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SATURDAY • JULY 5 • 2014
238 YEARS OLD AND STILL ...
TRAFFICWAY
KDOT braces for possible cutbacks in road projects ———
With looming federal shortfall, Kansas is still in better position than some states By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Having a blast
John Young/Journal-World Photo
T
housands of people gathered Friday night at Watson Park downtown and along the Kansas River to watch the sky light up. The bright display of fireworks echoed millions of others across the nation and around the world as the United States celebrated 238 years as an independent nation. l More Lawrence July 4 celebrations. Page 3A l A Fourth of July view from around the nation. Page 5A
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
DRAPED IN AN AMERICAN FLAG, Kylei Brooks, of Olathe, above, sprays bug repellent on her friend Imani McKie, also from Olathe, as the two head for the Lawrence riverfront, top, to wait for the fireworks display on Friday night.
Topeka — The South Lawrence Trafficway and the “Gateway” interchange project in Johnson County are among the major highway projects in Kansas that could be affected if, as projected, the Federal Highway Trust Fund runs out of money sometime next month. But officials at the Kansas Department of Transportation say they believe they have enough resources to weather the storm, at least for a few months. KDOT typically “We’re in better shape than some receives about states because we $360 million a have dedicated year in federal funding sources that are not federal funds, or about sources,” KDOT 25 percent of the spokesman Steve state agency’s Schwartz said. overall budget. “We’ve said all along if the fund But that money is stopped delivering especially impormoney to us, we tant this year, could go three to six months before KDOT spokesman any impact on our Steve Schwartz construction pro- said. gram.” Kansas is now in the fifth year of a 10-year transportation program known as T-WORKS, a $7.8 billion highway construction program that is largely funded with federal dollars. State officials have said as many as 175,000 jobs in Kansas are tied, either directly or indirectly, to that program. The looming shortfall in the federal highway fund is one that officials in Washington have known about for some time. Its Please see FUND, page 2A
Whereabouts of man who jumped from jail window still a mystery By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
State and federal officials were unable to say this week what became of a man who was treated at Kansas University Hospital in 2006 after leaping from a window at the Wabaunsee County jail. Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Thursday that the man, Alberto Contreras Gonzalez, was never taken into their custo-
“
forcement agencies to hold him so he could be transferred for possible deportation proceedings. But as more details emerge about the the drama surrounding Contreras, hospital officials say they hope the recent Kansas Supreme Court — Dennis McCullough, decision in his case will give director of public relations clearer guidance about who for Kansas University Hospital is responsible for paying the medical bills in such cases. dy, even though that agency “If we could get clearer had issued a “detainer” for rules and regulations on this, him, asking other law en- it would save us a lot of time
If we could get clearer rules and regulations on this, it would save us a lot of time and money in legal fees.”
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and money in legal fees,” said Dennis McCullough, director of public relations for KU COURTS Hospital in Kansas City, Kan. Contreras was at the center of a Kansas Supreme Court ruling June 27 involving a dispute over who was responsible for the estimated $138,000 hospital bill he incurred after leaping from the fourth floor of the coun-
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ty courthouse in Alma.
Arrest, multiple transfers The drama began March 1, 2006, when Contreras, who had several aliases, was stopped on Interstate 70 by the Kansas Highway Patrol and arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana with intent to sell. Arrest records listed his address in Visalia, Calif., but his Mexican driver’s license showed an address in Please see HOSPITAL, page 2A
The real meaning A group of Lawrence residents toured Oak Hill Cemetery on Friday morning to honor the graves of veterans from the Civil War to World War I. Page 3A
Vol.156/No.186 22 pages