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Helping a ‘terrible situation’ merickson@ljworld.com
Working as a therapist for young children at a mental health center in Ottawa, Kaela Byers couldn’t help but notice one thing many of the kids she saw had in common: They’d
KAELA BYERS, a graduate student in KU’s School of Social Welfare, recently won a $50,000 fellowship, one of 15 in the country, to research a program designed to find and help young children living in stressful environments.
KU grad student wins national fellowship to help kids deal with intense stress
By Matt Erickson
been dealing with stress since they were toddlers that would throw any adult for a loop. They lived in homes where perhaps money was short, food was never certain or
LJWorld.com
parents were chronically sick or absent. Byers tried to help them, but soon a question formed in her mind: What if
Richard Gwin/Journal World Photo
Please see STUDENT, page 2A
Exercise enthusiasts rise with the sun
Teachers, district agree on contract ———
Tentative deal includes 3% raise By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
ABOVE: Early-morning risers do jumping jacks as the sun rises on Memorial Stadium during Red Dog’s Dog Days community workout at 6 a.m. Thursday. BOTTOM LEFT: Stan Herst, of Lawrence, finishes his run at the end of the workout. BOTTOM RIGHT: Brenna Wohler, 8 months, sits tight as her mother, Bonnie Wohler, of Lawrence, and brother Blake, 7, at left, work out. Photo gallery at LJWorld.com
The Lawrence school district and the local teachers union reached a tentative agreement this week on a new contract that would give members an average 3 percent pay increase next year. District officials said the package includes pay raises averaging $1,381 per year for each employee covered by the contract. That includes across-the-board increases in base pay plus funding of “step” increases for years of experience and for additional degrees or college credit. “I think both sides are fairly pleased with the way things SCHOOLS turned out and what we were able to agree on,” said David Reber, a member of the union negotiating team and a science teacher at Free State High School. In addition to the salary boost, Reber said the contract calls for the district to absorb an estimated 7 percent increase in health insurance premiums for individual employees. Those premiums are scheduled to increase $24.38 per month. Please see TEACHERS, page 2A
Brownback signs Kansas income tax cuts into law By John Milburn Associated Press
TOPEKA — Proclaiming Kansas “open for business,” Gov. Sam Brownback on Thursday signed into law
a measure that makes additional income tax cuts over the next five years while generating new revenue through higher sales taxes and other adjustments. He said the changes make
Brownback said during a ceremony at a construction site in Overland Park. “The result has been three years of historic and innovative tax relief. Our pro-growth tax policies will pave the
INSIDE
Storm chance Business Classified Comics Deaths
High: 90
the Kansas tax code “fairer, flatter and simpler for families and small businesses.” “This approach broadens the base and lowers tax rates for the benefit of the maximum number of Kansans,”
Low: 74
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Today’s forecast, page 10A
Developer Thomas Fritzel has paid in full a $50,000 settlement related to how one of his companies proceeded with the Varsity House Apartments in the Oread Neighborhood. Page 3A
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way for Kansas to be the best place in America to raise a family and grow a business. The changes in income tax rates include an adjustment in the standard deduc-
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Vol.155/No.165 32 pages