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FRIDAY • MARCH 28 • 2014
Lawyer: Teen ‘never denied’ killing roommate By Stephen Montemayor Twitter: @smontemayor
From the moment Lawrence police contacted her after she was found in Florida, Sarah B. Gonzales McLinn has never denied killing Harold Sasko, the 52-year-old Lawrence businessman found dead at his home in January, her attorney says. McLinn, 19, appeared with her attorney, Carl Cornwell, in Douglas County District Court,
McLinn is charged with firstdegree murder in the death of Sasko, who was found dead Jan. 17 after police went to the home the two shared in the 2900 block of West 26th Street after McLinn was reported missing by family. Cornwell wanted to waive McLinn Sasko a preliminary hearing in the where a preliminary hearing case, at which witnesses would was set for May 16 despite testify and evidence would be Cornwell’s desire to waive the presented, but the prosecuhearing. tion, led by District Attorney
Charles Branson, wanted to move forward with it. Branson announced last month that the state will seek a Hard 50 sentence if McLinn is convicted of first-degree murder. Branson described the crime as “cruel, heinous and atrocious.” If convicted, McLinn could serve 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole. “I know what happened. … Please see MCLINN, page 2A
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What got my client to that day and why she did what she did, I am having trouble wrapping my brain around it.” — Defense attorney Carl Cornwell
DEVELOPMENT
Plans filed for retail strip along SLT By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Plans have been filed at City Hall for a new retail development that would add more than 20 new stores and restaurants along the South Lawrence Trafficway. An out-of-state development group has filed plans for a vacant 160 acres near the southeast corner of Iowa Street and the unfinished South Lawrence Trafficway. Developers have secured an option to purchase the property and have been shopping the site to national retailers for several months. “When we started marketing this, we got a very strong and positive response from Please see SLT, page 2A
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
LAWRENCE RESIDENT CHAD RICHARDS works to maintain his balance as he glides around the Burroughs Trail with the help of his dogs, Maximus, left, and Nala on Thursday.
Chancellor upholds fee cut, creates new charges By Sara Shepherd Twitter: @saramarieshep
Kansas University students no longer will pay a $25-per-semester athletics fee, after the chancellor agreed to uphold a Student Senate vote eliminating it. However, beginning this fall, two different fees will be instated in its place — $12 to pay off debt on the Student Recreation Fit-
ness Center and $7 to support university athletics programs, for a total of $19 per semester. Chancel- Gray-Little lor Bernadette Gray-Little outlined her actions in a letter delivered today to the Student
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Lesser prairie chicken The federal government placed the lesser prairie chicken on a list of threatened species, which could affect some industries. Page 3A
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A Lawrence man was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday in the November 2013 shooting death of his wife after turning down a plea deal from Hopkins prosecutors. Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone convicted Larry L. Hopkins, 67, after he altered his plea from not guilty, which he entered in January, to no contest on Thursday.
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By Elliot Hughes
on to pay for the studentsought rec center expansion. She said adding the $12 a semester to the Student Recreation and Fitness Center Fee is needed to cover the terms of those bonds, requiring annual payments of $470,000 until 2027. As for the $7 Kansas Athletics Fee, Gray-Little said it would decrease Kansas
INSIDE
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Senate, which voted March 12 to eliminate the fee. Gray-Little said she valued shared governance and the senate’s role as elected representatives of KU students. Therefore, she said, she did not want to veto the legislation. However, Gray-Little said, the senate’s vote effectively abrogates an April 2004 fee agreement that Kansas Athletics relied
Man guilty of wife’s murder, rejects deal
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Vol.156/No.86 30 pages