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9th St. Marriott deal in works
By Andy Hyland ahyland@ljworld.com
By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Downtown Lawrence may not be done growing up yet. A Lawrence-based development group is working on a deal to construct a six-story building to house a Marriott hotel at Ninth and New Hampshire streets. A representative for a development group led by Lawrence businessmen Doug Compton and Mike Treanor confirmed the group is finalizing plans to build on the vacant lot next to the Lawrence Arts Center at the southCompton east corner of Ninth and New Hampshire. “We think it will add a great amenity to help attract people to come to Lawrence and stay in Lawrence,” said Bill Fleming, an attorney for Treanor Architects. “It will add to the vibrancy of downtown.” The project would include: ! An 81-room TownePlace by Marriott on the top three floors of the building. The hotel would be geared toward “extended-stay” visitors — think everything from visiting professors to parents visiting their children — who want a hotel suite that features a kitchen and other houselike amenities. ! Thirty-six apartments on the second and third floors of the building. The apartments would be a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. ! A restaurant and wine bar on the ground floor, plus the hotel lobby, which would be on the south end of the building near the Lawrence Arts Center. Please see HOTEL, page 2A
Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo
JEREMY MILLER WITH BRIGHT IDEAS SIGNS AND LIGHTING of Olathe removes the signage Wednesday from the former Borders bookstore at Seventh and New Hampshire streets. The store closed in the spring as part of the national chain’s bankruptcy proceedings.
Questions, answers ahead for working group considering school consolidation By Mark Fagan mfagan@ljworld.com
Nearly three dozen teachers, parents and others invested in the future of six Lawrence elementary schools being considered for consolidation gathered Wednesday evening to pose question after question after question about the effort’s potential effects on kids, the evidence being used to make decisions, and the financial implications of closing either two or three schools within two or three years. Turns out the dozens of queries, taken together, provided a welcome answer for at least one member of the Lawrence school board. “The order in which the topics came up from the working group focused on the academic program first, then facilities, then budget,” said Keith Diaz Moore, one of seven board members scheduled to review recommendations in February from the Central and East
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Their No. 1 priority should be doing what’s best for academic achievement. Their last concern should be the budget — because that’s the board’s domain.”
— Keith Diaz Moore, Lawrence school board member, on how the Central and East Lawrence Elementary School Working Group is considering its recommendations Lawrence Elementary School Working Group. “And that’s exactly how they should be focused. Their No. 1 priority should be doing what’s best for academic achievement. Their last concern should be the budget — because that’s the board’s domain.” Diaz Moore and fellow board member Rick Ingram listened intently alongside principals, Lawrence school district staffers and others in the audience as members of the working group conducted their first working meeting. The group’s assigned task: Come up with a recommended plan for consolidating six
elementary schools — Cordley, Hillcrest, Kennedy, New York, Pinckney and Sunset Hill — into either three or four within two to three years. That recommendation came earlier this year from a volunteer task force and won unanimous endorsement from members of the previous school board as a viable plan for balancing the community’s educational values with ongoing budget constraints. Wednesday night, members of the working group — representatives from each of the six schools, plus Woodlawn — spent most of their
two-hour meeting asking for more information: ! What would happen to the district’s English as a Second Language Program if Hillcrest and Cordley were to close, and what would happen to the district’s early-childhood program if Kennedy were to close? ! Which schools have the most students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunches, and how would they be affected if their school or schools closed? ! How much extra room is there remaining in each elementary school for more students now that sixthgrade students are in middle schools? ! How much money, exactly, has the district saved by closing schools in the past, including Wakarusa Valley this past summer? Answers will be expected in the coming weeks and months, as group members ponder consolidation issues Please see GROUP, page 2A
The Dole Institute of Politics has announced that it will award the 2011 Dole Leadership Prize to former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who was poisoned during a 2004 presidential campaign in the country amid protests that became known as the Orange Revolution. Bill Lacy, the Dole Institute’s director, said the institute wanted to recognize the 20-year anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union with the prize. The institute will host Yushchenko a program with Yushchenko, “The Fall of the Soviet Union: 20 Years Later with Viktor Yushchenko,” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Dole Institute. It is free and open to the public, and doors open at 6:30 p.m. Yushchenko formed a broad-based democratic coalition to run against an increasingly corrupt administration, and eventually won the presidency despite attempts by Ukrainian courts to invalidate the elections and the poisoning attempt that left him disfigured. “He’s being honored for the way that he stood up for democracy and really helped his country through a very difficult and tumultuous time,” Lacy said. The prize, which comes with a $25,000 award, also has been given to former President George H.W. Bush, Polish activist Lech Walesa and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga. The leadership prize is part of a four-part series at the Dole Institute on the 20year anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union. For a complete list of the Dole Institute’s fall 2011 programs, visit doleinstitute.org. — Higher education reporter Andy Hyland can be reached at 832-6388.
Doctors testify that abortion clinic regulations aren’t medically necessary The regulations, the doctors said, would shut down their business and be “particularly harmful to women who are suffering from medical complications during pregnancy or have received a diagnosis of serious fetal anomaly.”
By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — As Kansas officials Wednesday considered licensing regulations for abortion clinics, about 30 people rallied outside the Statehouse to try to stem the tide of anti-abortion legislation emerging from Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration. “We’re defending against a legislative and cultural attack on our lives, futures and even our bodies,” said Kaspian Zero, a single mother from Kansas City. Diane Wahto of Wichita said women must have the choice to decide
their fate. “It is immoral and unjust to force a woman to give birth to a child she can’t take care of,” she said. The rally was put together by Speak for Choice, a group formed by several Kansas University students. One of the founders, Leslie Good-
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win, said the group is trying to raise awareness about anti-abortion laws that have recently been enacted with an eye toward getting more prochoice people elected. “We need new people in office,” she said. Meanwhile, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment held a public hearing on proposed
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regulations to license abortion clinics. An abortion clinic regulation bill, which was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Brownback, was supposed to take effect July 1. But a federal judge blocked the rules until he decides a lawsuit brought by abortion clinics. Anti-abortion groups said the regulations were reasonable. “These abortion clinic regulations are a long time coming,” said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue. “Quite frankly, Kansas has been in the Dark Ages when it comes to abortion clinic regulations.”
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But Drs. Herbert Hodes and Traci Nauser, a father-daughter team of obstetrician-gynecologists from Overland Park who provide abortions and sued the state over the regulations, gave detailed testimony in opposition. They argued the regulations would impose “medically unnecessary requirements that far exceed the prevailing medical standards of care.” The regulations, they said, would shut down their business and be “particularly harmful to women who are suffering from medical Please see ABORTION, page 2A
COMING FRIDAY For allergy sufferers it’s a tough time of year. We offer some advice.
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