Lawrence Journal-World 03-22-13

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NCAA TOURNAMENT

Couple anticipate rare basketball matchup By Matt Erickson merickson@ljworld.com

Candy Egan was cooking dinner in the kitchen of her suburban Chicago home Sunday evening when the cries rang out. “Unbelievable!� was all she could make out from the living room, where her husband of 27 years, Jim, was sitting on the couch, watching the selection show for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. It was only a few minutes be-

KANSAS VS. WESTERN KENTUCKY KU plays WKU in their opener of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at 8:50 p.m. tonight. For more on the game and the tournament, see Sports, page 1B. fore the taunts and jokes were flying on Facebook among their friends. That’s because Candy and Jim Egan are something that, as far as they know, is pretty rare: a Western Ken-

For now, things aren’t too tense between the two Egans, they say. “It’ll probably change sometime around 10:30 p.m. tomorrow night,� Jim said in a phone interview Thursday, “but things are very good right now.�

How they met A basketball game may be the only thing that could cause Please see COUPLE, page 2A Candy and Jim Eagan

Winter weather sticking around

Cloudy

High: 42

tucky University graduate married to a Kansas University graduate. It’s not exactly easy to find one of those “house divided� flags with KU and WKU logos to fly over the Egans’ front door. But for a few days this week, that combination has taken on new importance as the Jayhawks and the Hilltoppers prepare to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament tonight in Kansas City, Mo.

Sheriff to resign April 1

Low: 29

Today’s forecast, page 10A

INSIDE Jayhawks put game face on Kansas University men’s basketball players know that past Jayhawk teams have been knocked out of the NCAA tournament early on, but they say they’re not about to let that happen this year. Page 1B

By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com

STATE

Convicted killer dies in prison

Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo

CITY CREWS WERE BUSY Thursday prepping their trucks with salt brine and sand for a possible winter storm this weekend.

A man convicted of killing a rural Horton woman has died at age 61. Page 5A

“

QUOTABLE

Our children’s ability to learn in the classroom and grow up healthy depends on what we do right now to secure their future.� — Kevin Concannon, USDA undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer services, who presented HealthierUS School Challenge Bronze Awards to Baldwin City’s elementary schools Thursday. Page 3A

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INDEX Business Classified Comics Deaths Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion Puzzles Sports Television Vol.155/No.81

Up to 6 inches of snow forecast for this weekend By Shaun Hittle and Adam Strunk sdhittle@ljworld.com; astrunk@ljworld.com

It may be spring, but Lawrence could still experience some significant winter weather, according to forecasts from the National Weather Service. A “light to moderate snow� fell across the region Thursday, starting around 9:30 a.m., before tapering off in the afternoon. The most recent forecast from the National Weather Service calls for a more substantial second round of winter weather, which could bring 4 to 6 inches of snow, expected to hit the region Saturday morning and continue into Sunday.

2A 7B-10B 9A 2A 10A, 2B 7A 4A 8A 7A 1B-6B More legislative 7A, 10A, 2B news: 28 pages Abortion bills discussed, page 2A

Corporate farms restrictions debated, page 2A

House OKs budget, page 3A

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The main thing to stress is everybody needs to be up on their travel plans this weekend. It’s a sizable system. If you are going to be traveling anywhere, you need to check the forecast.� — National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Whitmore Winter weather watches have already been issued for areas of central Kansas and will likely extend into northeast Kansas as the storm approaches.

“Again, the track the storm takes is going to be key,� National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Whitmore said. “The main thing to stress is everybody needs to be up on their travel plans this weekend. It’s a sizable system. If you are going to be traveling anywhere, you need to check the forecast.� Whitmore added that for those frustrated by yet another round of snow, it is not likely to sit on the ground very long. Megan Gilliland, spokeswoman for the city of Lawrence, said city crews came in early Thursday morning in preparation for possible snowfall and will remain on-call as storms develop.

By John Hanna Associated Press

TOPEKA — A proposal for issuing $1.5 billion in bonds to boost the long-term health of Kansas’ public pension system advanced Thursday in the state Legislature, but Republican lawmakers who want to put new government employees into a 401(k)-style plan abandoned an effort to pass such a bill this year. The GOP-controlled

House Pensions and Benefits Committee approved a bill authorizing the bonds on a 7-6 vote, sending it to the entire House for debate. But on a voice vote, it tabled a separate measure to start the 401(k)-style plan for state and local government workers hired after 2014, as well as a separate, nontraditional plan for new teachers. The measures followed two years’ worth of legislation overhauling the retire-

ment system for teachers and state and local government employees. The committee faced skepticism from retiree groups and public employee unions that lawmakers needed to consider additional changes this year. The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System projects that previous changes — which include boosting state contributions and setting aside state casino profits to pensions — would elimi-

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OTTAWA — Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Curry, who faces charges of interfering with police, announced Thursday that he would resign. Curry’s resignation, announced by his attorney, came during a hearing in Franklin County District Court that was part of ouster proceedings against the sheriff. Curry’s resignation is effective April 1. He will remain on administrative leave until Curry then. Prosecutors on Thursday withdrew a motion they’d filed seeking Curry’s suspension during the ouster process. The ouster petition will be withdrawn once the resignation occurs. Curry and Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerrod Fredricks face felony charges of interfering with police. Curry faces an additional charge of misdemeanor official misconduct. A preliminary hearing in that case is tentatively set for April 1. Details of that criminal case Please see SHERIFF, page 2A

House panel ends push for 401(k)-style plan

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nate a projected $9.3 billion gap between revenues and benefits promised to workers by 2033. But many GOP lawmakers believe such a gap will occur again if the state isn’t more aggressive in moving away from traditional plans that guarantee benefits upfront, based on a worker’s salary and years of service. “They look at it and say, Please see PENSION, page 2A

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