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Decontaminating former gun range will cost city thousands By Rochelle Valverde rvalverde@ljworld.com
There is a room in the Lawrence Community Building that is closed off to the public — not even a ventilation system runs between it and the
Lead levels in Community Building room well in excess of federal guidelines rest of the structure. Before the door is ever opened, a level of cleanup akin to that for asbestos and methamphetamine labs is needed.
“The door is locked and nobody’s going in until we get it cleaned, so I think we’re safe and should be doing what we’re supposed to be doing,”
said Ernie Shaw, interim direc- housed a gun range that has left tor of the Lawrence Parks and behind high levels of lead conRecreation Department. tamination. For decades, the approxi> RANGE, 5A mately 1,400-square-foot space
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Civilians get hands-on first responder training By Rochelle Valverde rvalverde@ljworld.com
Jade Darling/Contributed Photos
CITY COMMISSIONER STUART BOLEY, LAWRENCE-DOUGLAS COUNTY FIRE MEDICAL FIREFIGHTER SEAMUS ALBRITTON, Douglas County Commission candidate Michelle Derusseau and Lawrence City Manager Tom Markus participate in the Fire Ops 101 training on Oct. 1. See a video from the training session at ljworld.com/firefightertraining2016.
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here’s a specific reason I left the firefighter training last weekend with the song “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” stuck in my head. News to me, I can get a little claustrophobic, at least when it comes to putting a plastic mask over my face, suctioned tight with a rubber seal. Basically, they are like
goggles, but extending from hairline to chin. What began as a somewhat pleasant Darth Vader inhale-exhale as oxygen was pulled from the canister on my back did not last long. Once I was crawling around in a dark room (that we were only pretending was on fire) and looking for a dummy to save, it lost its easy pace. The 15 people participating
in the firefighter training, Fire Ops 101, were broken into four teams, each led by a firefighter. The training was organized by the Lawrence Professional Firefighters, the local firefighters union, and was meant to show city and county leaders what the duty of firefighters and first responders is like. On my team were City Commissioner Matthew Herbert and Eudora
City Manager Barack Matite. Once the dummy rescue was underway, the firefighter accompanying my team, Ben Dennis, must have noticed my breathing, too. He said to keep his breathing steady with the oxygen mask on, it helped him to hum a song. He suggested a string of artists, but only Cyndi Lauper stood out to me. And so it was. I would try to hum
one of her songs, and try to have fun busting my knees to save this dummy. It didn’t really work the first try, but within a couple minutes we pulled the dummy out, its reflective firefighter jacket askew, showing off its plastic midriff, and its pants coming down, but intact nonetheless. Rescued.
> TRAINING, 6A
LEFT: LAWRENCE-DOUGLAS COUNTY FIRE MEDICAL FIREFIGHTER JASON RAY monitors a fire being used as part of the Fire Ops 101 training. CENTER: Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical firefighter Jen Persons gives direction to Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug. RIGHT: City Commissioner Matthew Herbert uses a vehicle extraction tool.
Brownback standing by Trump despite obscene comments presidential candidate Donald Trump made in Tape fallout roils a 2005 taped conversaTrump camp. 1B tion, but he is not withdrawing his support. “The passage of time does not change the unacceptable language a statement emailed his statements reused by Donald Trump,” to reporters. “While main demeaning, Brownback said in he has apologized, inappropriate and
By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback issued a statement Saturday condemning vulgar remarks about women that GOP
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unacceptable.” Nevertheless, Brownback’s press secretary Eileen Hawley said in a follow-up email that Brownback has not withdrawn his support for Trump.
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