L A W R E N C E
JOURNAL-WORLD
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75 CENTS
THURSDAY • JUNE 2 • 2011
LJWorld.com
Widower, police seek other driver in ‘extreme tragedy’ By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
Jeff Burnett was just leaving Lawrence around noon Tuesday with his wife, Cindy, heading to Topeka on the South Lawrence Trafficway near Clinton Parkway. Then, in a split second, a piece of metal pierced a hole in their vehicle’s wind-
Burnett
Hot and humid
High: 90
shield and struck Cindy, who was sitting in the passenger’s seat. “It was a thing that shouldn’t happen,” Jeff Burnett said Wednesday afternoon. “It happened so fast.” The 48-year-old Lyndon woman died a short time later from her injuries at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, and Douglas County Sheriff’s officials publicly identified her as the victim Wednesday.
“It was a freak accident — a one-in-amillion shot,” Burnett said tearfully. “It just happened to be us.” Undersheriff Steve Hornberger said officers were still looking Wednesday for the driver of the oncoming eastbound vehicle because they believed the errant piece of metal possibly flew off from a trailer it was hauling. The accident occurred at 12:15 p.m.
Tuesday, and Hornberger again Wednesday said it was possible the driver of the southbound pickup truck had no idea the metal object had fallen. “We’re actively investigating this extreme tragedy,” Hornberger said. The eastbound vehicle was described as a dark-colored pickup truck hauling a
As gas prices sprout up, so do costs of growing
Low: 69
Today’s forecast, page 10A
INSIDE Meeting on debt makes little progress Two busloads of House Republicans met with President Barack Obama at the White House over federal deficits. The two sides traded complaints and accused each other of partisanship in a vivid illustration of the tetchy atmosphere that dominates the capital these days. Page 5A EDUCATION
Some claim healthy meals too expensive Some lawmakers — and schools — argue that the Obama administration’s push for healthier school lunches is unaffordable in a time of budget cuts to education. Page 6A
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QUOTABLE
While we may be a trendsetter now in the area, I think you are going to see a number of states pursue this same avenue that we are doing in the state of Kansas.” — Gov. Sam Brownback after an attempt in the Kansas House on Wednesday failed to override his veto of Kansas Arts Commission funding. Page 3A
COMING FRIDAY The state Department of Health and Environment is warning Kansans about the new tobacco sticks.
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INDEX Business Classified Comics Deaths Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion Poll Puzzles Sports Television Vol.153/No.153
5A 3B-10B 9A 2A 10A, 2B 9B 5A 8A 2A 9B 1B-3B 5A, 2B, 9B 20 pages
Energy smart: The Journal-World makes the most of renewable resources. www.b-e-f.org
Please see FATALITY, page 2A
2011 session called ‘war on women’ By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
ONLINE: See the video at LJWorld.com Aaron Harris/Special to the Journal-World
MIKE GARRETT, LEFT, AND RICHARD BRAUER, DOUGLAS COUNTY FARMERS, check the status of their tomato plants at the farm in Douglas County near Linwood. Brauer and Garrett have teamed up to cut production costs since gas prices and economic troubles began to rise.
Making profits on food a ‘gamble’ By Adam Strunk Special to the Journal-World
To plant and grow his 1,000 acres of corn and 1,000 acres of soybeans, Baldwin City farmer Mike Wintermantel will spend about $50,000 on fuel this year. And that’s OK with him. “We hope (fuel) prices stay high,” Wintermantel said. “It’s kind of odd, but that’s the truth.” For Wintermantel and other commodity farmers, high fuel prices often lead to high corn and soybean prices and a greater profit. But eight miles northeast of Lawrence, fourth-generation produce farmer Mike Garrett tells a different story. Garrett’s family farm has survived floods, droughts and the Great Depression. Now he must find a way to survive rising fuel costs. To remain viable, Garrett has combined his
About this series Kansas University School of Journalism students in the advanced classes of Scott Reinardy, Julie Denesha and Mike Williams produced this series about the effects of escalating gasoline prices in Lawrence. This is Part 4. operation with his neighbor, Richard Brauer. Together they share expertise, contacts and 120 acres of sandy soil near the Kaw River to plant melons, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables. “It’s a lot better us working together than butting heads,” Garrett said. High gas prices might provide a windfall for many commodity farmers, but have made life difficult for smaller food producers.
