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House rejects another tax increase
Holy Hot Wheels, Batman!
By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
LAWRENCE AUTO MECHANIC RICH JOHNSON recently finished building his very own Batmobile using the frame of a Lincoln Town Car. The car, which took countless hours of work and research, will appear in Saturday’s Art Tougeau parade in downtown Lawrence.
Local auto mechanic completes his crusade to build Batmobile Public can see the car at Saturday’s downtown parade
By Meagan Thomas mthomas@ljworld.com
Art Tougeau Parade in downtown Lawrence. “I like Batman, but I’m not a Batman junkie,” Johnson said. “I just love the car.” Johnson, who owns Rich Johnson Automotive, at 1410 N. Third St., has built and restored cars for 25 years. His inspiration to build his own Batmobile
Rich Johnson isn’t crazy about the Batman TV show. He doesn’t obsess over the classic 1960s series or own a Batman cape or suit. What Johnson does obsess about is restoring cars, and what he does own is a replica Batmobile — which he built by himself and plans to drive in Saturday’s
came from an unlikely place: not the Batman series or movies but from the 2011 movie “Rockstar.” He saw one of the characters driving the car in some of the scenes and knew instantly that he wanted to do the same. “I just thought, ‘I gotta have one of those,’” Johnson said.
Bang! Pow! As soon as the idea was in Johnson’s mind, he began scouring the Internet for a Batmobile to buy. In August he found a fiberglass replica shell for sale for $7,000 by a man in Dayton, Ohio. Johnson put a down payment on the body of the car in September, and in Please see CRUSADE, page 7A
More than 21,000 Kansans with mental illness would receive help under Medicaid expansion, report says By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — More than 21,000 uninsured Kansans with mental illness would receive needed treatment, and lives would be saved if Gov. Sam Brownback and the Kansas Legislature expanded Medicaid under the
federal Affordable to sign on to MedicCare Act, a report aid expansion, and a released Thursday pending House resosays. lution says the LegisSo far, Brownback, lature isn’t interested a vocal opponent of in expansion. HEALTH the ACA, and his ReBut the National publican colleagues Alliance on Mental in the Legislature are going Illness urged legislators in the opposite direction. to increase the number of Brownback has declined people eligible for Med-
icaid, saying that it would strengthen the mental health care system. Nationwide, the expansion would provide treatment to 2.7 million uninsured people living with mental illness, the NAMI report said. Please see MEDICAID, page 2A
Another day, another proposed tax increase shot down in the House. This one, which would have raised taxes nearly $700 million over 5 years, was the product of a mini-revolt among Republicans and died Thursday on an 18-94 vote. The bottom line is the Kansas Legislature will enter its 98th day of what was supposed to be a 90-day session and one that GOP leaders said earlier would last only 80 days. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and GOP legislative leaders are pushing for another round of cuts in income tax rates, saying that will stimulate the economy. But to do that, they want to increase the state sales tax and slash income tax deductions. So far, House and Senate Republicans have’t been able to agree on how to do that. Democrats, who are vastly outnumbered in both chambers, have opposed Brownback’s tax policies. On Thursday, state Reps. Gene Suellentrop and Mark Hutton, both Wichita Republicans, crafted a wide-ranging tax-and-spend measure that would increase taxes by $698 million over 5 years and cap state budget increases to a maximum of 2 percent per year. The measure would have set the sales tax at 6.3 percent, which would repeal the current law Please see HOUSE, page 2A
Efforts continue at blocking Common Core By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — Some conservatives in the Kansas Legislature are still hopeful of finding a way to block public schools from implementing the new Common Core standards for English language arts and math, a move that state and local education leaders argue would be costly and disruptive to school districts across the state. Although bills introduced earlier in the session to block Common Core failed to advance out of committee in either chamber, some conservatives still hold out hope of using the issue as leverage in last-minute negotiations to pass a tax package and budget bill that would allow lawmakers to end the 2013 session. The renewed push in Kansas comes at the same time tea party-backed groups are making similar efforts in other state capitols around the country. One of those still holding out hope of blocking the new standards is Rep. Pete DeGraaf, Please see COMMON, page 2A
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KU player charged
Vol.155/No.151 32 pages
County prosecutors charge Kansas University football player Chris Martin and two other men with aggravated robbery in connection with a home invasion. Page 3A
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