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KU celebrates filing of cancer institute application By Andy Hyland ahyland@ljworld.com
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — A document of more than 600 pages, five years in the making, lay on a small table in the front of the room on Tuesday as state and Kansas University leaders celebrated the submission of their application for designation as a National Cancer Institute. The application will be filed this week with the NCI, where
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its approval or denial could rest on how lawmakers decide to address federal budget cuts. The designation would provide a jolt to the local economy, as well as additional treatment options closer to home for cancer patients. At a gathering Tuesday morning at the Robert E. Hemenway Life Sciences Innovation Center on the KU Medical Center campus, KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said she thought KU
ROY A. JENSEN, LEFT, director of the Kansas University Cancer Center, holds the folder containing the 600-page application for National Caner institute designation. With him during the news conference Tuesday were, from left, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, KU Medical Center Executive Vice Chancellor Barbara Atkinson, KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and Gov. Sam Brownback.
had done everything right so far with the application. “After this point, there will be a number of other issues, including the federal budget, that influence what happens, and we can’t say what that’s going to be,” she said. “But I think that we’re at a point that is a celebration point because of what we’ve achieved and because we’ve been a success. And I think the rest of it Please see KU, page 2A
Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo
Empowering the visually impaired
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Today’s forecast, page 10A
INSIDE Collison ready for Legends of the Phog Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Nick Collison stopped by the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence on Tuesday along with Thunder teammate Cole Aldrich to teach basketball fundamentals. The two will play in Saturday’s Legends of the Phog exhibition game with other current and former Jayhawks. Page 1B
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enacted by the Legislature and Gov. Sam Brownback. Another 45 workers are taking advantage of an early-retirement incentive program. State Rep. Jim Ward, DWichita, said he feared any more job reductions would jeopardize the safety of prison employees. Roberts agreed, saying, “I wouldn’t go any further.” Budget cuts have also reduced programs that allowed inmates to work on getting a GED or other educational opportunities. One of the immediate problems is setting aside
City commissioners think the Masonic Temple building in downtown Lawrence has been empty long enough. Commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting agreed to provide 10 years worth of property tax rebates to a local development group that hopes to convert the 100-year-old building into a banquet hall for Lawrence caterer Steve Maceli. “This is a generous tax incentive, but it is warranted by the fact that this is a particularly historic building in a district of historic buildings,” said Mayor Aron Cromwell. “It has “This is a been sitting generous tax there board- incentive, but ed up not it is warranted adding to our by the fact d o w n t o w n , that this is a and it should particularly be.” historic building A develop- in a district of ment group historic buildled by Law- ings. It has been rence busi- sitting there n e s s m a n boarded up not Doug Comp- adding to our ton bought downtown, and the building it should be.” eight years ago, after — Mayor Aron L a w r e n c e ’ s Cromwell Masonic lodge moved to a new south Lawrence location. The building has been vacant ever since. Paul Werner, a local architect who is leading the renovation efforts, said that the building’s layout makes it difficult to use as an office or retail location and that making any major changes to the building likely would not pass historical preservation standards. But Lawrence caterer Steve Maceli said he wants to use the building as a second location for his catering and banquet business. He said he envisions restoring the original Reuter organ, the old wood floors and other historic features in the building to make it a prime location for downtown weddings and other events. “I like taking old things and giving them new life,” Maceli said. Commissioners agreed to grant the project a special type of tax rebate. Using the Neighborhood Revitalization Act, the city will grant the property a partial tax rebate. The project will continue to pay the approximately $12,000 in taxes it currently pays, but it will receive a rebate on the new taxes created by the estimated $800,000 in renovations. The property
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The turkey leg is a staple of the Renaissance Festival, which has gone through as many as 90,000 in a single season. But the turkey leg need not be relegated just to the fall fair — it can be made at home as well. Page 10B
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I still believe that it was first and foremost a matter of integrity, that it was fundamentally against everything we stand for as an institution to force people to lie about who they are just to wear a uniform. We are better than that.” — Retiring Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, on the repeal of don’t ask, don’t tell on Tuesday. Mullen said that with the new law allowing gays to serve openly, the military is a stronger, more tolerant force with greater character and honor. Page 7A
COMING THURSDAY We introduce you to a group of inmates who are running a charity.
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INDEX Business Classified Comics Deaths Events listings Food Horoscope Movies Opinion Puzzles Sports Television Vol.153/No.264
Masonic Temple gets tax rebate By Chad Lawhorn
Turkey legs reign at Ren Fest
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ANGIE BOWERS, LEFT, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST and manager of low vision services at Alphapointe Association for the Blind in Kansas City, Mo., has Nancy Baker, who is visually impaired, try on sunglasses with special light filters. BELOW: Baker uses a guide and pen that help her see better to write checks.
Private nonprofit provides variety of services to make life a little easier By Karrey Britt kbritt@ljworld.com
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KANSAS CITY, MO. — At age 86, Nancy Baker lives by herself and enjoys cooking, playing cards and working part time in a financial office. But it’s all becoming more difficult because her eyesight is deteriorating. She is among 2 million Americans who have been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration, a medical condition that results in loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of damage to the retina. Baker said it’s hard for her to read recipes and see the lines on a measuring cup. She can’t tell the difference between hearts and diamonds on regular playing cards.
6A 1C-8C 9A 2A 10A, 2B 8B-10B 7C 5A 8A 7C By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com 1B-7B 5A, 2B, 7C TOPEKA — The state pris28 pages on system is overcrowded and understaffed, Kansas Department of Corrections Energy smart: The Secretary Ray Roberts said Journal-World Tuesday. makes the most of renewRoberts told members able resources. of the House-Senate Comwww.b-e-f.org mittee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight that corrections staff were performing well under pressure. “I don’t think things are in a crisis mode, but it’s tight,” he said. Roberts said that budget
“It’s maddening,” said Baker, of Prairie Village. She used to work on a computer at her job, but not anymore; she can’t read the words on the screen. “Now, I just organize things,” she said. “I like to work, so it’s very frustrating.” Although she is physically fit, she’s unable to do
many everyday things because of her poor eyesight: read a newspaper or magazine, balance her checkbook, write a check and read road signs. “I don’t go anywhere I don’t know,” Baker said. Baker described her frustrations to Angie Bowers, an occupational therapist, during a recent appoint-
ment at Alphapointe Association for the Blind in Kansas City, Mo. The association’s mission is to empower people with vision loss to be as independent as possible. During the approximately three-hour appointment, Baker received a low-vision evaluation from Dr. John Metzger, an optometrist, and an occupational evaluation from Bowers. She was asked questions like, “Can you write a check?” Not really, Baker replied, shaking her head. Bowers showed her a check-writing guide, a gadget that she could put on her checks, then fill in the blanks. She tried it. Please see VISION, page 2A
Prisons overcrowded, understaffed, leader says As of Sept. 1, the state had 9,236 inmates in a system with a capacity of 9,164. Some of the over-capacity inmates are being kept in the Cowley County jail through a contract with the county. cuts over the past few years have reduced staff and programs designed to prevent recidivism and to help inmates succeed once they get out of prison. Meanwhile the Legisla-
ture continues to approve bills that increase prison sentences, which leads to a “stacking effect” in the system. “We can build, we can contract, or we can look at early-release mechanisms,” Roberts said. As of Sept. 1, the state had 9,236 inmates in a system with a capacity of 9,164. Some of the over-capacity inmates are being kept in the Cowley County jail through a contract with the county, Roberts said. And in the current fiscal year, 95 positions in the Corrections Department were cut because of budget cuts