Lawrence Journal-World 05-30-13

Page 1

ART STRINGS

HARBINGER OF SPRING

Local artists contribute to new exhibit Going Out 5A

Kansas town welcomes turkey vultures Lawrence & State 3A

L A W R E NC E

JOURNAL-WORLD ®

75 CENTS

4(523$!9 s -!9 s

Road work commences

LJWorld.com

LEGISLATURE

Kansans pay 2nd highest sales tax on groceries By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com

Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo

WORKERS EXCAVATE AROUND THE CHI OMEGA FOUNTAIN ON JAYHAWK BOULEVARD on Wednesday. Over the next four summers, KU will be reconstructing Jayhawk Boulevard, which will result in new pavement and sidewalks, but also restoration of a historic tree canopy mostly absent for the last 40 years and a bicycle lane down the center of the road. The first piece of construction around the fountain began immediately after KU’s commencement. At far right is Marvin Hall.

Commissioners blast concealed-carry law By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com

Douglas County commissioners made it clear Wednesday night that they do not approve of the state’s new concealed-carry gun law, and they hope local governments throughout Kansas will band together in the near future to urge that it be changed or repealed. “This is a local government issue, not a Kansas state government issue, and it should be dealt with locally by local government officials,” said Commissioner Jim Flory, a Republican and former prosecutor. “But real-

izing the state has passed this statute, we need to make every effort we can to work COUNTY with the Kansas COMMISSION Association of Counties to try to get some amendment.” The law, passed by the Kansas Legislature and signed by Gov. Sam Brownback in April, requires most local governments to allow people who hold concealedcarry permits to bring handguns into public buildings, unless the building is equipped with “adequate security measures” to make

sure nobody, with or without a permit, can bring weapons into the building. The statute defines adequate security measures as: “electronic equipment and personnel at public entrances to detect and restrict the carrying of any weapons into the state or municipal building, including, but not limited to, metal detectors, metal detector wands or any other equipment used for similar purposes to ensure that weapons are not permitted to be carried into such building by members of the public.” The statute takes effect July 1, but local governments

are allowed to exempt themselves until Jan. 1, 2014, if they notify the Kansas attorney general. Commissioners approved sending that letter. The law also allows local governments to request a four-year exemption, which would run through July 1, 2017, provided they show that they have a plan to secure the buildings they want to exempt. For Douglas County, that would involve the courthouse, at 1100 Massachusetts St.; the Public Works facility, at 1242 Massachusetts

TOPEKA — Because Kansans pay the second highest state sales tax on groceries in the nation, some legislators say reducing this levy should be part of any session-ending tax plan. “This would allow overall balance for the citizens of our state,” said state Rep. Mark Hutton, RWichita. Republicans who hold super majorities in the House and Senate have been unable to agree on a tax plan as the overtime session completed 96 days with no end in sight. On Wednesday, the House and Senate met for only min- Hutton utes. Gov. Sam Brownback wants to reduce income tax rates, saying that will stimulate the economy. But to get there, Brownback wants to make permanent the 6.3 percent state sales tax, which under current law is scheduled to fall to 5.7 percent on July 1. He also has called for phasing out popular income tax deductions and slashing the standard deduction. The bottom line is that the plan by Brownback and variations of it will increase taxes by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Kansas high food sales tax state In all the furor over various tax proposals in the Legislature, one that has caught the imagination of some legislators is reducing the state sales tax on groceries. According to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, there are 45 states that charge a state Please see TAX, page 2A

Please see COUNTY, page 2A

Current, former KU football players arrested in home invasion By Ian Cummings and Matt Tait icummings@ljworld.com mtait@ljworld.com

Three men, including a Kansas University football player, were arrested Wednesday in connection with a May 13 armed robbery in the 1900 block of Camelback Drive. Junior Christopher Stefaun Martin, 21, of Oakland, Calif.; former Kansas player Jeremiah Letrell Edwards, 21, of Gar-

land, Texas; M a r t i n , and Joshua Eda 6-foot-5, wards, 28, of 260-pound deLawrence, were fensive lineman arrested on susand Denver napicion of robtive who played bing cash and at Florida in marijuana from Martin 2011, transvictims at gunferred to Kanpoint at a home on Camelback Jeremiah sas this year Drive about 10:30 p.m. on May Edwards as a four-star 13, said Sgt. Trent McKinley, a prospect from Lawrence Police Department City College of San Francisco. spokesman. He held a five-star rating com-

INSIDE

Stormy Business Classified Comics Deaths

High: 78

ing out of Grandview High in Aurora, Colo., in 2010. He was the 16th junior-college standout this year to pick Kansas. Martin has been in trouble with the law before. He was cited for marijuana possession while playing at the University of Florida in 2011. He transferred from the school later that year. Martin came to Kansas to reunite with Kansas football coach Charlie Weis, whom he originally committed to out

Low: 67

Today’s forecast, page 10A

2A 5B-9B 10B 2A

Events listings Going Out Horoscope Movies

10A, 2B 5A-6A 9B 4A

Opinion Puzzles Sports Television

9A 9B 1B-4B 10A, 2B, 9B

Join us at Facebook.com/LJWorld and Twitter.com/LJWorld

of high school when Weis was still the head coach at Notre Dame. Their past connection, coupled with Weis’ willingness to give talented players a second chance while trying to turn KU football around, made the reunion a good match. Upon first stepping foot on KU’s campus, Martin talked about using his latest opportunity to set the record straight about both his abilities as a football player and Please see FOOTBALL, page 2A

PGA player in residence

Vol.155/No.150 20 pages

Pro golfer Gary Woodland plans to move into his Lawrence home next week and will likely be seen on local and area courses in between Tour stops. Page 1B

7KLV 3ULQW DGYHUWLVHPHQW LV QRW UHGHHPDEOH IRU DGYHUWLVHG GHDO *HW \RXU GHDOV YRXFKHU RQOLQH DW /DZUHQFHGHDOV FRP


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.