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THURSDAY • AUGUST 13 • 2015
County OKs specialty meat venture
MAYOR RESIGNS COMMISSION WILL MEET FRIDAY TO ACCEPT FARMER’S LETTER By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photos
DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER JIM FLORY LOOKS AT A CONTAINER OF PROCESSED LARD brought in by Brian Strecker to demonstrate a lack of odor from meat preparation in Strecker’s proposed specialty venture in rural Douglas County. Strecker spoke Wednesday night in defense of his proposal, which was opposed by some Lecompton residents and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who appeared at the meeting with his family. Commissioners approved Strecker’s plan.
Kobach fails to block Lawrence entrepreneur By Conrad Swanson Twitter: @Conrad_Swanson
A specialty meat shop is on the horizon for a 30-acre plot of land just west of Lecompton, despite vocal opposition from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and several others. Wednesday night, Douglas County commissioners unanimously approved Lawrence chef Brian Strecker’s conditional use permit for a 640-square-foot venture called The Burning Barrel, which will be located at 292 North 2100 Road. More than 50 people attended a
marathon commission meeting at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St., to voice their support for or opposition to Strecker’s proposal. Of the three dozen residents who ad- Strecker dressed the commission, more than half spoke out against the proposal, voicing concerns about fire, odor and health hazards. Those who spoke in favor of Strecker’s business vouched for his honesty, work ethic and pro-
fessional skills. Strecker, who ran the kitchen at Lawrence’s now-shuttered Pachamamas for 13 years, said his new shop will process locally raised livestock into hams, Kobach sausages and other cuts of meat. The shop will employ no more than four people and process no more than four hogs a week, Strecker told commissioners, objecting to
Lawrence Mayor Jeremy Farmer resigned his seat on the City Commission Wednesday, two days after he resigned from his job as executive director of the nonprofit food pantry Just Food, where he failed to pay about $50,000 in fedJeremy Farmer eral payroll taxes. Farmer on Monday had has tendered his described the failure to resignation as pay the taxes as an over- Lawrence mayor. sight, and Just Food’s board president, Kristi Henderson, characterized the nonpayment, going back to the beginning of 2014, as “just a lack of attention to detail.” Farmer has not commented since, but in his resignation letter Wednesday he said: “Effective immediately, I will be resigning as Vice Mayor a City Commissioner. The Leslie Soden last 48 hours have taken a will step into tremendous toll on me per- Farmer’s former sonally, and for the benefit role, according of the City and for myself, to city codes. I feel it best to step aside.” The letter was sent via email to interim City Manager Diane Stoddard and city attorney Toni Wheeler. Please see MAYOR, page 2A
Please see MEAT, page 2A
JUST FOOD
Kansas officials defend pension bonds By John Hanna Associated Press
Topeka (ap) — Kansas sold $1 billion in bonds Wednesday in an effort to bolster the financial health of its pension system for teachers and government workers, a day after a ma-
Moody’s said sales would ‘do little’ to help jor rating agency said the move will “do little” to help while increasing the state’s financial risks. State officials expect the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System to earn more
from investing the funds raised from the bonds than they will pay investors over the 30-year life of the debt, making it easier to close a long-term funding gap facing the system. Supporters com-
pare the move to paying off high-interest credit card debt with a lower-interest loan. “This isn’t a crapshoot on the part of the state,” said Please see BONDS, page 2A
East Lawrence coffee shop has Paris-sized plans
Town Talk
Chad Lawhorn
I
don’t know how many glasses of chardonnay it will take to make the Kaw look like the Seine, but we may soon find out. An East Lawrence coffee shop has filed plans to convert itself into a French-style bistro, complete with alcohol. Decade, the coffee shop at 920 Delaware St., has filed for a drinking establishment license, and city commissioners gave the license its necessary approvals at Tuesday’s meeting. Louis Wigen-Toccalino, owner of Please see COFFEE, page 2A
clawhorn@ljworld.com
QUESTIONABLE TAX RETURN GIVEN TO UNITED WAY? By Karen Dillon and Sara Shepherd Twitter: @LJWorld
Even as Jeremy Farmer was stepping down Wednesday as Lawrence mayor, questions began swirling about Just Food’s 2014 income tax return. Two days before, Farmer had unexpectedly resigned as executive director of Just Food, a nonprofit food bank, in part because of a $50,000 past-due bill for federal payroll taxes. Now it appears Farmer provided a questionable income tax return earlier this summer to the United Way of Douglas County. Just Food has asked an accountant to review the income tax return, which was signed solely by Farmer. In addition, Just Food has retained attorney John Bullock of Stevens & Brand LLP to handle a records request by the Journal-World, the attorney acknowledged Wednesday. Farmer has claimed that he saved the food bank after he became the CEO in 2011. On his Facebook page, his biography Please see RETURN, page 2A
Richard Gwin/Journal-World File Photo
INSIDE
Sunny Business Classified Comics Deaths
High: 87
Low: 64
Today’s forecast, page 8A
2A 5C-9C 10C 2A
Events listings Going Out Horoscope Opinion
8A, 2C Puzzles 4A Sports 6A Television 7A USA Today
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6A 1C-4C 8A, 2C 1B-8B
Plot twist Step aside, Maria Callas. Lawrence Opera Theatre is getting ready to put a new spin on Georges Bizet’s classic “Carmen.” Page 4A
Vol.157/No.225 26 pages