CROSSTOWN RIVALRY
LHS BOYS, 68-61
FSHS GIRLS, 60-51 Page 1B
L A W R E NC E
Journal-World
®
75 cents
LJWorld.com
SATURDAY • MARCH 1 • 2014
Draft version of social media policy rejects words that punish
KINDERGARTEN It’s not what you think
———
Group focuses instead on language that advises and informs faculty about speech By Ben Unglesbee Twitter: @LJW_KU
Emporia — The group tasked with reviewing the Kansas Board of Regents’ controversial social media policy on Friday approved an alternative draft version that seeks only to advise faculty and staff on the responsible use of social media. The regents charged the group with making recommendations after the current policy, which allows state university CEOs to BOARD OF suspend or fire employees REGENTS for improper social media use, prompted widespread criticism that the policy was broad, vague and could chill speech. After Friday’s meeting at Emporia State University, the group members, who are faculty and staff of regents universities, will take the draft policy
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photos
Lawrence district pleased with all-day, high-tech classes, as state ponders issue By Sara Shepherd Twitter: @saramarieshep
Isn’t a full day of school exhausting for a bunch of 5-year-olds? You bet, says their likewise exhausted kindergarten teacher Lauren Mitchell. She and her class are winding down a busy seven hours staying engaged and focused on a long list of lessons and activities — none of which, incidentally, is nap time. “There’s still that idea that it’s fingerpainting and Play-Doh, and it’s not,” said Mitchell, who teaches at Kennedy School. “We are adding, we are subtracting, we are reading, we are rhyming, we are writing sentences — two, three sentences.” As the Kansas Legislature considers Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal to fund
MAIN PHOTO: Lauren Mitchell uses a Smart Board with a touch screen to walk her kindergarten students through a lesson Thursday at Kennedy School, 1605 Davis Road. Mitchell has a class of 18 kindergartners who attend school all day. TOP PHOTO: Samantha Dillon, one of Mitchell’s students, uses a computer and headphones to complete a lesson. BOTTOM PHOTO: Another of Mitchell’s students, Carter Harris, practices his writing skills with a marker.
Please see POLICY, page 5A
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
BRITTNY MARIE ADAMS, of Topeka, appears Friday in Douglas County District Court, where she was sentenced for the murder of Gary Edens, of Lawrence.
Woman gets 13 years for murdering Lawrence man
Please see FULL-DAY, page 5A
———
LEGISLATURE
Debate continues with hearing on religion law By Scott Rothschild Twitter: @ljwrothschild
Topeka — The debate over religious freedom and gay rights will re-emerge in the Kansas Legislature next week, but a key senator said Friday he has no intention on working on a new bill. An informational hearing will be held Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee on what is called the Kansas Preservation of Religious Freedom Act, which was
approved last year and signed into law by Gov. Sam Brownback. That law says that government cannot substantially burden a person’s right to exercise religion. It was approved in 2013 with little opposition after gay rights advocates said language had been removed from a 2012 version of the bill that would have opened the door to discrimination against gays and lesbians. Please see DEBATE, page 7A
Business Classified Comics Deaths
Low: 8
Today’s forecast, page 10A
2A 1B-6B 9A 2A
Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion
By Stephen Montemayor Twitter: @smontemayor
Seven months after seeing his father shot dead during an altercation at his Lawrence home, Jeremy Edens stood in Douglas County District Court and directed his gaze at the woman who pleaded guilty to the shooting. “You took a good man’s life,” said Edens, 29, who appeared while in custody and serving an unrelated sentence in Henry County in Missouri. He addressed 20-year-old Brittny Marie
One thing that is very apparent to me is that on all sides of the debate we haven’t appreciated enough the importance of the law that we passed last year.” — Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence
INSIDE
Late snow
High: 26
“
Son of victim decries killer’s ‘selfish act’ at sentencing
2B Puzzles 9B Sports 4A Television 8A
Join us at Facebook.com/LJWorld and Twitter.com/LJWorld
9B 1B-4B 10A, 2B
Please see MURDER, page 10A
Snow on the way Lawrence street maintenance crews will begin working today to prepare for a predicted winter storm carrying up to 5 inches of snow. Page 3A
Vol.156/No.60 20 pages