L A W R E NC E
JOURNAL-WORLD ®
75 CENTS
Pleasant
High: 81
Low: 50
Today’s forecast, page 10A
INSIDE
Tallgrass prairie rich in resources At the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in east-central Kansas, little has changed over the decades on the landscape of the only national park dedicated to protecting this dwindling ecosystem. Tallgrass prairie once covered 40 percent of the United States and was the landscape encountered by American pioneers headed westward on overland trails. A ranch near Strong City, above, has served as the park’s headquarters. Page 3A SPORTS
Chiefs win first game of season After being badly battered in the first two regular season games and a close loss to San Diego last week, the Kansas City Chiefs finally notched a game in the win column on Sunday. They beat the Minnesota Vikings, who remain winless, at Arrowhead Stadium. Page 1B HOW TO HELP
Events next weekend need extra help From a walk to benefit cystic fibrosis to a hot rod gathering to Dogtoberfest, opportunities are abound to get involved with a good cause this coming Saturday and Sunday. If you’re busy then, there are plenty of more ways to help. Page 5A
“
LJWorld.com
-/.$!9 s /#4/"%2 s
QUOTABLE
It’s all about outsmarting them.” — Bail bondsman Steve Robson, on picking up people who have skipped out on bail. Robson and his associates may bring along handcuffs or a Taser, though they’ve never had to use the latter. They are licensed to carry firearms, though they rarely do. Page 3A
COMING TUESDAY We’ll bring you the latest from the school consolidation working group.
FOLLOW US Facebook.com/LJWorld Twitter.com/LJWorld
INDEX Classified Comics Deaths Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion Puzzles Sports Television Vol.153/No.276
5B-8B 9A 2A 10A, 2B 9B 5A 8A 9B 1B-4B, 10B 5A, 2B, 9B 36 pages
‘I can’t imagine any parent not wanting to do this for their kid’
Kidney transplant rebalances two lives
-—
Many states lack resources to monitor compliance
By Karrey Britt kbritt@ljworld.com
Lawrence resident Kwam NelsonDowdell feels like he’s given life to his 20-year-old daughter for the second time. “This is the best I’ve seen her look in years,” he said. “Just her face and the fullness. Her eyes. She just looks really, really beautiful.” His daughter, Ashlé Fleming, was sitting across the living room from him as he spoke, tears in her eyes. Her father had donated one of his kidneys just a week earlier.
By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com
!"!"!"
At age 18, Ashlé was diagnosed with a kidney disorder, called IgA nephropathy, after a trip to the emergency room because of shortness of breath. “It ended up being acid reflux, but the doctor wanted to run more tests because he felt like something more was wrong,” Ashlé said. Doctors found a spot on her kidney and so they did a biopsy, and that’s when they discovered that her kidneys were functioning at only 50 percent. Ashlé was a freshman at Kansas State University majoring in psychology at the time and had to leave school so she could be closer to home where she could be monitored. She began working full time at Vangent, a call center. During the next year and a half, she went from 165 pounds to 105, and her kidney function dropped to 8 percent. In June she had to begin dialysis, where she was hooked up to a machine for three hours twice a week that filtered her blood because her kidneys could not. “It was scary at first because there are older people in there, but not younger people. I broke down the first
Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo
KWAM NELSON-DOWDELL says he has given life to his daughter Ashlé Fleming, 20, for the second time by donating one of his kidneys to her. The two say the operation has given new meaning to their father-daughter bond. time I went in there,” she said. “But then I got to know the staff, and they made me feel at home.” Her parents were tested to see whether they could be kidney donors. They both were a match, but her 41-year-old father was a better match. “I can’t imagine any parent not wanting to do this for their kid,” he said. !"!"!"
