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WEDNESDAY • OCTOBER 21 • 2015
Leaders sound off on plans for East Ninth
Keeping history vibrant
By Nikki Wentling Twitter: @nikkiwentling
The Lawrence City Commission talked about the pros and cons of narrower driving lanes and “intimate gathering areas” during a review Tuesday of the East Ninth Project concept plan. The meeting was the first opportunity commissioners had to provide feedback on CITY CITY the design for COMMISSION COMMISSION the project, which aims to integrate public art and improve the street and walkways along Ninth Street between Massachusetts and Delaware streets. Porter Arneill, the city’s director of arts and culture, said the purpose of the 87page document was to put forth ideas to which people could respond. The project’s design team will take the feedback from the commission — as well as what’s already been gathered from meetings with the project’s citizen advisory committee, the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association and the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission — and work on a comprehensive plan. The final design package will go before those other organizations before being brought back to the City Commission for a vote. Arneill estimated the commission would see the plan again in February. “They’re still gleaning information. Speaking with Josh (Shelton) today, we’re realizing a lot more has to be done at this stage to really grasp some of the challenges in a very complex environment,” Arneill said. Please see NINTH, page 6A
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Late job postings blamed for drop By Rochelle Valverde Twitter: @RochelleVerde
High: 79
dition and renovation of the 100-year-old school, located at 1837 Vermont St., did not forget the mural on the north facade. Despite an addition to the school’s northeast side that intersects with the mural, the wall was left intact and funds were allocated to completely restore the mural, said Lawrence artist Dave Loewenstein.
The Lawrence school district had a significant drop in the number of applications — about 300 fewer than usual — for open teaching positions for this school year. “For the first time this year, we got down to August and there was not a lot of teachers out there,” Kyle For the Hayden, the dis- first time trict’s assistant superintendent this year, we of business and got down to operations, told August and the school board at its meeting last there was week. “That’s not not a lot of typical for Law- teachers out rence or the state there.” of Kansas.” For the 20142015 school year — Kyle Hayden, assisthere were 814 ap- tant superintendent plicants total, and of business and 525 for this school operations year, according to information provided to the Journal-World by David Cunningham, director of human resources and legal services for the district. The total includes applicants for all certified positions at elementary, middle and high school levels, he said. “This year was a little bit lower than usual,” Cunningham said. About 800 applications is more typical, and although it fluctuates, the district usually hires an average of about 100 certified positions each year, he explained. Cunningham attributes the decrease to the fact that most of the open job positions were posted a couple of months later this year than usual — in April and May — due to uncertainty in the district’s budget after the Kansas Legislature repealed the school funding formula that had been in place for more than 20 years.
Please see MURAL, page 2A
Please see TEACHER, page 2A
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Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
MURALIST DAVE LOEWENSTEIN WORKS ON TOP OF A CHERRY PICKER as he repaints his mural “A Thousand Miles Away” on the north side of Cordley Elementary School Tuesday. The mural depicts an Underground Railroad scene involving a slave named Lizzie and Lawrence abolitionists Rev. Richard Cordley and his wife Mary. Loewenstein will be glazing the mural today as the last step before it is completed.
Cordley mural gets new paint, tells old story First Bell
Rochelle Valverde rvalverde@ljworld.com
H
istory tends to grow dimmer with time, but one story from Lawrence’s past was literally fading with the years. The mural on the exterior wall of Cordley Elementary School, which depicts a story involving the school’s namesake and a runaway slave known as Lizzie, had weathered in the nearly 15 years since it was painted. A recently completed ad-
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Number of teacher applicants decreases
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5C 1C-4C 8A, 2C 1B-6B
Vol.157/No.294 44 pages
Records raise questions about budget director Shawn Sullivan’s claim that he contacted lobbyists with his private email because he could not access his state account. 3A
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