Douglas County Exten- plant nearly 4 million more sion Director Bill Wood said acres of corn than in 2010, ethanol, a biofuel gasoline- an increase of 4.5 percent. alternative made from corn, “When you get twice as accounts for these two dif- much money as you got two ferent story lines. years ago, that helps your “When gas prices go up, inflow of cash,” Wood said. so does ethanol demand,” And Wintermantel, who he said. “The ethanol man- rents most of the 2,000 ufacturers can pay more for acres he farms, will need a their corn and still good inflow of keep their busi- DO THE MATH cash. He said fuel, nesses in shape.” fertilizer and According to Find a gasoline machinery prices the USDA, 41 per- calculator online have increased cent or 5 billion at LJWorld.com this year, balloonbushels of last ing his planting year’s corn crop was used in and growing costs to a ethanol production, a 9 per- record $500,000. Wintercent increase from 2009. mantel said he needs corn Wood said feeding prices to remain above $4 ethanol production growth per bushel to allow him to has increased corn prices. break even. According to the NationHowever, produce farmal Agricultural Statistics ers Garrett and Brauer said Service, corn prices have that their buyers at farmers risen from an average of markets and groceries have $3.50 a bushel in 2009 to an offered no price increase to average of $6 a bushel this Please see GAS, page 2A year, prompting farmers to
TOPEKA — Abortion rights supporters on Wednesday criticized Kansas legislators for approving controversial abortion restrictions and making controversial comments along the way. “Far too many Kansas legislators feel women’s health doesn’t matter,” said Sarah Gillooly, a lobbyist for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. She said the 2011 legislative session, which concluded Wednesday, was a “war on women.” The Kansas chapter of the National Organization for Women demanded that Rep. Pete DeGraaf, R-Mulvane, apologize for a comment he made during debate May 13 on a bill requiring women to buy additional insurance to cover abortion; coverage that could only be used to save the life of the mother. During that debate, Rep. Barbara Bollier, R-Mission Hills, noted that abortions would not be covered for cases of rape and incest. DeGraaf responded, “We do need to plan ahead, don’t we, in life?” Bollier then asked, “And so, women need to plan ahead for issues that they have no control over with pregnancy?” DeGraaf responded, “I have a spare tire in my car. I also have life insurance. I have a lot of things that I plan ahead for.” NOW State Coordinator Kari Please see WOMEN, page 2A
Olive Garden interested in Lawrence, but only if financial incentives approved By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
The home of the never-ending pasta bowl soon may provide the next chapter in what seemingly has become Lawrence’s never-ending debate. How much should City Hall do to lure businesses to town? Development and City Hall leaders confirmed Wednesday that officials with the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant are considering a South Iowa Street site for a restaurant but said a property tax break will be needed to get the deal done. The national chain is in discussions with Mission-based MD Management about a site at the northeast corner of 27th and Iowa streets, a vacant corner that once housed a Mazzio’s pizza shop and a Chinese restaurant. “They are very interested in the site,” said Matt Gough, a Lawrence attorney who is representing MD Management.
But Gough said the project won’t get done unless city, county and school district officials agree to allow some of the property taxes generated by the development to be used to help pay for improvements at the site. “It is absolutely essential,” Gough said of the provision.
Neighborhood Revitalization Act MD Management off icials are expected to request that the city use the Neighborhood Revitalization Act to spur the development. City commissioners recently agreed to use the Neighborhood Revitalization Act to entice Lawrence-based Treanor Architects to move its headquarters downtown. The act functions like a tax abatement, but not quite. Unlike a tax abatement, the development would pay 100 percent of its property taxes each year. But it then would receive a rebate on a portion of those property taxes. The act, however, stipulates that not all of
the property taxes can be rebated back to the development. Specifically, local governments must receive at least as much in property taxes from the site as they did before the project occurred.
Divisive issue Details about how large of a rebate or for how many years the development group would seek a rebate haven’t been set. But the issue already was creating divisions. Doug Holiday — an owner of Biggs BBQ and the president of an organization that markets locally owned restaurants — said the more than 20 restaurants in the Lawrence Originals group are against the idea of a tax break for the development. “If they want to do it, let them do it on their own dime, not on the backs of taxpayers,” Holiday said. “If you start giving tax incentives to
John Hanna/AP Photo
KARI ANN RINKER, Kansas state coordinator for the National Organization for Women, points out tires she brought to protest recent remarks by state Rep. Pete DeGraaf, R-Mulvane, Wednesday outside the Statehouse, in Topeka. DeGraaf compared buying separate health insurance policies for abortion coverPlease see OLIVE GARDEN, page 2A age to having a spare tire on a car.