KU FOOTBALL COACH BEATY’S CONTRACT EXTENDED, SALARY DOUBLED. 1D HIGH COURT WRESTLES WITH DEATH PENALTY CHALLENGES. PAGE 1B
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Tuesday • December 13 • 2016
LAWRENCE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Board adjourns abruptly after audience disruption disruptions from the audience made it impossible to continue. Members of a group calling itself Black Lives Matter-LFK took over the 7 p.m. meeting soon after it started and refused to yield the floor; shouting
By Joanna Hlavacek jhlavacek@ljworld.com
Monday night’s meeting of the Lawrence school board was abruptly adjourned and police were called after loud, profanity-laden
ensued and tensions continued to escalate, with the group accusing the school district of protecting a teacher who had recently resigned and angrily denouncing the district’s investigation into the matter. At several points
during the meeting, protesters entered the area just in front of the school board members’ seats and pointed, screamed and cursed just feet from the members’ faces. When asked to calm down, protesters refused, saying
they, not the board, were in charge of the meeting. Though emotions ran high throughout the meeting, no physical violence occurred. The school district has been embroiled in controversy after accepting the
resignation of South Middle School social studies teacher Chris Cobb, who had been accused of making racist remarks in class. Exactly what Cobb allegedly said has never
> BOARD, 6A
THE PLACE
TO BE —
Douglas County visitor spending grows to $244M
W
Town Talk
ith the polar vortex arriving, the top tourist attraction in Douglas County may be watching me jump-start clawhorn@ljworld.com my electric long johns. But most times of the year, there is far more than that on the local tourism front, and a new report shows the industry has been growing. > TOURISM, 2A
Chad Lawhorn
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
A VIEW OF LAWRENCE SHOWS MASSACHUSETTS STREET and downtown on Monday. A report recently released by eXplore Lawrence shows that visitor spending increased by about 7.6 percent in 2015.
City to consider plan for citizen Kansas Senate President leery of one-time oversight of police complaints budget fix; says Brownback seeking ‘ticket to DC’ instructed to make complaints about the police department to the police Area residents may department itself. soon have a new way to “I think the goal is to file a complaint against build community trust,” the Lawrence Police De- City Manager Tom partment. Markus said of the proAt their work posed changes. session today, LawUnder the prorence city commisposed changes, sioners will review the board also a draft ordinance would be allowed that would change to fully review the the name of the results of investiCITY current Citizen Ad- COMMISSION gations related to visory Board for racial profiling if Fair and Impartial Polic- requested by the person ing and would authorize making the complaint. If the board to formally ac- the board disagreed with cept complaints against the police department’s the police department findings, it could forward from the public. Current- an alternative finding to ly, residents are generally the city manager’s office By Rochelle Valverde
rvalverde@ljworld.com
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VOL. 158 / NO. 348 / 22 PAGES
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this year it wanted to look into the possibility of selling off to investors the state’s future tobacco settlement payments in exchange for a lump sum payment. There have also been discussions about possible ways to use an estimated $366 million worth of unclaimed property being held by the State Treasurer’s office as a way to keep the state general fund afloat this year, an idea that Treasurer Ron Estes has said is not realistic. Wagle, however, said lawmakers would not look favorably on using
> BUDGET, 2A
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concerned that we may not get a budget that has a long-term structural fix in it,” Wagle said. Brownback has been widely mentioned as a possible candidate for a cabinet post, ambassadorship or some other job in the new administration. Brownback has consistently refused to discuss such speculation, and he has also declined to discuss what options he is considering to close a projected $350 million budget hole in the current fiscal year. The Brownback administration said earlier
By Peter Hancock
Topeka — Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle said Monday that she and other lawmakers are concerned that Gov. Sam Brownback may be looking for a quick way to get through this year’s budget crisis in hopes that he may soon take Wagle a job in Presidentelect Donald Trump’s administration. “I can assure you, a number of legislators are very concerned the governor is looking for a > OVERSIGHT, 2A ticket to D.C., and we’re
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for action. Currently, the board is not privy to details of the complaints or the investigations of racial profiling complaints. The board receives only summaries from the police department at the end of the investigation. In the past year, only one complaint regarding racial or other bias-based policing was filed against the Lawrence police department, according to the Kansas attorney general’s annual report. That case remains open. Currently, the board receives a summary of the investigations from the police department
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