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TUESDAY • AUGUST 11 • 2015
Mayor quits job at food bank; nonprofit owes $50K in taxes
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We’ll make it as painless as we can, but there could be some (teacher) movement at the very last minute.” — Lawrence Superintendent Rick Doll
Shifting of teachers possible as district eyes cost cutting ———
Board gives final approval to property tax increase By Rochelle Valverde Twitter: @RochelleVerde Richard Gwin/Journal-World File Photo
LAWRENCE MAYOR JEREMY FARMER, shown at a City Commission meeting on April 14, resigned as executive director of Just Food on Monday amid revelations that the nonprofit agency was behind in paying $50,000 in federal payroll taxes.
Divorce deposition alleges past financial mismanagement By Chad Lawhorn
“
No matter what she said in an affidavit, no charges were filed from anywhere against Lawrence Mayor Jeremy Farmer has unexpect- me for anything.” Twitter: @clawhorn_ljw
edly stepped down from his position as executive director of a local food bank, in part because the nonprofit is about $50,000 past due on federal payroll taxes. Leaders with Just Food announced on Monday that Farmer had resigned as executive director, effective immediately. Elizabeth Keever, Just Food’s chief resource officer, has
— Lawrence Mayor Jeremy Farmer been named as interim executive director. When asked by the Journal-World, Farmer confirmed that Just Food recently discovered that several payroll tax payments had not been made. Kristi Henderson, president of Just Food’s board
Enrollment in the Lawrence school district is being watched with a sharp eye, checked daily and sometimes even hourly, officials say, as the days tick down to the first day of school on Aug. 19. Numbers at each school particularly matter this year because one of the district’s potential strategies for reducing costs is decreasing the number of sections in a grade if numbers permit, said Lawrence schools Superintendent Rick Doll at the school board’s meeting Monday night. Please see SCHOOL, page 4A
From the Just Food board president: “It looks like just a lack of attention to detail.”
of directors, confirmed — Kristi Henderson, on the that the nonprofit had $50,000 in unpaid taxes about a $50,000 tax liability due to the IRS, and Just Food leaders were inpayments stretched from vestigating whether there the start of 2014 to the was an additional tax liearly part of 2015. ability due to the state of The unpaid taxes were Kansas. Henderson estiPlease see FARMER, page 2A mated that the missed tax
Lawmakers speak against Kobach’s plan to purge list of ‘suspense’ voters By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
After 39 years at Capitol, blind food vendor calls it a day Says he can’t compete against free food provided by lobbyists
DON WISTUBA, a diehard Nebraska Cornhuskers fan, proudly displays memorabilia of his favorite team at the snack bar he has run in the Kansas Statehouse for 39 years. Wistuba announced he will go out of business at the end of August, saying he can no longer compete against all the free food that lobbyists serve up to legislators.
By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Topeka — One of the best-known and beloved fixtures in the Kansas Statehouse has announced he is going out of business, effective Aug. 31. Don Wistuba, who has provided concessions in the Statehouse since 1976, said Monday that there are no longer enough people working year-round in the Capitol to keep the business afloat, and even during legislative sessions he can’t compete Peter Hancock/Journal-World Photo
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Topeka — Four Kansas Lawmakers went on record Monday opposing Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s proposal to cancel voter registration applications after 90 days if those voters do not submit proof of citizenship or other required information. Those statements came during a meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules and Regulations, which reviews proposed regulations, but does not have authority to veto them. “I want to record my opposition to this arbitrary and capricious 90-day rule,” said Rep. Jim Ward, D-Wichita, Kobach who also raised new questions about whether the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirement is constitutional, in light of a recent federal appeals court opinion. Joining him were Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudea, of Wichita, and Rep. Tom Hawk, of Manhattan, both Democrats, and Republican Sen. Vicki Schmidt, of Topeka. Since January 2013, voters registering
Marriage ban void Judge rules Kansas ban on same-sex marriages unconstitutional in the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. Page 3A
Please see VOTERS, page 6A
Vol.157/No.223 26 pages