KU FOOTBALL’S MOST IMPACTFUL PEOPLE OF 2016. 1C
INSIDE: MORE THAN
SUICIDE IS TOP KILLER OF U.S. TROOPS IN MIDEAST. PAGE 1B
$825 in coupons
&
savings
L A W R E NC E
Journal-World
®
$2.00 / LJWorld.com
Sunday • January 1 • 2017
Colyer looks forward to end of ACA
WHAT COMES
By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
NEXT? Journal-World File Photos
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP CENTER: Improvements have been proposed for Free State High School, pictured, and Lawrence High School; University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little’s replacement is expected to be announced by this summer; the proposal to expand the Douglas County Jail will be explored more thoroughly this year; the city will launch a nationwide search to replace outgoing Police Chief Tarik Khatib; a new strategic plan will be one of the big issues discussed at City Hall; and Gov. Sam Brownback is scheduled to give his State of the State address on Jan. 10.
Keep an eye out for these stories in 2017 Staff Reports
A
s the new year gets underway, our reporters take a look at what are promising to be some of the big stories of 2017 in the city, county, school district and Statehouse, as well as at the University of Kansas, and on the crime and courts beat.
City of Lawrence The city will hire a new police chief in the coming year. Lawrence Police Chief Tarik Khatib said he will step down as the department’s head this summer. Khatib has been with the Lawrence Police Department for more than 20 years and has served as chief since 2011. City Manager Tom Markus intends to Markus do a nationwide search to fill Khatib’s position.
The City Commission will create its first strategic plan, and in doing so will decide what it wants the city to look like in the future. As part of the strategic planning process, the commission will create specific, interrelated steps to arrive at that future. Those steps will be part of the city’s annual budget decisions. A process will also be in place to measure and assess progress related to the plan. The shortage of affordable housing in Douglas County has been classified as severe, and plans to address the issue will continue to move forward. The city has reinstated its affordable housing trust fund, and the City Commission added an affordable housing requirement to the economic development incentives policy in December. Review of affordable housing proposals related to residential incentives requests and of decisions regarding how funds in the trust will be used to create affordable
PUBLISHED SINCE 1891
housing are in store for the coming year. East Ninth: The City Commission will decide on the scope of improvements to East Ninth Street. The concept design originally proposed for the multimillion-dollar project would have completely redone a seven-block stretch of the street, in addition to adding public artwork and other aesthetic features. Some commissioners, as well as East Lawrence residents, were opposed to the scale of the project, and it was not funded as part of annual budget decisions. — Rochelle Valverde
Douglas County Newly elected Douglas County Commissioner Michelle Derusseau said there is no rush to make decisions regarding the Douglas County Jail expansion and construction of a mental health crisis intervention center.
> NEXT, 6A
2016’S BEST SPORTS PICS Relive last year’s most outstanding, offbeat moments. A&E, 1D
Topeka — Kansas Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer raised eyebrows on Dec. 15 when he took to Twitter and predicted the imminent demise of the Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law also known as Obamacare. “Obamacare/Expansion will soon be dead. Time will bring clarity from D.C.,” Colyer said in part of Colyer the tweet. Colyer, a plastic surgeon by profession who has been Gov. Sam Brownback’s point person on health policy, drew jeers for that tweet, mostly from people and groups who commonly criticize the administration on Twitter.
> COLYER, 2A
Officials: Jail needs new pods to classify inmates By Elvyn Jones ejones@ljworld.com
A feature left out as a cost-saving measure before construction started on the Douglas County Jail in 1999 now jeopardizes the key operating principle of “separating the sharks from the guppies,” Douglas County Sheriff’s Office correctional officials say. Jails are designed around classification systems, which house inmates in specific units, or pods, based on their risk levels. At the county jail, male inmates are housed in minimum-, medium- and maximum-security pods. Inmates are given different privileges and subjected to varying levels of supervision in the three classifications.
> JAIL, 2A
L A W R E NC E
Journal-World
®
LJWorld.com | KUSports.com
VOL. 159 / NO. 1 / 22 PAGES
Sun, then clouds A&E................................. 1D CLASSIFIED..............2D-4D
|
High: 45
DEATHS...........................6B EVENTS...........................6B
|
Low: 39
|
Forecast, 6C
HOROSCOPE....................5B OPINION......................... 5A
PUZZLES................. 4B, 5B SPORTS.....................1C-6C