DID YOU WIN?
GOAL-DRIVEN All-area soccer team named Sports 3B
16
5
22
Powerball winners offer advice 3TATE s .ATION 4A
23
29
6
L A W R E NC E
JOURNAL-WORLD ®
75 CENTS
4(523$!9 s ./6%-"%2 s
LJWorld.com
Feds offering reward in suspected arson cases By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is offering a $2,500 reward to anyone who has information leading to the
arrest and conviction of the person responsible for a rash of suspected arsons in south-central Lawrence. Since Oct. 19, more than a dozen small fires have been set in and around apartment build-
ings in an area near 23rd Street south to 25th Street and from Iowa east to Naismith Drive. Many of those fires have occurred in laundry rooms or hallways of apartment complexes. The fires have also been set in-
side of apartment complexes where exterior doors to the buildings are not locked. Fire officials suspect the fires have been intentionally set, but have not released any more information. Two recent fires in the area
‘The best reverse decision I’ve ever made’
have fit the general pattern of the recent suspected arsons, though public safety officials have not said whether they are being included in the suspected arson cases. Please see REWARD, page 2A
LMH seeks trauma center designation By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
IN HER FINAL SEASON, KANSAS MIDDLE BLOCKER AND LAWRENCE NATIVE TAYLER TOLEFREE has helped advance the Jayhawks to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. She and her teammates will play host to Cleveland State on Friday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
On eve of NCAA volleyball tourney, KU player happier than ever she stayed By Matt Tait mtait@ljworld.com
As Tayler Tolefree prepared for her senior year at Lawrence High School in 2008, Kansas University was the last place she expected or even wanted to play her college volleyball.
A highly decorated local recruit who earned multiple all-state, all-area and all-league honors and made visits to Division I schools across the country, Tolefree simply was ready for something different, a change of scenery, a new challenge.
But after realizing how much she missed Lawrence while on a visit to Maryland the summer before her senior year, Tolefree opened her mind to the idea of playing close to home, and today, the 6-foot-2 senior middle blocker ranks in the Top 10 on KU’s all-time
blocks, block assists and blocks-per-set lists. “I said there was no way I was coming to this school, and I’m so happy I ate my words,” said Tolefree after KU’s final home match of the regular season last Please see PLAYER, page 2A
A trip via air ambulance to a Kansas Cityarea hospital may be less likely in future years for Douglas County residents who suffer trauma-level injuries in car accidents and other medical emergencies. Lawrence Memorial Hospital’s board of trustees unanimously agreed Wednesday to start the process of allowing the hospital to apply for a designation to treat lower-level trauma cases. “This is really about being able to be treated in your own community instead of having to be sent somewhere else,” said Dana Hale, vice president of nursing for LMH. “Our phiHEALTH losophy has been that if we can figure out a feasible way to provide a service here, we want to provide it.” Currently, LMH does not have any trauma-level designation. That means medical protocols often dictate that emergency medical responders send patients with serious injuries sustained in accidents to either the Kansas University Hospital, Overland Park Regional Medical Center or Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center in Topeka. LMH leaders, however, are interested in applying for a new trauma center designation recently created by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The new Level 4 designation would give emergency responders the option of sending patients, in some cases, to LMH to be stabilized before being sent to one of the other hospitals. More importantly, LMH officials say, is that the Level 4 designation will be a good primer Please see TRAUMA, page 2A
County to hire independent expert to review sand pit permit By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
After more than five hours of debate, Douglas County commissioners decided Wednesday not to vote on
a proposed conditional use permit for a sand pit mining operation on a site near Eudora. Instead, commissioners agreed to hire an independent consultant to weigh a
Business Classified Comics Deaths
Low: 35
Today’s forecast, page 10A
idents and the city of Eudora. Commissioners plan to revisit the issue Jan. 2 after reviewing the independent analysis. “I argued cases before judges for 27 years, and I
INSIDE
Pleasant
High: 60
mountain of conflicting reports from engineers and hydrogeologists about whether the project would threaten water quality of an underground aquifer that provides drinking water to nearby res-
6A 5B-10B 9A 2A
Events listings Home & Garden Horoscope Movies
10A, 2B 8A 9B 4A
Opinion Puzzles Sports Television
7A 9B 1B-4B, 10B 10A, 2B, 9B
Join us at Facebook.com/LJWorld and Twitter.com/LJWorld
xAÉĝ 0ĹäĘx << <Z .C Z` V` ` ¨
ŖŖƦƽƞ
ǟ ÃƉ \ƭʼnƉÃ C ` ¨
ŖŖƦƱǩ
never had a judge sit through complex arguments like this and rule from the bench,” Please see COUNTY, page 5A
Historic preservation
plan vote delayed. Page 5A
Robbery suspect charged A 35-year-old Maryland man was charged Wednesday in Douglas County District Court in connection with recent robbery incidents at two Lawrence businesses. Page 3A
COUNTY COMMISSION
Vol.154/No.334 20 pages