Lawrence Journal-World 06-15-12

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Parents charged with abuse

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WATER & SEWER

City seeking 4% rate increase By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos

ADOLFO GOMEZ, 52, RECEIVES SEVERAL COURT DOCUMENTS as he waits for a first appearance Thursday at the Douglas County Jail. Gomez and his wife, Deborah Gomez, 43, pictured below, are each facing two counts of child abuse and five counts of aggravated endangerment of a child. Adolfo Gomez is also facing one count of felony obstruction. The couple are from Northlake, Ill.

Kids in protective custody after being found blindfolded, bound By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com

Douglas County prosecutors on Thursday charged two Illinois parents with inflicting “cruel or inhumane corporal punishment” on two of their young children found Wednesday blindfolded with their hands bound behind them in the parking lot of Walmart in west Lawrence.

Adolfo Gomez Jr., 52, and Deborah Martha Gomez, 43, both of Northlake, Ill., face two counts each of child abuse and five counts of aggravated child endangerment. Adolfo Gomez is also charged with one obstruction count because he was accused of resisting Lawrence police officers who subdued him with a Taser Wednesday morning near the family’s vehicle outside the store, 550 Con-

gressional Drive. All counts are felonies. Thursday’s bond hearing revealed few additional details about the case other than what police had provided, and Sgt. Trent McKinley, a police spokesman, said detectives were still investigating the case trying to learn more about why the young children had their

Lawrence residents may not be able to see the water and sewer pipes beneath the ground, but soon enough the cost to improve their conditions may show up in their monthly utility bills. City Hall staff members are recommending a 4 percent increase for both water and sewer rates in 2013. City commissioners will consider the recommendations as part of their 2013 budget process, Corliss which continues with a study session on Tuesday afternoon. “I just go back to the situation we have found ourselves in with streets,” City Manager David Corliss said as he explained his recommendation for higher rates. “We did not provide adequate funding for streets and we got way behind. If we don’t have the adequate resources for water and wastewater, we’ll be playing catch-up in that area too, and it won’t be good for anyone.” How much a 4 percent increase will raise the monthly bills of a household depends on how much water the household uses. But the city calculated for an average household that uses about 8,000 gallons of water per month, the combined water and sewer bill will grow to $72.34, up from $67.78 currently. Corliss said the rate increases will allow the city to

Please see PARENTS, page 5A Deborah Gomez in custody Thursday

Please see RATES, page 2A

Prescription drug information mistakenly sent out in email By Karrey Britt kbritt@ljworld.com

Prescription drug information for about 305 people was inadvertently sent in an email May 11 to about 4,000 Douglas County employees. Sarah Plinsky, assistant county administrator, said the Plan Administrator’s office sent an email message to its health insurance plan participants regarding a change in benefits. Referenced in and attached to the message was a document listing the pharma-

ceuticals that were moving from a Tier 2 cost level to a new Tier 3. But the document included a tab that listed the names of plan participants who had been prescribed one of the Tier 2 drugs in the last year. The listing included the individual’s name and the specific drugs prescribed to him or her. No other information was included.

Plinsky said a notification letter was sent June 6 to the 305 people affected by the breach. “From what I understand this is the first time that something like this has ever happened in Douglas County, but we do take it very seriously and we wanted to let the people that were impacted know,” she said. “We deeply regret that this breach has occurred.” After notification of the error, Plinsky said Douglas County Administrative Services and Information Technology staff

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The county, which is selfinsured, offers coverage to its employees and various agencies, including Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, Extension Council, townships and retirees. Plinsky said these employees in addition to county employees and family members may have been included in the listing that was inadvertently sent. But the email was sent only to county employees before the breach was caught.

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investigated its email network system and removed every copy of the document from its system. They’ve also changed protocols and practices to prevent it from happening again. Plinsky said if anyone has questions regarding the breach, they can contact her at 832-5329 or splinsky@douglas-county. com. — Health reporter Karrey Britt can be reached at 832-7190. Britt also is the editor of WellCommons.com, and you can follow her at Twitter.com/WellCommons.

KU researcher censured Kansas University Medical Center leaders censure one of their top researchers after finding he engaged in abusive and unprofessional treatment of faculty and staff. Page 3A

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Vol.154/No.167 40 pages


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