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JAYHAWKS KNOCK OFF NO. 2 BUCKEYES, 78-67 Robinson leads way for KU; Taylor plays through pain Page 1B

L A W R E NC E

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Sebelius under fire from allies for Plan B decision By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com

Leaders of groups that push for reproductive health rights for women were stunned last week when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius refused to make

Sebelius

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Today’s forecast, page 10A

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emergency contraception more easily available. Groups frequently allied with Sebelius criticized the decision by the former Kansas governor to keep Plan B One-Step behind the counter at pharmacies and require that girls under 17 continue to need a prescription for

the contraceptive. Sebelius’ decision overruled a recommendation by the Food and Drug Administration that Plan B was “safe and effective and should be approved for nonprescription use for all females of childbearing potential.” Taken within 72 hours of unprotect-

ed sex, Plan B can prevent pregnancy by restricting ovulation or blocking the implantation of a fertilized egg. But Sebelius said she was concerned that the FDA recommendation would have allowed girls as young as 11 to buy the contraceptive. She concluded

Owner of recycling business wants green light from city

Evidence could crack 1985 rape case The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has located in its evidence archives the original sexual assault kit and clothing collected after a 1985 unsolved rape in Topeka. The man originally convicted for the crime, Joe Jones, was exonerated in 1992, but no one else was ever arrested for the crime. Page 3A

— Leonard Steinhorn, American University political communications professor Leonard Steinhorn. GOP presidential candidates are using free media to help their campaigns, but it raises the chances that a gaffe will haunt a candidate endlessly in the YouTube world. Page 8C

COMING MONDAY Andy Hyland talks with Tom Stidham in his next installment of “16 Things I’ve Done.”

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INDEX Arts & Entertainment 9C-14C Books 12C Classified 1C-7C Deaths 2A Events listings 10A, 2B Horoscope 2C Movies 5A Opinion 9A Puzzles 2C, 11C Sports 1B-10B Television 5A, 2B, 2C Vol.153/No.345 60 pages

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Vaccine opt-outs across state raise concerns cmetz@ljworld.com

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

ARMOND ENCLARD TOSSES A BAG OF TRASH INTO A BIN at the The Connection at 31st Street and Ousdahl Road on one of his nightly recycling runs. Enclard operates a recycling business where he will go door to door in complexes like The Connection to pick up people’s recyclables.

Mayor says now not good time to change water, trash billing By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

Armond Enclard sure thought the environment in Lawrence was right for his recycling company — Doorstep Recycling and Waste Service — to grow. After all, city leaders have been spending a lot of time and effort studying ways to boost recycling in Lawrence. Enclard, on the other hand, has spent a lot of time actually picking up recycling. Five days a week, he goes to every unit in The Connection apartment complex at 31st and Ousdahl in south Lawrence. He picks up both trash and recycling that residents have left outside their doors. He then deposits the trash

in one of the apartment complex’s Dumpsters — which are serviced by the city — and the recycling in a bin serviced by Deffenbaugh Industries. Enclard said recycling at the complex has increased by more than 30 percent since he began the service in March. Enclard said he could have the same type of success at several other apartment complexes if the city would make what he believes is a slight adjustment to how it bills apartment complexes for their trash service. But instead, Enclard said, he’s learned that at City Hall green doesn’t always mean go. “I’m pretty frustrated at the city,” Enclard said. “They talk a lot about wanting small businesses to prosper and want to be creative in help-

ing people recycle, but they don’t seem willing to find creative ways to make things work.” City officials disagree with that assessment, but more on that in a moment.

The issue First you need to understand a little about trash and apartment complexes in Lawrence. Almost all apartment complexes rely on Dumpsters that are picked up by the city. But not all Dumpsters in the city are created equal. Some apartment complexes pay a monthly per-Dumpster fee to the city. Apartments with this type of arrangement generally are the type where water and trash are included Please see RECYCLING, page 2A

Last year about 1 percent of parents of Kansas kindergartners opted their children out of immunization shots. It’s a number state and local health officials don’t want to see grow. More than half the states in the country have seen at least a slight rise in the rate of exemptions over the past five years, according to an Associated Press report last week. States with the highest exemption rates are in the West and upper Midwest. While the 1 percent exemption rate in Kansas doesn’t seem like a lot, state epidemiologist Charles Hunt said the state tends to see exemptions concentrated in certain arHEALTH eas. Among the state’s nearly 800 schools, only 250 reported exemptions. “This 1 percent is not necessarily evenly distributed throughout the state,” Hunt said. At a Lawrence-Douglas County Health Board meeting this month, board members and health department director Dan Partridge expressed concern about a Wichita-based group lobbying to parents to opt out of vaccinations. During the last legislative session, Kansans for Vaccine Rights introduced a bill to the House Health and Human Services Committee to add conscientious exemption to the reasons for parents to opt out of immunizations. Exemptions are already allowed on religious and medical grounds. The bill never got out of committee, but Partridge said the group’s lobbying efforts have increased since the session ended. Please see VACCINE, page 2A

Brownback has no plans to pardon any Kansas inmates By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com

Energy smart: The Journal-World makes the most of renewable resources. www.b-e-f.org

Please see SEBELIUS, page 7A

By Christine Metz

QUOTABLE

The campaigns are using free media as an amplifier and it’s smart, especially for those who don’t have much money. But there’s also a reality show quality to it all, with the kind of visual moments people don’t forget.”

“that the data provided as part of the actual use study and the label comprehension study are not sufficient to support making Plan B One-Step available to all girls 16 and younger, without talking to a health care professional.”

Gov. Sam Brownback will not be giving any Kansas inmates the gift of freedom this year. None of the 37 clemency petitions filed in 2011 asking the governor for a pardon will be granted as the year comes to a close. “The governor has no plans to issue any pardons before the end of the year,” said Sherriene JonesSontag, press secretary for the governor. The Kansas Constitution gives

the governor sole authority to issue pardons, but applicants file the petition with the Prison Review Board. The board reviews applications and sends them to the gover- Brownback nor’s office. Pardons, which do not erase a person’s conviction but free him or her from prison or parole obligations, are not common in the state. Former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius issued only one

pardon during her six years as governor: in 2009 to a Kansas businessman convicted of drunken driving. The man had been having difficulty entering Canada for business because of the conviction. Gov. Mark Parkinson, however, issued four pardons during his less than two years as governor. Three of those pardons went to members of the “Wichita 8,” a group of black men convicted by an all-white Sedgwick County jury in 1969 of various robbery charges. In 2009, Parkinson pardoned Wichita 8 member Samuel Jarvis Hunt,

followed by Frederick Umoja and John Manning at the very end of his term in early 2011. All three were assisted by the Kansas University’s Project for Innocence and PostConviction Remedies. Parkinson also pardoned Orvel Bald Ridge, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, in early 2011. Ridge was convicted of assault in the 1970s, and was planning to run for office in the Cherokee Nation, but needed a pardon to do so. — Reporter Shaun Hittle can be reached at 832-7173. Follow him at Twitter.com/shaunhittle.


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