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BUILDING CONCERNS Kansas trails rest of U.S. in construction job growth
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS REPORTS SHOW that Kansas has lost more construction jobs from July 2015 to July 2016 than any other state in the country, and is 49th in terms of percentage of construction job growth.
K
ansas has lost more construction jobs from July 2015 to July 2016 than any other state in the country, according to figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The total number of construction workers is down by 4,400 people, according to the figures. That has far outpaced the 2,900 job losses in North Dakota, which has seen a bust in its boom-bust oil economy. On a percentage basis, Kansas saw a 7.3 percent decline in construction jobs for the year. That ranked 49th out of all the states and the District of Columbia. The numbers didn’t indicate that Chad Lawhorn the situation clawhorn@ljworld.com was improving. Kansas lost 500 construction jobs for the month. The report also is a little tough to take because it shows many other states in the region are adding construction jobs, some at tremendous paces. In fact, three of the states in our region were in the top 10. Here’s a look: l Iowa: Rank: No. 1; 90,300 construction jobs, up 16.5 percent l Colorado: Rank: No. 4; 164,100 construction jobs, up 10.9 percent l Oklahoma: Rank: No. 8; 83,900 construction jobs, up 7.7 percent l Nebraska: Rank: No. 32; 50,400 construction jobs, up 1.0 percent l Missouri: Rank: No. 34; 114,100 construction jobs, up 0.8 percent l Kansas: Rank: No. 49; 56,000 construction jobs, down 7.3 percent The Associated General Contractors of America takes the federal statistics and compiles them in a report each month. Leaders with the Kansas Contractors
Richard Gwin/ Journal-World File Photo
Town Talk
Kansas has lost 4,400 construction jobs from July 2015 to July 2016 — a 7.3 percent decrease.
AROUND THE REGION
No. 1
No. 32
Up 16.5 percent
Up 1.0 percent
No. 4
No. 34
No. 49
Up 10.9 percent
Down 7.3 percent
Up 0.8 percent
Up 7.7 percent
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
> JOBS, 2A
City to raise fees for apartment, commercial projects By Rochelle Valverde Twitter: @RochelleVerde
The City of Lawrence soon will be charging a new fee for commercial and multi-family building projects that will help fund additional review for large-scale developments. The fee is projected to pay for a new position — a senior building inspector — in the city’s planning and development services
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Increase will fund additional review for large developments department. The senior inspector will help to manage, review and inspect large commercial and multi-family projects. “Those kinds of larger projects sometimes have a lot of coordination that’s needed to make sure things
go smoothly during the project and especially at the end,” said Kurt Schroeder, assistant director of development services for the city. But the new fee, in many cases, will add thousands of dollars onto the cost
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of commercial and apartment projects. The fee will be calculated by using the current building permit fee formula — which is based on the dollar value of a project — and then adding 20 percent to that fee total. For instance, a $25-million project would have to pay about $44,000 in permit fees and an additional $9,000 for the review fee.
Low: 68
Motel owner gets probation in wife’s stabbing ——
Judge factors culture, family into decision By Conrad Swanson cswanson@ljworld.com
The man who stabbed his wife twice last summer will not be sentenced to prison, a judge determined Thursday afternoon. Navinkumar Patel, 46, of Shawnee, was arrested in late June 2015 after he stabbed his wife in the abdomen at Lawrence’s Super 8 Motel, 515 McDonald Drive, which he owns. He pleaded no contest to felony charges Patel of attempted second-degree murder and criminal threat in March. After Patel’s plea, Douglas County District Court Judge Robert Fairchild ordered him committed to Larned State Hospital for a mental health evaluation. Thursday, Patel appeared in court to be sentenced. Fairchild sentenced him to probation, the terms of which have not yet been decided, however.
> STABBING, 2A
Boy, 6, shoots self in foot, police say By Conrad Swanson cswanson@ljworld.com
No. 8
Here’s how other states compared in terms of construction job growth from July 2015 to July 2016.
PUBLISHED SINCE 1891
> FEES, 2A
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A Lawrence 6-year-old was shot Thursday morning while he was playing with a gun, police say. Around 7:45 a.m. officers were dispatched to the 500 block of Wisconsin Street regarding a shooting, Lawrence Police Sgt. Amy Rhoads said in a news release. Officers found the child inside his home suffering from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the foot, Rhoads said. The child was taken by ambulance to a Kansas City-area hospital in stable condition, the release said, and he is expected to recover. The incident is currently under investigation. Several adult witnesses were at the residence Thursday, all of whom have been interviewed by investigators. When the investigation is complete, investigators will forward their reports to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, which will determine whether any criminal charges will be filed. No further details were available Thursday.
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