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Legislation weakening public unions advances
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Bill would prohibit voluntary paycheck deductions used for political advocacy By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
BEN FISHMAN, OF LAWRENCE, brushes the snow from his car on Maine Street before heading to work Wednesday morning. Wednesday’s below-freezing temperatures and bitter wind were in stark contrast to Monday’s record-setting 75 degrees. Quick morning freeze complicates road conditions; few accidents reported, page 3A.
Denial of sand pit permit recommended By Peter Hancock
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It seems to be a competition between Both the Eudora and Law- resources, whether it’s rence-Douglas County planning commissions voted land or sand.” phancock@ljworld.com
Wednesday to recommend denial of a permit application for Penny’s Aggregate to develop a large sand pit mine along the Kansas River. It will now be up to the Douglas County Commission to make a final decision in a vote tentatively scheduled for Feb. 27. The Eudora planning
— Eudora Planning Commissioner Johnny Stewart group voted 4-0 to deny the permit. The vote on the Lawrence-Douglas County panel was 4-3 for denial. That represented a reversal for the Lawrence-Doug-
las County group, which voted narrowly in October to recommended approval of the permit, subject to several conditions. But it was a consistent vote for the Eudora planning group, which has been solidly opposed to the proposal all along. Although several concerns were raised during the lengthy public hearing, Eudora Planning Commissioner Johnny Stewart summed up the one issue that seemed most important in swaying votes: the choice between
developing and marketing the county’s natural resources, or protecting its most valuable farm land. “It seems to be a competition between resources, whether it’s land or sand,” Stewart said. Both of those goals are listed as priorities in the county’s long range comprehensive plan, known as Vision 2020. The proposal called for developing a sand pit on Please see SAND PIT, page 2A
Important black historical figure buried in K.C. By Mike Hendricks The Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, MO. — No one was sure what became of America’s black Moses after he sought to lead his people to the promised land. Historians could recite virtually every other pertinent detail of Benjamin “Pap” Singleton’s remarkable life. Born into slavery the same year Abraham Lincoln took his first breath — 1809 — Singleton escaped bondage as a
Lawrence woman among researchers who set record straight young man then returned to the South as a much older one to lead the exodus of freed blacks northward in the 1870s. “Ho for Kansas!” read one of the many fliers Singleton handed out across the old Confederacy, as he urged former slaves to escape the racist, oppressive policies of Jim Crow that took root after Reconstruction. Still, the people who write
though, finding just where in town he ended up took two years of determination by a pair of Kansas women who sought to set the record straight. Ol’ Pap, as he was known, lived longer than anyone figured. Records show he resided at 923 W. Eighth St. in the West Bottoms until his death at the age of 90 on Feb. 17, 1900. Please see SINGLETON, page 2A
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history books were noticeably fuzzy on when and where the leader of the “exodusters” was spending eternity. Most biographies said he died in 1892 in St. Louis. Others said Topeka, 1883. No one had good evidence for either. Pap Singleton, as it turns out, is buried in Kansas City. In the end, the key to the mystery emerged in less time than it took to bury him. Al-
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TOPEKA — A bill that opponents and supporters agreed would weaken the ability of public employee unions to participate in politics won preliminary approval on Wednesday. Backed by the powerful Kansas Chamber of Commerce, House Bill 2023 would prohibit the Kansas National Education Association and House Demostate and local government cratic Leader unions from deducting vol- Paul Davis, untary paycheck donations D-Lawrence, from members that are used opposed the bill for political advocacy. The measure advanced on a 66-54 nonrecord vote. A final vote is Please see UNIONS, page 2A
More than 1,200 graduate from KU in December By Matt Erickson merickson@ljworld.com
Though they haven’t taken the traditional walk down the hill, about 1,220 newly minted Kansas University graduates earned their degrees in December. That number, which includes degrees from the KU Medical Center, is lower than the number of fall semester graduates in any of the previous five years. The figure is still preliminary, though, and more degrees may still be awarded case by case. In December 2011, about 1,450 students graduated between the Medical Center and the Lawrence and Edwards campuses. Fourth-year students in the 2011Please see GRADS, page 2A
Amendment proposed 8A 9B 1B-4B 10A, 2B, 9B
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Vol.155/No.31 20 pages
GOP legislators want to rewrite the education funding provision in the state constitution to end a pending lawsuit that threatens to force the state to boost spending on public schools. Page 4A
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