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TUESDAY • OCTOBER 27 • 2015
Transit leaders: KU lot could be bus hub
Turnover plagues child welfare YELLIN’ FOR ‘ELLEN’ system Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
LEFT: KANSAS UNIVERSITY SENIOR LAUREN RUSSELL, of Boerne, Texas, is all decked out in blue as she awaits a taping of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” near Memorial Stadium at the bottom of KU’s Campanile hill Monday. MIDDLE: A King Charles spaniel is hoisted above the crowd. RIGHT: KU junior Sarah Kane, Leawood, laughs as she tries to get the attention of producers. BELOW: Spectators go wild as an overhead camera pans across the crowd. See more photos at ljworld.com/ellenatku.
By Nikki Wentling Twitter: @NikkiWentling
Lawrence and Kansas University transit leaders are considering a parking lot in front of KU’s Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center as the site for a new central transfer hub. The idea was brought up in a memo to Lawrence city commissioners, who will officially receive the information CITY at their meetCOMMISSION ing today. Robert Nugent, the city’s transit administrator, said he wrote the memo because today, KU officials will present the commission with an update on the university’s Central District — an area no longer being considered as an option for the transit hub. “It’s a good time to tell people, tell commissioners, that we’re not looking at the Central District anymore,” Nugent said. “We’re looking somewhere else. There’s no confirmation of whether we’ll build there, but we’re continuing to look for places in that general area.” Commissioners will not be asked to take action regarding the location. Nugent said KU and city officials would next take a closer look at the property. Danny Kaiser, assistant director of KU’s parking and transit department, said it’s still “months or a year off” before anything is definite. “It’s just in the earliest stages, but we want to get everyone on board with the idea,” Kaiser said. Transit leaders are proposing the facility be a parking deck with the first floor serving as a transit center. The facility would take up about 2 acres, equating to between one-fourth and one-third of the parking lot, Lot 90. It’s proposed that the center be located in the northeastern section of the lot — near the intersection of Watkins Center Drive and Schwegler Drive — so it’s “closer to the core of activity,” Kaiser said. KU has already identified the location as needing more parking. Kaiser said the university’s master plan calls for the installation of a parking deck at that spot. Please see TRANSIT, page 2A
By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Douglas County Judge Peggy Kittel said she had a child in her courtroom last week who has been in the custody of the state’s child welfare system for two years. That’s not unusual for children who’ve been victims of abuse or neglect at home. What is unusual — or at least used to be — is that in that relatively short period of time, that one child has had seven different case managers working to either resolve the problems at home or find a permanent residential placement.
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2 win Royals tickets in talk show’s contest By Caitlin Doornbos and Sara Shepherd Twitter: @CaitlinDoornbos and @saramarieshep
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nspired by game one of the World Series taking place today in Kansas City, Mo., “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” came to the Kansas University campus Monday to drum up some team spirit. Specifically, Royals spirit. Though DeGeneres herself didn’t make the trip, representatives and camera crews from her show set up shop at the bottom of KU’s Campanile hill Monday afternoon and filmed scenes that will air on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” today
Low: 47
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” airs at 4 p.m. weekdays on KMBC-TV Channel 9. prior to the baseball game. Hundreds of KU students and community members showed up to cheer on the Royals for the cameras — many dressed as various versions of kings, queens, princesses and Royals baseball stars for a chance to win prizes from the show. Tweets by DeGeneres — who claims a cool 49 million Twitter followers — started
Saturday and, little by little, revealed more about what her show was doing on campus, when and where. On Saturday afternoon: “Hey, everybody at the University of Kansas, if you’re as excited as I am about the World Series, I hope you’re free on Monday.” On Sunday afternoon, a tweet indicated an event would happen around noon. Just before noon Monday, she tweeted: “Be at the hill in front of the Campanile Memorial at 3pm today. You won’t be sorry. Let’s play ball.” Please see ELLEN, page 2A
INSIDE Business Classified Comics Deaths
Today’s forecast, page 8A
Where to watch
JEANNIE KLISIEWICZ, A CORRESPONDENT FOR “THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW,” gets the crowd going at KU.
Heavy showers
High: 58
Please see WELFARE, page 8A
2A 5D-10D 4C 2A
Events listings Horoscope Opinion Puzzles
6A, 2D Sports 4A Television 5A USA Today 4A WellCommons
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I cannot pinpoint the reason why (high turnover among case managers is) happening. But it’s affecting our ability to help these families in crisis.” — Douglas County Judge Peggy Kittel
SCHOOL BOARD
Traffic change proposals reviewed By Rochelle Valverde Twitter: @RochelleVerde
The Lawrence school board reviewed proposed changes to school traffic flow at seven schools — including the possibility of making streets near two schools one-way — in response to community concerns. Factors such as the school bond construction projects, boundary changes and new building orientation have prompted changes, explained Kyle Hayden, assistant superintendent of business and operations for the school district. “All those different components create different challenges for us to think through and respond to,” Hayden told the school board at its meeting Monday night.
Visitors bureau split 1D-4D 6A, 2D 1B-8B 1C-3C
A month after separating, Lawrence’s convention and visitors bureau and its former parent organization are still working closely with each other. Page 3A
Please see TRAFFIC, page 6A
Vol.157/No.300 30 pages