KU WOMEN MAKE THE BIG DANCE! No. 11 seed Jayhawks to face No. 6 Nebraska in first round 1B
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School board may subtract ESL from closing equation By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com
For some Lawrence school board members, the future of the district’s English as a Second Language program shouldn’t be tied to talks on consolidating
its smallest elementary schools. On Monday evening, the school board continued discussions on whether to reduce six elementary schools — New York, Cordley, Kennedy, Pinckney, Hillcrest and Sunset Hill — down to three
or four in the next two years. For six months, a working group had been tasked with studying that question and came back with two recommendations. One group recommended that all the schools stay open and the district support a bond issue.
The other group believed that consolidation was a valid option but didn’t name which schools should close. At Monday’s meeting, board members quizzed staff about the future of the ESL program and how the district plans to expand it.
Currently, the district has two cluster sites — Hillcrest and Cordley — where ESL students from other elementary schools are sent. It also has smaller neighborhood sites at Schwegler and Sunflower. Please see SCHOOL, page 2A
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Birds of a feather
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
WILD TURKEYS take over a wheat field Sunday northeast of Lawrence, where the males strutted their stuff trying to attract the females’ attention.
Flu activity in state increasing By Karrey Britt kbritt@ljworld.com
Flu activity has steadily increased during the past several weeks in Kansas and has reached its highest level so far this season. Dr. Robert Moser, state health officer and secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said influenza will continue to circulate through the spring, and he encourages Kansans to get their vaccine if they haven’t yet received one. “There is still time for people to get a flu vaccination to protect themselves, their families and the community,” he said. “The seasonal influenza types we’ve seen in Kansas are covered by the current vaccine.” KDHE identified the first laboratory-confirmed influenza cases of this season Dec. 21. Symptoms of influenza include fever, headache, extreme tiredness, dry cough and muscle aches. Complications can include pneumonia, ear and sinus infections and dehydration; influenza may also worsen other chronic conditions. According to KDHE, vaccination is effective for reducing the chances of getting sick and spreading influenza to others. Anyone 6 months and older is advised to get a vaccination. This is especially important for anyone at high risk of complications or who is caring for, or in regular contact with, an infant less than 6 months old. Babies this age are too young to be vaccinated and are more vulnerable to complications from influenza. The flu vaccine is available at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department’s clinic, 200 Maine. The cost is $23 for children ages 6 months to 3 years and $28 for anyone older than 3.
Jayhawks already academic champs By Andy Hyland ahyland@ljworld.com
Take that, Harvard. Kansas University earned top honors in the website Inside Higher Ed’s annual Academic Performance Tournament, which uses teams’ graduation rates and academic performance to determine a winner. KU was joined in the bracket’s Final Four by Texas, Lehigh and Davidson. Each game is judged using teams’ Academic Progress Rate. In case of ties, the teams’ Graduation Success Rates are used. A team’s APR is a score the NCAA uses to track academic eligibility and retention among players. In May, the NCAA recognized KU’s men’s basketball team as one of the teams to earn a perfect 1,000 score.
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Today’s forecast, page 10A
— Higher education reporter Andy Hyland can be reached at 832-6388.
City taking action against Packard ‘junkyard’ By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Jimenez, the city’s code enforcement manager. “There is really no other way to describe it.” Fans of the late Packard automobiles — big boats of a machine that CITY once were among the most luxurious of Amer- COMMISSION ican autos — might see the site as a rare opportunity. The property, which is just east of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, has 15 deteriorating Packard automobiles in its overgrown, partially fenced backyard.
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KU was in the annual bracket’s Final Four last year and won the tournament again in 2010. “I think it reflects the effort that our basketball players, our faculty members, our academic counselors and our tutors put into the academic side of college life,” said Jim Marchiony, associate athletic director. “It certainly is nice that we’ve done so well the last three years.” And as for KU’s traditional rivals, Missouri and Kansas State? MU lost in the Sweet 16 to Brigham Young, and KSU dropped in the Round of 32 to UNC Asheville.
RHODE ISLAND STREET
The Packard brand of automobiles has been extinct since the mid-1950s, and now Lawrence city commissioners are being asked to put an end to perhaps their largest Lawrence resting grounds as well. City commissioners at their meeting tonight will start the process of declaring the property at 1106 R.I. unsafe and in need of demolition. “The property presents itself pretPlease see FLU, page 2A ty much as a junkyard,” said Brian
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“While their APR is probably the last thing on these athletes’ mind at the moment, it shouldn’t be,” the website reported. “That’s because in October, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors passed rules that by the 2015-16 season schools will be required to have at least a score of 930 to participate in any sport’s postseason competition.” The GSR is a stricter standard that measures graduation rates. KU had a GSR score of 91, using six-year graduation rate data calculated from 2003-09. That’s up from last year’s score of 80. KU beat Detroit, Purdue, Belmont, North Carolina, Texas and Davidson on the way to the championship.
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“I’m not a car guy, but I think they probably still have some value to collectors,” Jimenez said. If not, they at least still have a story. An old garage on the property still has the sign of “University Motors,” which research shows began serving as the city’s Packard dealership in the mid1940s. The property is owned by the estate of Raymond Barland. According to a 2004 obituary for Barland, he and his brothers Delmar and Leroy started Please see CITY, page 2A
COMING WEDNESDAY
9B 1B-5B We check in on 4A, 2B, 9B how soon the new four-lane U.S. Highway 59 south of Lawrence will be open.
Vol.154/No.73 20 pages
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