pages

Energy smart: The Journal-World makes the most of renewable resources. www.b-e-f.org


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Lawrence Journal-World 08-23-11 by Lawrence Journal-World - Issuu