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Former child molester now advocate for treatment By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com
Amid last week’s media frenzy over Penn State’s child sex abuse scandal, Wayne Bowers was reminded of a not-too-dissimilar incident that happened at Kansas University decades earlier.
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Today’s forecast, page 10A
INSIDE
In 1972, Bowers, who at the time was a 26-year-old assistant sports information director for the KU athletic department, was convicted of enticing a minor. “It’s certainly been on my mind the past week,” Bowers said in a telephone interview on Monday. At 66, Bowers is retired, lives
in Oklahoma and takes care of his aging mother. He has spent much of the past 20 years advocating for the treatment of sex offenders. He’s headed two national groups, Sex Offenders Restored through Treatment and Sex Abuse Treatment Alliance. In that role, he has spoken at many conferences and
frequently been interviewed by national news media. “I’m proud of where I am today. But I’m very sorry about what happened there,” Bowers said of his conviction in Lawrence. In 1969, with KU’s football team fresh off an Orange Bowl appearance, Bowers had a big
break when he landed the newly created position of assistant sports information director at KU. A few years later he was about to get another big opportunity, the chance to provide color commentary on KU’s radio network for an upcoming Please see TREATMENT, page 2A Bowers
Do we need more apartments? Developer says yes; neighbors say no City officials will weigh in tonight By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Work program clears disability barriers Six young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are learning new job skills at Lawrence Memorial Hospital through a new program called Project Search. Page 3A SPORTS
Basketball bluebloods to clash on court The two winningest programs in college basketball history tangle tonight in the Champions Classic contest — No. 1 Kentucky (2,053 all-time victories) and No. 2 Kansas (2,039). Page 1B
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QUOTABLE
My God, we gave these people the medicines for free and only half took it.” — Dr. Elliott Antman of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, on a study in which heart attack survivors were given free medications. Still, many of them did not follow doctors’ instructions on taking the medicine. Page 7A
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CITY COMMISSION
City commissioners will consider a proposal to use the railroad depot in east Lawrence as a transit hub for the city.
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Don’t tell Lawrence developer Tim Stultz that the city’s apartment market is overbuilt. His 224 one-bedroom apartments near Clinton Parkway and Crossgate Drive are all leased and produce a waiting list of about 40 people each August. That’s why he wants to build another 136 units. But don’t tell neighbors that live near the Remington Square development that they should have to live with more apartments. If approved, the project would bring the total number of apartments to more than 800 along the stretch of Clinton Parkway between Inverness and Crossgate drives. Lawrence city commissioners at their meeting tonight will have to tell somebody something they don’t want to hear. Commissioners will consider a rezoning and site plan for Stultz’s Remington Square expansion. Neighbors are fighting the project and are urging city commissioners to say enough is enough. “It is OK to have some of what they have done out here,” said Steven Hertzog, who lives near the site. “But now they are just inundating us with it. Now, it seems like it is being forced down our throats.” The project is being recommended for approval by the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission and the city’s planning staff, which says the development fits with the long-range plans that have been developed for the area. The city recently approved the Inverness Park District Plan, which removed apart-
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
SOME RESIDENTS NEAR REMINGTON SQUARE APARTMENTS, 4100 W. 24th Place, are opposed to plans to expand the complex by 136 units. The apartments are on land to the south of Clinton Parkway and north of 24th Place, between Crossgate Drive on the east and Inverness Drive on the west. This photograph looks to the southwest with the intersection of 23rd and Crossgate at center right, and Remington Square Apartments at top. The proposed area for expansion is on the east side of the current complex.
