Lawrence Journal-World 08-13-13

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TWO OF A KIND

TEAM EFFORT

Former juco teammates reunite at KU Sports 1B

Volunteers help man with ALS live at home WellCommons 5A

L A W R E NC E

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LJWorld.com

$152K armored car joins fleet By Ian Cummings icummings@ljworld.com

The Lawrence Police Department’s newest set of wheels has arrived, and has started making appearances around town. It’s hard to miss: a shiny new armored truck with bulletproof windows and what looks like a battering ram on the front bumper. Designed for confronting armed crimi-

nals and rescuing people exposed to gunfire, this vehicle usually won’t show up in your neighborhood unless something serious is happening. The price tag is serious, too: $152,500. The city bought the truck with federal dollars after winning a Homeland Security grant last fall, and Lawrence police received it earlier this year.

The department is one of many across the country to take advantage of the federal budget to buy an armored vehicle that the city might not otherwise be able to afford. It started rolling down city streets a few weeks ago, after police finished detailing it and preparing it for duty. When the purchase was announced last year, the

Library receives $250K grant

words “armored vehicle� conjured up for some visions of a militarized police force. But police call it a “rescue vehicle,� and it actually is a customized Ford F-550 with bullet-resistant armor and windows. The armor is supposed to stand up to even high-caliber gunfire, and the underside of the car is built to withstand a bomb blast.

Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo

THE LAWRENCE POLICE DEPARTMENT’S new armored vehicle has arrived and is ready for use, police officials say. The city bought the bulletproof vehicle, which is meant to rescue civilians and protect officers in armed confrontations, with a Please see CAR, page 2A $152,500 Homeland Security grant.

Getting ready for rush

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Record gift to be used for speaker series By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com

The Lawrence Public Library has received the largest private grant in its history as part of an effort to make the city a stopping place for prominent authors. The library has received a $250,000 grant from the Lawrence-based Ross and Marianna Beach Foundation to create an annual Allen speakers’ series to bring in authors who are making news on the national or international stage. “A gift of this magnitude is something that will put us on the map for providing great signature programming,� Brad Allen, the library director, said. “We want to prove to publishers and authors that this is a town that supports reading and loves it

Mike Yoder/Journal-World File Photo

SIGMA KAPPA SORORITY MEMBERS at Kansas University rehearse a song in preparation for “rush� week, during which new members are recruited, starting next Monday.

Report: Kansas wheat crop down 14% from last year WICHITA (AP) — Kansas farmers took in an estimated 328 million bushels of winter wheat this season, with losses from abandoned fields in droughtplagued western counties being offset by abundant crops elsewhere. But the report released Monday showed the harvest still fell short of last year’s.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service’s estimate of the 2013 harvest is down 14 percent from last year’s crop, based on an average yield of 40 bushels per acre cut from the state’s 8.2 million acres. Farmers in northwest Kansas suffered the biggest production declines, bringing in

just 44 percent of the bushels they had a year ago. Fields in west-central Kansas fared only slightly better with 53 percent, while the southwest had 55 percent of last year’s harvest. The state’s biggest wheat production area, south-central Kansas, hauled in about 95 percent of what it did in 2012. The agency’s latest snapshot

is based on crop conditions on Aug. 1 amid recurring bouts of heavy rainfall across much of the state. By that time, the winter wheat crop had been already cut, although the recent moisture has brightened the outlook for crops to be harvested in autumn. Please see WHEAT, page 2A

Please see LIBRARY, page 2A

INSIDE

Partly sunny Business Classified Comics Deaths

High: 82

Low: 59

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Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion

Davis pick a surprise

2B, 10B Puzzles 9B 9B Sports 1B-4B 4A Television 2B, 9B, 10B 8A WellCommons 5A-6A

Potential gubernatorial candidate state Rep. Paul Davis, a Democrat, selects someone with a well-known name in Kansas Republican politics to be campaign treasurer. Page 3A

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Today’s forecast, page 10A

Vol.155/No.225 20 pages

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