KU TAKES ON KENTUCKY TONIGHT Tipoff scheduled for 8:30 p.m. in Indianapolis 1C
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TUESDAY • NOVEMBER 18 • 2014
City mulls roundabout for busy section of Kasold By Chad Lawhorn Twitter: @clawhorn_ljw
Federal transportation officials are willing to provide $400,000 to build a roundabout on a busy portion of Kasold Drive in west Lawrence. Now, Lawrence city commissioners have to decide whether they want to take them up on the offer. Commissioners at to-
Federal officials willing to give $400K toward project night’s meeting will consider moving ahead on an estimated $5 million project to rebuild Kasold Drive between Sixth Street and Bob Billings Parkway. The project would be constructed in 2016, but design work would begin next year.
As part of the project, commissioners earlier this year applied for a federal grant that helps fund intersection safety improvements. A roundabout was discussed as a possibility at that time, but now commissioners have to decide whether they want to
add a roundabout, which are loved by some motorists and hated by others. City engineers like the idea of a roundabout. “We think it would help improve safety and would help improve traffic flow,” said David Cronin, city en-
gineer in the Public Works Department. Commissioners of late have been more open to the idea of roundabouts on major city streets. In November 2013, commissioners Please see CITY, page 2A
Bitter cold bears down on Lawrence
CITY COMMISSION
Rock Chalk Park costs unclear ———
Loan amount, lack of audit among items questioned By Chad Lawhorn Twitter: @clawhorn_ljw
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
DAN OWENS, WHO WORKS AT KANSAS UNIVERSITY, wraps up as he walks to his car in Monday’s bitterly cold wind. Overnight lows were expected to dip down to 9 degrees with wind chills as cold as minus 4, which would be a record for the date, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka. Today is expected to be sunny with temperatures rising into the high 30s.
State’s revenue shortfall raises KPERS worries “
By Peter Hancock
Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Topeka — The troubled Kansas Public Employees Retirement System has started showing new signs of health in the past two years with big gains in the stock market and changes in the system requiring increased contributions from both the state and its employees. But new concerns were raised Monday that those
gains could come undone if Kansas lawmakers decide to cut back on the state’s contributions to the pension system to address a looming $715 million revenue shortfall. Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, asked KPERS officials Monday to come up with projections about what that would do to the system’s unfunded liability. “Those of us who have been around here long enough know that when tough times
Business Classified Comics Deaths
Low: 25
Today’s forecast, page 6A
Those of us who have been around here long enough know that when tough times come, we have either reduced or eliminated our KPERS contributions.” — Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka
Please see KPERS, page 2A
Please see COSTS, page 6A
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come, we have either reduced or eliminated our KPERS contributions,” Kelly said during a meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Pensions and Investments. Last week, state budget officials released new revenue projections showing lawmakers will need to cut $279 million in spending to balance this year’s budget. And for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, they will need to carry
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Lawrence taxpayers are being asked to pay the interest costs of a construction loan to build millions of dollars worth of infrastructure at the Rock Chalk Park sports complex, but the city’s partners in the project are declining to disclose to the city the amount of the loan or the interest rate charged on the loan. Instead, city officials have been provided a simple letter from Emprise Bank that states a private development group led by Lawrence businessman Thomas Fritzel has paid $449,081 in interest costs and another $158,643 in loan fees and other “third party fees” related to the loan. The letter provides no details about the size of the loan, its term, its interest rate or other details that would help the city determine if the costs are reasonable. The lack of transparency is creating concerns with at least one city official. “We need to know all the information,” said Mayor Mike Amyx. “It is as easy as that.” At their meeting this evening, commissioners are being
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Rape suspects charged
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Vol.156/No.322 18 pages
Two men, one a Haskell football player, were charged Monday in connection with the rape of a woman in a Haskell dormitory. Page 3A
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