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Program breaks the ice between students, neighbors By Ian Cummings icummings@ljworld.com
Now in its second year, the Good Neighbor program has had a good start, student organizers and Oread Neighborhood residents say. But they are also thinking about how to build on it to do more. As they did last year, volunteers swarmed the
Oread Neighborhood on Friday, talking with residents and handing out packets of information about city codes and services. Led by a committee of Kansas University student government representatives, city officials, police and residents, the group brought a short, simple message to many students who had
just moved in: Be a good neighbor. The other part of the message, for longtime residents and homeowners: School is back in session, so say hello to your new neighbors. The Good Neighbor initiative was started last year by city government leaders and KU officials to combat persistent prob-
lems of noise and litter that have annoyed many residents, and to generally encourage more neighborly behavior. This year, too, they handed out fliers on city housing codes and student legal services, but students from fraternities and the KU Student Senate took a more active role in leading the effort.
And as they attended meetings with officials and homeowners, the student leaders started to think beyond those immediate concerns, said Pantaleon Florez, who represents graduate students on the KU Student Senate and has lived in the Oread Neighborhood for about a year. If the goal is good neigh-
bors, he said, it should be more like a real neighborhood: The people who live there should know each other.
‘Students are bad’ “We’re hoping to see some attitudes change,” Florez said. “In the past, you’ve heard a lot of Please see NEIGHBOR, page 2A
For tenants and landlords, knowledge can prevent problems
Quick on the draw
By Caitlin Doornbos and Nikki Wentling cvdoornbos@ljworld.com, nwentling@ljworld.com
The occasional landlord-tenant dispute is to be expected in a town like Lawrence, where more than half of all housing units are occupied by renters. Landlords must trust relative strangers to take care of their property, and renters can feel helpless if a problem arises in their homes. While the city’s proposed rental-unit inspection program aims to mediate some of the landlord-tenant tension, complicated leases still can lead to confusion about who is responsible for what. The best advice for everyone: Know the law and your rights.
John Young/Journal-World Photo
COWBOY T. TEXAS TERRY TWIRLS HIS GUNS during a street show at Seventh and Massachusetts streets on Friday as part of the annual Lawrence Busker Festival. T. Texas Terry, whose real name is Terry DaVolt, is originally from Austin, Texas, but now hangs his hat in the Kansas City area.
Renowned performers wow downtown By Caitlin Doornbos cvdoornbos@ljworld.com
Fire-eaters, contortionists, musicians, magicians and countless other novelty acts transfixed thousands of onlookers in downtown Lawrence Friday night, as the sixth annual Busker Festival got underway. Massachusetts Street regularly plays host to a variety of street performers, but only once a year does it come alive with renowned performing artists from across the country.
With the scent of funnel cakes wafting through the air, downtown Lawrence is being transformed into a circus sideshow for the weekend. Hundreds of people lined Eighth Street Friday night, turning the block into a lively stage for one inspirational diva, Linsey Lindberg — known by her fans as “Mama Lou Strong Woman.” She tore phone books in half with ease and folded frying pans as if they were tortillas. Some
John Young/Journal-World Photo
PETER CHAMPAN, OF BROOKLYN, N.Y., known as Peter Rabbit, plays his 5-gallon bucket drums during a street show at Eighth and Massachusetts streets on Friday.
Please see BUSKER, page 5A
‘As a tenant, I have rights’ Recent Kansas University graduate Jenna Jakowatz spent part of her last months in Lawrence researching state rental laws. Since last August, she had experienced Know your escalating issues with the company rights, and always managing her apart- talk to the landment. After trying and lord first.” failing to resolve several issues, in- — Bill Larzalere, chief cluding a last-min- litigation attorney with ute increase in rent, Legal Services for Students unexpected renovation noise and a broken air conditioner, Jakowatz and her roommate sought advice from a staff attorney with Legal Services for Students. In June, as the temperature became warm enough to make the apartment uncomfortable, Jakowatz used advice from her lawyer and mentioned a 14-day/30-day notice to her property management company. That allows a tenant to terminate a lease in 30 days if the landlord fails to repair a problem within two weeks. After she mentioned the notice, Jakowatz
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Please see RENTING, page 2A
Lawrence resident claims title of World Air Guitar Champion By Sara Shepherd sshepherd@ljworld.com
Eric “Mean Melin” Melin booked a last-minute flight to Finland on a prayer — make that an air prayer. And the air guitar gods must have heard it. Lawrence’s meanest air guitarplaying machine became the newest World Air Guitar Champion on Friday. After coming in second at the U.S. Air Guitar National Finals Aug. 17 in Los
Angeles, Melin hadn’t actually qualified to compete at the World Air Guitar Championships in Oulu, Finland. But, fortunately for Melin, in the sport-slashperformance-art known as air guitar, there’s this little thing called a Dark Horse round. (Of course.) This qualifying event on the eve of the championship offered a way into the finals for its top finishers. Melin knew it was a long
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the U.S. title — Melin jetted to Finland. He won the Dark Horse round. And Friday, despite having a lousy second slot in the playing order, he riffed and thrashed his way past 16 other competitors from Europe to Japan to win the world championship. “I have no idea what I Christian Wopperer/Contributed Photo did to win except put my heart and soul into every ERIC “MEAN MELIN” MELIN, OF LAWRENCE, won the Air Guitar World Championships on Friday in Oulu, Finland, Please see GUITAR, page 2A where he out-rocked 16 of the world’s best air guitarists.
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shot, but felt like he had to go for it. “There’s also something addictive about hope,” Melin wrote this week in a column for Lawrence.com. “It keeps you going.” With a little funding from “Mean Melin” T-shirts that supporters have been buying online, and encouragement from his girlfriend and other air guitar players — including San Diego’s Jason “Lt. Facemelter” Farnan, who edged him out for
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Lawrence district teachers formally ratified a new labor contract this week that includes pay and benefit increases as well as a new evaluation system that ties teacher performance ratings to student achievement. Page 3A
Vol.155/No.236 22 pages