On Sept. 21, they had the kidney transplant at Kansas University Hospital. “I got kind of emotional and said a prayer,” Ashlé said. “I told him that I loved him, and I thanked him and said I would never forget it.” Her mother, LaToya Fleming, said when Ashlé woke up from surgery, the first thing she said was: “Where is
my dad? I want to see my dad. I want to talk to my dad.” One week later and back at home in Lawrence, the two were commiserating over their pain and how difficult it has been to sleep. They made jokes about their new special bond. Ashlé wondered if she would begin taking on more of her father’s traits; if so, she hoped for the “good ones.” And Kwam said he thought about putting a GPS on his kidney before donating it, but on second thought, he said he probably didn’t want to know where it was traveling. All kidding aside, Kwam said the experience has been life-changing for him. “It really gave perspective on how important and fragile things are. I Please see KIDNEY, page 2A
Conservation grants attract wide interest
Gregorio Medina, 24, was convicted of 19 sex crimes, including raping a 5-year-old Liberal girl multiple times in 2003. Though Medina, 16 at the time of the crimes, was charged as a juvenile, he’s legally required to register as a sex offender until 2012. But, as with more than 100 other Kansas sex offenders who’ve left the state since 2006, authorities have no idea where Medina is. An ongoing Journal-World investigation has been tracking offenders like Medina, only to discover they’re slipping through the cracks. For instance, Medina told Kansas authorities he moved to Oklahoma, where he’d be required to register on that state’s offender registry. Oklahoma, however, has no record of him. Medina’s case further highlights a large gap in sex offender registries that were designed to help the public and law enforcement keep an eye on dangerous offenders: Sex offenders can simply skip over state lines and fall off law enforcement’s radar. “All of the states and agencies are struggling with this,” said Staca Urie, deputy director of the case analysis division with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And authorities seem ready to pass the buck on whose responsibility it is to follow up on offenders who cross state lines. In Kansas, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation notifies another Please see OFFENDER, page 2A
-—————
Applications for projects in county span ‘large and small, rural and urban’ By Mark Fagan mfagan@ljworld.com
From identifying historic trees to relocating an old city jail to furthering the establishment of a comprehensive, permanent exhibit at the Watkins Community Museum of History, there is no shortage of ideas for using a new grant program offered by Douglas County. Just a finite number of dollars. Together, the pool of 18 proposed projects would cost $939,000, or nearly
triple the $350,000 available this year for Natural and Cultural Heritage grants. But that’s a good problem to have, one that indicates a wealth of interest in and needs for conserving and preserving some of the county’s most precious resources, organizers say. “I’m excited to be at this point in the process and to see the community give us such a great response,” said Nancy Thellman, a Douglas County commissioner who pushed for creation of the program. “It is a nice mix: large and small, rural
and urban. It’s a very good start.” Sixteen organizations submitted applications in September, for financing as either “major” or “target” projects. Major projects would cost at least $105,000, while target tasks could be accomplished for less. Applications for grants had to qualify under one or more of five categories: historic structures, natural areas, agriculture/farming, Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area, and presettlement history. The commission’s goal:
assist each year with the development and creation of natural and cultural heritage conservation projects, using the same amount of money set aside annually for economic-development projects. Among organizations and projects seeking financing through this year’s grant program: !"Douglas County Master Gardeners, $2,700 to help “to search for, locate and identify trees of historical significance.” The project
THIS INVESTIGATION ! The Journal-World requested the names of all registered sex offenders who had left Kansas since 2006. That’s a total of 688 offenders. ! An initial investigation found that 161 out of those offenders were not registered in the state to which the Kansas registry showed they moved.
! Those 161 offenders were searched in the National Sex Offender Registry Website, which compiles offender registry information from all 50 states, and 113 were not registered anywhere. !"For a full list of the 113 offenders Please see GRANTS, page 2A not registered, visit LJWorld.com.
Citywide rollout of Westar’s smart meters nears By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com
Energy smart: The Journal-World makes the most of renewable resources. www.b-e-f.org
Registries of sex offenders incomplete
In two weeks, Westar Energy plans to begin its mass installation of smart meters throughout Lawrence. Westar has set Oct. 17 as the day that meter installation will begin, Westar’s SmartStar director Hal Jensen said. The installations are expected to start in the southwest corner of the city. By the end of the year, Westar hopes to be predominantly finished with all of the 44,000 meter exchanges. Part of the $39 million smart-meter project in-
cludes upgrading computer and software technology used to operate Westar’s customer base. Integrating smart-meter data to flow between the company’s departments, such as customer service and billing, has taken longer than expected. Those delays have pushed installation of the meters back by almost six months. However, Jensen stressed that the difficulties haven’t
been with the meters themselves or communication between the meters and Westar’s main technology hub. “That is proven and tested technology,” Jensen said. In January, Westar installed several hundred smart meters in a pilot project in the Deerfield neighborhood. So far, about 25 percent of the customers in the pilot neighborhood actively access the online information, and a few of those customers have signed up for other online information, such as budget alerts and weekly and monthly summaries of energy use. Before the next round of
meters goes in, installers will knock on customers’ doors to inform them of the switch. Those customers’ power will be off for one or two minutes. When the installation is finished, a packet will be left on the customers’ front doors explaining how to access data online. If Westar is unable to exchange the meter, workers will leave a note on the door asking for the resident to call the company and set up a time for the exchange. A day after the new meters are installed, customers should be able to access online information. With the smart meters,
customers will be able to go online and track their energy usage by the hour. The idea is that the information can help customers make better decisions on energy consumption. One day, the meter could provide the data needed to establish a new pricing structure in which energy is most expensive when demand is at its highest. More information about smart meters and Westar’s installation plans can be found online at Westar Energy.com/SmartStar. — Reporter Christine Metz can be reached at 832-6352. Follow her at Twitter.com/ SFHorizons.