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LJWorld.com
WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 3 • 2011
Effort to further shrink payroll criticized
Extreme heat taking toll on plants
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Retirement incentive program will damage state workforce, says plan opponent
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Proposal to add 4 more police officers prevails
By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback on Tuesday continued his effort to shrink the government payroll by offering incentives to state employees eligible to retire. A leading union official, however, said the administration failed to meet its legal obligations in the offer. “Reducing spending through the voluntary retirement incentive program is one method of helping the state live within its means," Brownback said. The state Brownback will not replace many of those people who retire, officials said. The Kansas Organization of State Employees said the state was required to meet with KOSE to discuss the issue “in good faith” before rolling it out. KOSE Executive Director Jane Carter said that her organization is not opposed to voluntary retirement plans in general but that the Brownback administration hasn’t taken into account the impact that the loss of jobs would have after the recent elimination of 2,000 unfilled positions. “Some departments across the state, already crippled by budget cuts, are so under-staffed, employees are working shifts of 16 hours or more, multiple times during a work week,” Carter said, citing employee turnover at state hospitals as an example. Secretary of Administration Dennis Taylor said the administration was under no obligation to get agreement with KOSE Please see RETIREMENT, page 2A
City goes ahead with tax increase By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
KENT NUNEMAKER CUTS CORN FOR SILAGE for Nunemaker-Ross Farm Tuesday. Nunemaker said the cutting was occurring a few weeks early because the crop was showing signs of damage from the extreme heat and lack of rain.
Lack of rain adds to misery as crop outlook changes to ‘very sad’ JEFF BAXTER, OVERBROOK, relaxes with a wet washcloth over his head after becoming a little overheated Tuesday in the livestock arena during the Douglas County Fair. See more fair photos on page 3A.
By Mark Fagan mfagan@ljworld.com
ONLINE: See the video at LJWorld.com
Furnace-blown temperatures and prolonged dry conditions are tugging soil away from foundations, knocking out power to homes and sending folks to the hospital for heat exhaustion, heat stroke and other heat-related conditions. All as a financial lifeline for dozens of county farmers struggles to survive. “One hundred-plus degree temperatures make plants die — all kinds of plants, including corn,” said Bill Wood, director of K-State research and Extension in Douglas County. “We’ve gone from looking good to very sad.” Wood said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the county’s 26,000 acres of corn struggle to yield an average of 60 bushels an acre, which would be half the usual harvest that typi-
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
cally begins in late August and continues into September. Tall green stalks have turned brown, likely costing the area more than 1.5 million bushels of feed corn. “We still go to work and get a paycheck at the end of the month,” said Wood,
Record heat, but not like 1936 Tuesday’s high temperature in Lawrence topped out at a record 108 degrees, the 15th day so far this summer in which mercury hit triple digits. But don’t start sweating tears just yet. The record for number
Please see HEAT, page 2A
days in a single year with temperatures of at least 100 degrees is 58, set in 1936. That’s also when the longest streak of such days hit: 19 in a row, from Aug. 9 to Aug. 27, 1936, in the midst of the devastating Dust Bowl.
A plan to add four new police officers to the city’s force overcame last-minute objections as Lawrence city commissioners approved a 2012 budget and a property tax increase Tuesday evening. City commissioners narrowly rejected a proposal by City Commissioner Bob Schumm that would have reduced a planned expan- “We have a new sion of the police chief, and police force. he has stated Schumm lob- that his bied for the pro- professional posal in order to reduce the opinion is that property tax we need more mill levy need- police officers.” ed to fund the 2012 budget. — Lawrence City But commis- Commissioner sioners balked. Mike Dever “As much as I’m tempted to keep the mill levy flat, I think this is an occasion where we are pretty far behind already in this area,” said Mayor Aron Cromwell. Cromwell and City Commissioners Hugh Carter and Mike Dever agreed to move ahead with the four new police officer positions, plus funding for an existing detective position that currently is funded by an expiring federal grant. Schumm and City Commissioner Mike Amyx voted to move ahead with just two new police officer positions, Please see CITY, page 2A
Kansas’ congressional delegation splits on debt-ceiling legislation By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — Members of the Kansas congressional delegation are unified in party — Republican — but they were divided on the bill aimed at avoiding a first-ever U.S. government default. In the Senate, Pat Roberts voted for the measure, signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama, and Jerry Moran voted against it. In the House, Lynn Jenkins of Topeka and Mike Pompeo of Wichita voted for it, and Kevin Yoder of Overland Park and Tim Huelskamp of Fowler voted against it. Jenkins’ 2nd District includes western Lawrence, and Yoder’s 3rd includes
Roberts: yes
Moran: no
eastern Lawrence. Roberts articulated the thoughts of many in Congress who voted for the bill: They didn’t like it but believed it was necessary to avoid an economic nightmare. The Senate approved it, 74-26, with 46 Democrats and 28 Republicans in support. “My first priority in voting today was to ensure our country did not
Pompeo: yes
Yoder: no
default, which could have sent our country into economic chaos at a time when our economy is already on the brink,” Roberts said. “I will never play roulette with Kansans’ life savings,” he said. Roberts added the measure was only a stopgap. “The battle to control spending is far from over. I view this debt ceiling debate as the open-
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Today’s forecast, page 8A
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Bill becomes law The Senate by a vote of 7426 passed emergency legislation Tuesday to avoid a first-ever government default, and President Barack Obama signed the bill about an hour later. Tuesday’s vote capped an a battle pitting tea party Republican forces in the House against Obama and Democrats controlling the Senate. Page 6A
Please see SPLIT, page 2A
INSIDE
Afternoon storm
High: 98
Jenkins: yes
ing salvo in an ongoing effort to tighten the government’s fiscal belt,” he said. But Moran had a different take. “The truth is this plan does not Huelskamp: no offer a solution to the underlying problem of our crisis today: Our government’s out-of-control spending. Even if fully enacted, it only slows the growth of spending, and just barely,” he said. The measure increased the federal government’s borrowing limit, and set into motion a potential cut
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COMING THURSDAY We head to Ottawa to catch up with “Extreme Makeover’s” construction of a house for a war veteran.
Vol.153/No.215 26 pages
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