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WEDNESDAY • OCTOBER 14 • 2015
Parks and Rec, meet ‘Parks and Rec’
City OKs Eldridge tax break By Nikki Wentling Twitter: @nikkiwentling
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
CITY COMMISSIONER LISA LARSEN SHOOTS A SELFIE WITH JIM O’HEIR, who for seven years played the part of Jerry Gergich on the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation,” Tuesday at South Park. O’Heir, who is currently acting in a play, “You Can’t Take It With You,” at the New Theatre in Overland Park, came to Lawrence at the request of city officials to present the Lawrence parks and recreation department with its award for being a finalist for the National Recreation and Park Association’s Gold Medal Award.
Actor presents C national honor for department
arson Smith wasn’t expecting to rub elbows with a celebrity when he arrived at South Park to celebrate the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department’s recent Gold Medal Award finalist recognition from the National Recreation and Park Association. But that’s exactly what greeted Smith — and about 100 of his colleagues — around noon Tuesday, when actor Jim O’Heir, star of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,”
presented the Lawrence department with its finalist plaque from the NRPA. Lawrence Parks and Recreation was one of four finalists this year for the coveted Gold Medal Award, which recognizes excellence in parks and recreation management. The department ultimately lost the honor to St. George Leisure Services in St. George, Utah, last month. Please see PARKS, page 5A
Efficiency firm: Education funds not ‘off the table’ By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Topeka — A consulting firm being paid nearly $2.6 million to find savings and efficiencies in Kansas state government said Tuesday that it may examine the budgets and operations of individual universities and public school districts in Kansas as it looks for ways to find savings and effi-
ciencies in state government. “The short answer is nothing is off the table right now,” said John “J.W.” Rust, a senior director with New York-based Alvarez & Marsal. Kansas lawmakers selected that firm last month to conduct a study of state spending and operations and make recommendations for ways the state can
reduce spending or be more efficient with the money it does spend. The firm has done similar projects for other governments, most recently in Louisiana and Puerto Rico. It has also been called upon to turn around troubled school districts in St. Louis and New Orleans, although its work on those projects has stirred public controversy.
The company held its first meeting Tuesday with officials from cabinet-level agencies as well as K-12 and higher education. One question that has lingered over the project since lawmakers first authorized it in this year’s budget has been how deeply the firm will focus on the details of how education money is spent. Please see FUNDS, page 5A
The Lawrence City Commission voted 3-2 on Tuesday to adopt an ordinance finalizing a sales tax break for materials used on the Eldridge Hotel expansion. Commissioner Matthew Herbert, who cast the deciding vote, was hesitant, saying he didn’t agree with the tax break but didn’t want to disclaim an incenCITY tive that had already been COMMISSION promised. “I want to send a very loud message: If you send this project before this body in the future, it will not pass,” Herbert said. “The only reason it passes today is that the previous commission gave their word, and I’m sorry that they did.” Expansion plans for the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St., include adding an estimated 54 guest rooms and Please see ELDRIDGE, page 8A
Kobach charges 3 with voting offenses By John Hanna Associated Press
Topeka — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office has charged three voters in two counties of casting ballots illegally while voting in another state in the same elections, filing the first cases under a new state law giving him the power to prosecute election fraud Kobach allegations. Please see KOBACH, page 2A
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Massage parlor case 6A 1C-4C 8A, 2C 1B-6B
One of the two defendants involved in an alleged human trafficking scheme at a Lawrence massage parlor has accepted a plea deal. Page 3A
Vol.157/No.287 38 pages