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Professor put on leave; lawmakers call for firing By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
Kansas University on Friday placed journalism professor David Guth on administrative leave over comments critical of the National Rifle Association that he wrote on Twitter regarding the shooting this week at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Guth said his comments
KU educator says tweet about NRA was ‘deliberately distorted’ had been deliberately distorted and misunderstood, but top state legislators — Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, and Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, R-Hutchinson — called for Guth’s dismissal from KU. “Any attempt to continue
employing this individual as an educational leader is offensive to taxpayers,” Wagle said. The incident also left some wondering whether KU, whose relationship with conservative Republican legislators is already strained, would suffer fur-
ther. Republican leaders cut $34.3 million in state funds to universities last session and will conduct informationgathering meetings on campuses next month to prepare for next year’s budget discussions. State Sen. Greg Smith, R-Overland Park, who also
teaches in high school, spelled it out: “As long as Professor Guth remains employed by the University of Kansas I will no longer recommend the university as an institution worthy of attendance by any of my students Please see TWEET, page 2A Guth
‘I wish it was more than once a year’ Hotel project may close part of street downtown ———
Commissioners to consider options for storm sewer work By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
LAWRENCE RESIDENT NANIK RAHAYU, center, bides her time on her tablet next to her husband, Kustiwan, right, and others while waiting outside the Douglas County Dental Clinic, at 2210 Yale Road. The couple, who began waiting at 4:30 a.m., were among the first 25 patients seeking free dental services Friday. Others near the front of the line began waiting late Thursday evening to ensure they would receive treatment.
Residents without insurance line up for free dental care By Giles Bruce gbruce@ljworld.com
At a dental appointment two weeks ago, Yolanda Thompson was devastated to find out she needed six fillings. Even more so because she doesn’t have dental insurance. But the Douglas County Dental Clinic called her Friday morning to tell her about its sixth-annual free dental day. In years past, the hardship clinic had barely been able to meet demand; this year, whether because of the inclem-
ent weather overnight or the fact that the clinic had recently moved into a new location, the free dental day had a lighterthan-expected turnout in the early morning. Good thing for Thompson, 60, who got three of her worst cavities filled Friday, free of charge. The disabled Lawrence woman is not sure what she would have done otherwise. She relies on the government for her health care but is on her own in terms of den- DENTIST ED MANDA provides free dental work to Brandon Mason, of Lawrence, Friday at the tal. Please see DENTAL, page 5A Douglas County Dental Clinic’s annual free day.
Digging a big, deep hole in the center of downtown Lawrence can get tricky, and soon it may add a wrinkle to the routes of local motorists as well. Excavation work for the multistory Marriott hotel and retail building at the southeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire has been shut down for about three weeks. Now project leaders are saying they’ll temporarily need to close a portion of New Hampshire Street to get the project restarted. The development group led by Lawrence businessmen The block of New Doug Compton and Hampshire Street Mike Treanor are is busy during KU seeking city permis- football games sion to bury a storm sewer beneath New because the Hampshire Street in adjacent parking order to allow con- garage serves struction crews to resume excavating as one of the for the building’s free parking and underground park- loading zones for ing garage. the game shuttle “This really comes down to en- buses between suring that we have downtown and a safe construction Memorial Stadium. site,” said Micah Kimball, the project’s architect with Lawrence-based Treanor Architects. City commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting are being asked to choose one of two options for the work that will take place on New Hampshire Street between Ninth Street and the midblock crosswalk near the Lawrence Arts Center:
Close the stretch of street to all traffic to allow crews the maximum flexibility to complete the project. With a complete closure, work is expected to take about two weeks to complete. Please see HOTEL, page 7A
Computer analysis: 57 percent of suspended Kansas voters unaffiliated By John Hanna Associated Press
TOPEKA — A majority of the prospective Kansas voters whose registrations were put on hold after the state began enforcing a proof-of-citizenship law — preventing them
from legally casting ballots — claim no political affiliation, an Associated Press computer analysis shows. The computer analysis shows that 57 percent of the registrations put on hold since the law took effect in January were from people listing them-
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proving U.S. citizenship. Election officials accept people’s forms without those papers, but until people produce them, any ballots they cast at the polls would be set aside and not counted. The analysis of data from the Kansas secretary of state’s
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selves as unaffiliated, even though such residents make up only 30 percent of the state’s 1.7 million registered voters. Thousands of Kansas residents have registrations on hold because they have yet to provide a birth certificate, passport or other document
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office also discloses that since the rule took effect, flawed or incomplete registrations have remained on hold on average for close to four months. Through an open records request, AP obtained an elecPlease see VOTERS, page 5A
Making up for bedbugs Organization sets up a donation website to help make up for the loss from the library’s fall book sale, which was canceled because of a bedbug infestation. Page 3A
Vol.155/No.264 26 pages