L A W R E NC E
JOURNAL-WORLD ÂŽ
75 CENTS
&2)$!9 s &%"25!29 s
Some sun
High: 34
Forecast: Chilly with chance of burritos
Low: 23
Today’s forecast, page 10A
INSIDE
LJWorld.com
New rec center subject to bid process ——
Persistence a part of Young’s game A love of basketball carried Kevin Young to several different schools, but he says he was surprised to get a call from Kansas. Now it seems like he was always meant to play here. Page 1B STATE
Anti-slavery history noted Kansas, a state whose roots lie in abolitionism, ought to be a leader in fighting the slavery that still exists all over the globe today, Gov. Sam Brownback said Thursday at the first Kansas Conference on Slavery and Human Trafficking. Page 3A
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QUOTABLE
I’m not surprised at what I’m seeing, but I am surprised it’s coming early.� — Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, on the recent spike in gasoline prices. The average U.S. retail price rose 13 cents over the past two weeks. Page 7A
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INDEX Business Classified Comics Deaths Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion Puzzles Sports Television Vol.155/No.32
7A 5B-10B 9A 2A 10A, 2B 9B 4A 8A 9B 1B-4B, 10B 10A, 2B, 9B 28 pages
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
DESPITE FREEZING TEMPERATURES, Kansas University physical therapy student Stephanie Funk, second from right, and her husband, KU medical student Eric Funk, right, camped out in front of Freebirds Burritos for its Lawrence grand opening on Thursday. They were among more than 20 burrito lovers who braved a cold night for a special offer from the new restaurant at 741 Massachusetts St.: a chance to win a free burrito every week for a year.
Overnight campers brave elements to win year’s supply of Freebirds food “
By Shaun Hittle
sdhittle@ljworld.com
Despite having spent the night camped out in freezing temperatures in front of Freebirds Burritos for its Lawrence grand opening, Kansas University physical therapy student Stephanie Funk was all smiles on Thursday morning. Stephanie and her husband, KU medical student Eric Funk, were among more than 20 burrito lovers who braved the cold night for a special offer from the new restaurant at 741 Massachusetts St.: a free burrito every week for a year to the first 25 customers. A 26th customer
I’ll feel better when I can feel my toes.�
— Eric Funk, who won a year’s supply of burritos from Freebirds, 741 Massachusetts St., after camping out overnight to be one of the new store’s first customers
Please see UNIONS, page 2A
Please see REC, page 2A
was also awarded the deal after a miscount, a store manager said. “It’s worth it for free food,� Stephanie said. But Eric, huddled in a blanket, was a little worn down by the cold weather, shivering along with several others wrapped in sleeping — Reporter Shaun Hittle can be reached at 832-7173. Follow him at Twitter.com/shaunhittle. bags and parkas.
TOPEKA — The Kansas National Education Association and public employee unions on Thursday suffered a blow as the House approved a bill that both sides agreed would hurt the labor groups. House Bill 2023 was approved, 68-56, and sent to the Senate for consideration. Only Republicans supported the measure, while all 33 Democrats and 23 Republicans voted against it. Rep. John Wilson, D-Lawrence, voted against the bill, saying the measure was an “overtly political attack to fix a problem that doesn’t exist.� But Rep. Reid Petty, R-Liberal, described the bill as “pro teacher.� According to Petty, “It gives teachers a right to decide where their money is spent.� Backed by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, HB 2023 would prohibit KNEA and state and local government unions from deducting voluntary paycheck donations from members to be used for political advocacy. For example, a
teacher can give the KNEA permission to deduct a portion of his or her pay that would go to the KNEA’s political action committee. The amount has been cited as less than $2 per month. Under this bill, the automatic paycheck deduction would be prohibited. In a preliminary vote Wednesday, the measure was advanced 66-54. Democrats said they had hoped to change the outcome on the final vote, but that didn’t happen. In the House Republican caucus before the final vote, GOP leaders urged first-term legislators to stick with them. House Speaker Pro Tem Peggy Mast, R-Emporia, said, “We are going to try to cover your back.� She added, “It is just the beginning of a lot of tough votes.� Several more bills are in the pipeline to restrict labor activity. Similar measures had been stopped in recent years in the Senate but the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and other conservative groups helped flip the Senate into conservative control this session.
clawhorn@ljworld.com
KNEA President Karen Godfrey said, “I have been an active teacher for over 30 years and I have never seen such a deluge of offensive anti-teacher legislation as has been produced in the first 12 days of this session. Kansans are ashamed to be represented in such a vindictive manner.� Opponents of the bill said it was designed to try to eliminate teachers and public workers from the political process by denying them the ability to have a small portion of their pay deducted for political action committees. The KNEA issued a statement that noted the teachers in the Newtown, Conn., massacre who tried to protect their students. “We have come to expect them even to put themselves between a gunman and the children but just let them try to express a political opinion and the Kansas Legislature will shut them down,� the statement said. But supporters of the bill said they heard that teachers were being pressured to donate their
“I’ll feel better when I can feel my toes,� he said. So what is it about a Freebirds burrito that has the couple — who also won burritos for a year by waiting in line at the chain’s Westport location opening back in October — so excited? It’s the options, Stephanie said, rattling off the potential ingredients she planned to get in her first burrito when the doors opened at 11 a.m. For Eric, it’s about avoiding home cleanup duties a couple times a week. “No dishes to do,� he said.
House deals blow to organized labor srothschild@ljworld.com
By Chad Lawhorn
Facing mounting concerns from the public, City Hall officials have brokered a tentative deal to scrap a controversial bidding process for a proposed $25 million city recreation center in northwest Lawrence. Mayor Bob Schumm said all parties have agreed in principle to a new plan that will allow the proposed 181,000-square-foot regional recreation center near the northeast corner of Sixth Street and the South Lawrence Trafficway to be bid through the city’s standard, open bidding process. “I think the CITY court of pub- COMMISSION lic opinion has been of great value in moving this project from how it started out to where this new proposal is,� Schumm said. The deal marks a reversal from a controversial proposal that would have limited the number of companies that could bid on the project, and also included a clause that would have given an entity controlled by Lawrence builder Thomas Fritzel the chance to match any low bid on the project. Members of the public had begun to increasingly question whether that process could ensure the city would receive the lowest and best price for the recreation center. Schumm said he shared some of those concerns. “I’m a lot more comfortable than I was two or three weeks ago,� Schumm said. The new proposal includes several elements:
Any qualified, licensed contractor will be allowed to bid on the recreation center project, just as is the standard for typical city construction projects.
The city of Lawrence will run the bidding process. The previous proposal called for Kansas University Endowment to run the process.
The city of Lawrence will hire the contractor and
LEGISLATURE
By Scott Rothschild
City changes course after public concerns
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