Many homeowners bought property next to the large tract of vacant ground between Inverness and Crossgate when it was approved to be a retirement complex. But those plans fell apart several years ago. ment development as an approved use for sites right at the corners of Crossgate and Inverness but allows for an increase in apartment density on the remaining land between the two corners. Neighbors, though, said the additional 136 apartments will create everything from noise to traffic problems. The traffic issues are worrisome to some because of the proximity to Sunflower School. “Traffic will create safety issues out here,” said Aaron Clopton, an area res-
ident opposing the project. “This area always will be attached to kid traffic.” But Stultz said he is proposing steps to minimize the impact on neighbors. Stultz has agreed to make the zoning of the property conditioned upon the fact that the apartments will never be larger than one-bedroom. Normally, multifamily zoning allows for a certain number of units, but each unit can range in size from one to four bedrooms. “We don’t compete with the student housing com-
plexes that rent by the bedroom,” Stultz said. “The people who come to us are tired of having a roommate.” Stultz said the conditions he’s willing to place on the zoning will give the neighbors some certainty that the development won’t be turned into a more traditional type of student apartment complex in the future. Neighbors, though, said they’ve grown weary of seeing past plans for the area fall apart. Many homeowners bought property next to the large tract of vacant ground between Inverness and Crossgate when it was approved to be a retirement complex. But those plans fell apart several years ago, and neighbors are unhappy that previous city commissions have allowed the area to become one of the larger
apartment complex districts in the city. “The city of Lawrence has let this neighborhood down,” Hertzog said. “The developers out here just keep coming back every few months asking for another rezoning. They’re just wearing the neighborhood down. “They have a right to ask, but the City Commission needs to stand up and say the people who voted us in don’t want this anymore.” Neighbors have filed a legal protest petition with the City Commission. That means the project will need to win four out of the five votes on the commission to move forward. City commissioners will meet at 6:35 p.m. today at City Hall. — City reporter Chad Lawhorn can be reached at 832-6362.
BUSINESS
Area communities selected for entrepreneurship loan program By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Three Douglas County communities have been awarded $166,000 in funds to begin loaning to expanding rural businesses or startups. Baldwin City, Eudora and Lecompton were selected as 2011 Entrepreneurship Communities through NetWork Kansas on Monday. The program ultimately will allow the communities to jointly make about $166,000 in loans to existing businesses or startups within their communities. “We’re hoping that it will really spark some growth and development in the communities,” said John Fiore, a Eudora council member and one of the organizers of the local effort.
“We think it can really help those businesses that need a little capital to expand or offer a new product, or for those budding entrepreneurs who need that last bit of capital to get their dreams off the ground.” The program is part of a larger effort by NetWork Kansas, a state-created organization that aims to promote small-business growth in the state. The organization has provided $1.54 million worth of funding to start similar loan programs in more than a dozen other communities in Kansas. Since 2007, the loan programs have resulted in the creation or retention of about 350 jobs, according to the organization. The state funds the program by awarding tax credits to the communities, which in turn sell the
credits to get the cash needed to fund the loan program. The loan program is designed to last for many years. As businesses repay the loans, the money will be put back into the program and loaned again, Fiore said. Leaders from the three communities have appointed financial professionals from the area to serve on a committee that will evaluate the fiscal feasibility of the applications. Douglas County businesses interested in applying for loans should contact Collin Bielser, the economic analyst for the city of Eudora, at 542-4111 or at cbielser@ cityofeudora.com. — City reporter Chad Lawhorn can be reached at 832-6362. Follow him at Twitter.com/clawhorn_ljw
Interim tech chief named after uproar TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has named an interim chief information technology officer for the executive branch. Brownback said Monday that Anthony Schlinsog of the Kansas Department of Transportation would fill the job in the short term. Schlinsog has been with KDOT since 2008 and has 16 years of private sector technology Jim Mann resigned after experience. The governor is searching for a per- it was revealed manent IT officer after the abrupt res- that his degree ignation last week of the governor’s came from an unaccredited first choice. Last week, Jim Mann was named university. chief IT officer for the executive branch. But he resigned a day later after it was made public that he received a college degree from an unaccredited university. The announcement of his departure came just hours after Brownback acknowledged that his administration hadn’t thoroughly examined Mann’s educational background.