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WEDNESDAY • DECEMBER 22 • 2010
A white Christmas is a good possibility By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com
The good news: The chances for a white Christmas are high. The bad news: A messy mix of freezing rain, sleet and snow could impede holiday travel before the fluffy stuff arrives. The National Weather
Service is advising those planing to travel in the days before Christmas to keep an eye on the weather. On Thursday evening, forecasters call for a mix of light drizzle, freezing drizzle and then snow. The snow is expected to start after midnight Thursday
and into Friday morning. “It can be tricky if we end up with a light glaze of ice and then we get snow over top of it,” said Kris Craven, a meteorologist for the NWS in Topeka. Whether Lawrence sees more ice or snow depends on what track the storm takes, Craven said. Right now, the
system that is expected to bring the nasty weather is just reaching land in California. Current predictions call for Lawrence to receive as much as 2 inches of snow, Craven said. And with cold weather in the forecast, Craven said the snow will still be there on Christmas Day.
Historically, the chance of a white Christmas in northeast Kansas ranges between 11 percent and 25 percent. It should be no surprise that the record snowfall for Christmas Day was in 2009 when Lawrence was in the midst of a blizzard; the NWS reported 4.1 inches in northeast Kansas.
Brownback: ‘I’m focused on growth’
Kevin Anderson/Journal-World Photo
NATASHA BROWN, shown at her sentencing Tuesday in Douglas County District Court, has been ordered to serve a 28-month prison sentence.
Wife gets 28 months in sexual abuse case By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
GOV.-ELECT SAM BROWNBACK, shown in his transitional office Tuesday at the Statehouse in Topeka, will take office as Kansas’ new governor Jan. 10.
Positions would likely result in cuts to public schools By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
ONLINE: Video at LJWorld.com
T O P E K A — Gov.-elect Sam Brownback on Tuesday vowed to balance the state budget without a tax increase and to try to improve the economy. And despite a $500 million deficit, Brownback said there
may be some room for targeted tax cuts aimed at developing rural areas. “I’m focused on growth,” Brownback said in an interview with the Lawrence JournalWorld. He promised to deliver an economic plan to the Legislature within 30 days after he takes office Jan. 10. “We have got to get the
growth agenda passed,” he said. But his positions would likely result in funding cuts to public schools, and he said there are not enough funds available for a proposed higher education increase.
Public school issues Brownback, a Republican, said he wants to provide the cur-
rent level of state funding to public schools, but added the state doesn’t have the money necessary to replace expiring federal stimulus dollars. “I don’t see how we, with the $500 million budget hole, can do a lot of augmentation really anywhere,” he said. Please see BROWNBACK, page 4A
Census numbers mean Kansas will keep 4 seats in House Newly released figures also show lagging population growth By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Think of them as the power numbers. The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday released the first batch of numbers from
the 2010 Census. They are not the most detailed numbers. They don’t answer the interesting question of how many people really are living in Lawrence. They don’t provide detailed information about race, gender,
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Today’s forecast, page 10A
presidential election. Kansas fared as most everyone expected: It held steady and kept its four seats in the House of Representatives. But Tuesday’s numbers do provide some interesting facts to think
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education or any other category. But Tuesday’s numbers are the most politically powerful numbers that will be released for the next 10 years. The Census Bureau provided population totals
for each state and also determined how many seats in Congress each state shall have for the next decade. Those numbers, of course, also determine how many electoral votes each state may cast, meaning the numbers will have major implications for the 2012
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Please see CENSUS, page 2A
A Douglas County judge Tuesday afternoon ordered a Lawrence woman to serve a 28month prison sentence for endangering two girls who say they were sexually assaulted by her husband. “There are several things she could have done to prevent the ongoing sexual abuse of these children,” District Judge Peggy Kittel said before handing down the prison sentence to Natasha M. Brown. Brown, 34, nodded her head when listening to Kittel’s instructions during the sentencing hearing. Donald Brown, 33, Kittel ruled faces a January that Brown trial on multiple could get charges, including credit for the three counts of six months she has child rape. already served in jail and would be eligible through good behavior to get credit for 20 percent of her sentence. Brown had apologized to the girls’ parents earlier in the hearing. “You entrusted us with your children, and my husband and I violated that trust beyond measure,” said Brown, who has been convicted of two counts of aggravated child endangerment and one count of lewd and lascivious behavior. Amy McGowan, a chief assistant Douglas County district attorney, had asked Kittel to depart from standard sentencing guidelines and give Brown prison time. Normally, Brown, who has no criminal history, would face probation for the three convictions. Kittel found that Brown deserved the steeper sentence because of the ages of the victims — they are now 9 and 11 — and because the defendants had a relationship of trust with the girls. The girls’ family from Topeka met the Browns through Heritage Baptist Church, which is northwest of Lawrence. Prosecutors have said that in May the girls talked to their parents, accusing Natasha Brown’s husband, Donald Brown, of having Please see WIFE, page 5A
COMING THURSDAY The Douglas County Commission is scheduled to vote on variances for two developments planned northwest of Lawrence.
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