Lawrence Journal-World 09-21-14

Page 1

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

24-10!

SPORTS, 1B

S’ WEIS PRAISES JAYHAWK . GRIT DOWN THE STRETCH

L A W R E NC E

JOURNAL-WORLD ®

$1.50

35.$!9 s 3%04%-"%2 s

A CLOSER

I

Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

Birthday lady keeps city on its toes

Former D.A. questions request for $28M police facility when crime clearance rates are so ‘poor’ in Lawrence By Chad Lawhorn

Lawhorn’s Lawrence

n the Benchmark Cities Survey, Lawrence’s violent crime clearance rate was 35.3 percent. The average is 57.6 percent. Lawrence ranked last in the survey.

LOOK

LJWorld.com

I

Twitter: @clawhorn_ljw

If Lawrence wants to examine the condition of its police force, it needs to look at a lot more than leaky roofs, cramped evidence rooms and outdated work spaces, says Lawrence resident Jerry Harper. Harper, a former Douglas County district attorney and defense lawyer, said he’s not convinced a nearly $28 million police headquarters would produce the results Lawrence residents really want. Harper points to a respected study of 30 midsized communities that raises questions about which problems most plague Lawrence’s Harper police force. The study found that Lawrence had some of the higher crime rates among the 30 cities — and some of the lower case-clearance rates. “Are poor facilities really the explanation for why we have poor clearance rates and high crime

Lawrence Police Chief Tarik Khatib says heavy workloads by officers have made it difficult for them to keep up on all the paperwork needed to officially mark a case as Please see POLICE, page 6A cleared.

Curious about the headquarters plan? If you have a question about the proposed police headquarters, send Chad Lawhorn an email at clawhorn@ljworld.com. An upcoming Q and A will attempt to address a host of issues and inquiries ahead of the November election.

can’t say for certain, but I expect I have Clenece Hills to thank, in part, for the cupcake I had at the Lawrence City Commission meeting on Tuesday. The cupcake was in celebration of Lawrence’s birthday. It was good. Far better than a presentation on zoning code changes, far better than a discussion on sewage pump stations and perhaps so good that I may or may not have done a dance on a City Hall table that required the mayor to gavel me back into order. (You try listening to nearly 20 years of zoning code changes, and we’ll see what you do for a cupcake.) But why do I suspect Clenece’s involvement in Please see HISTORY, page 2A

U.S. SENATE RACE

Orman’s task: Win over voters Roberts’ paradox: Four decades in a state where few know him of experience held against him By Peter Hancock Twitter: @pqhancock_ljw

Greg Orman might be one of the most improbable candidates ever to become a serious contender for the U.S. Senate in Kansas. He’s a native of Minnesota who went to college in New Jersey and spent several years living alternately in Florida and Kansas — a geographical

Cooling off

mixture that may community politiaccount for his cal support. unusual accent And yet, this that many listenJohnson County ers find hard to businessidentify. man who He also has founded never held public a venture office, claims no capital party affiliation Orman fund that and offers no refew peosume of past leadership ple outside that industry in any traditional civic or have ever heard of now charity organizations that Please see ORMAN, page 7A might serve as a base for

Low: 47

Today’s forecast, page 8B

Twitter: @pqhancock_ljw

Sen. Pat Roberts has been a key player in Republican politics at the state and national level for nearly half a century, going back to 1967 when he first joined the staff of thenSen. Frank Carlson, and later with former Rep. Keith Sebelius.

ELECTION

2014

INSIDE Arts&Entertainment 1C-6C Events listings Books 4C Horoscope Classified 1D-10D Movies Deaths 2A Opinion

High: 76

By Peter Hancock

2B, 6C Puzzles 10D Sports 2C Television 9A

Join us at Facebook.com/LJWorld and Twitter.com/LJWorld

10D 1B-8B 2B, 6C

But now, at 78, on relentlessly Roberts faces the during the GOP toughest re-elecprimary, calling tion campaign of Roberts a Virhis career. His ginia Republican long years of exand claiming he perience in Washspends more time ington have sudat his home in denly gone from suburban Washbeing his biggest Roberts ington than in asset to perhaps Kansas. his greatest liability. And it’s an issue that It was an issue that his main challenger in the his tea party challenger Please see ROBERTS, page 8A Milton Wolf hammered

Davis dust-up Democrat Paul Davis calls his ’90s visit to a rural strip club raided by police a case of “wrong place, wrong time.” Story, 3A

Vol.156/No.264 36 pages


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.