Lawrence Journal-World 06-20-13

Page 1

BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE

Young basketball fans get a glimpse of Jayhawks old and new. PAGE 1B

L A W R E NC E

JOURNAL-WORLD ®

75 CENTS

4(523$!9 s *5.% s

‘We are having the fiesta!’

LJWorld.com

ROCK CHALK PARK

LMH urged to bow out of wellness center plan By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo

VOLUNTEER BERT BERMUDEZ pours a colander of browned rice into a pan for storage during preparations for the St. John’s Fiesta, which opens Friday night at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, at 1234 Kentucky St. Bermudez and a volunteer crew spent Tuesday evening browning about 125 pounds of rice for the fiesta.

Construction won’t stop annual fun By Giles Bruce gbruce@ljworld.com

This year’s St. John’s Fiesta was never in doubt. Some people in the community might have wondered after seeing the front of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church being torn to pieces because of remodeling. But organizers say they’re not going to let a little construction get in the way of tradition. For the past 30-plus years, the Lawrence parish has, on the weekend after

Father’s Day, played host to a Mexican fiesta, featuring music, dance and, perhaps most important, authentic Mexican food. Upward of 300 volunteers help put on the two-day event, which is attended annually by an estimated 14,000 people. “It’s called St. John’s Fiesta, but believe me, it is a community event,” said organizer Buddy Langford. St. John’s School has recently been expanding so it can start enrolling junior

St. John’s Mexican Fiesta The event will be Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 1234 Kentucky St. The fiesta features Mexican food, mariachi music, live bands, carnival games (on Saturday) and a moonwalk. No outside food or beverages are allowed.

By Ian Cummings icummings@ljworld.com

A 53-year-old Northlake, Ill., man was sentenced today to 30 months in prison after telling the court he’d lacked sleep and feared his children were possessed by demons when he and his wife left them outside the family vehicle in a Lawrence parking lot with their hands and feet bound last summer.

Adolfo Gomez was sentenced in Douglas County District Court after pleading no contest in December to two felony counts of child abuse and three misdemeanor counts of child endangerment. Adolfo and his then-wife, Deborah Gomez, 44, were arrested June 13, 2012, after passersby saw the children tied up and called police. Adolfo and Deborah have since divorced.

On Wednesday Adolfo Gomez said he now understands that his behavior was irrational. “That is something I’ve never done before. That is something that’s not even logical,” he said. Gomez said he had one message for his ex-wife and his children. “Basically, that I’m sorry I screwed everything up,”

Low: 71

2A 7B-10B 12B 2A

Events listings Going Out Horoscope Movies

12A, 2B Opinion 5A-6A Puzzles 11B Sports 4A Television

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Today’s forecast, page 12A

By Scott Rothschild

TOPEKA — Higher education officials on Wednesday approved raising university tuition, blaming legislators who cut post-secondary education for much of the increased cost of going to school. For Kansas University, effective this fall semester, tuition and fees will increase 4.4 percent at KANSAS the Lawrence campus and UNIVERSITY 7.6 percent at KU Medical Center for Kansas residents. Nonresident students will see a 4.7 percent increase in Lawrence and 6 percent increase at KUMC. However, since KU operates under a Please see REGENTS, page 2A

Please see SENTENCE, page 2A

INSIDE

Storm chance

High: 83

Regents blame tuition increase on Legislature srothschild@ljworld.com

Children were found bound and blindfolded in store’s parking lot

Business Classified Comics Deaths

Please see WELLNESS, page 2A

Please see FIESTA, page 2A

Father gets 30 months in child abuse case

Adolfo Gomez

All is not well with the idea of a wellness center at the city’s new Rock Chalk Park Recreation Center. Consultants told Lawrence Memorial Hospital leaders on Wednesday that the idea of a hospital-run wellness center at the city’s new recreation center was not well-received by a group of stakeholders. “Our recommendation is for the hospital to gracefully bow out of the opportunity to participate in this facility,” said Pat O’Toole, a Lawrence-based consultant who was hired by LMH to study the wellness center concept. “It isn’t big enough and it isn’t in the right location.” Hospital board members did not take any action Wednesday on the wellness center

Dance of the butterfly A professional ballet dancer will dress as a monarch butterfly today for an art project at the Monarch Watch headquarters to promote preservation of insect. Page 3A

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Vol.155/No.171 24 pages


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