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Campus weighs in on new gun law
Kansas considers Missouri River for water needs
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Strong views abound on both sides of concealed carry debate
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Aqueduct project would help with irrigation, aquifer
By Sara Shepherd sshepherd@ljworld.com
F
or Kansas University student MaryRose Scarpelli, the question of whether people with concealed carry permits should be allowed to take guns into campus buildings isn’t black and white. “I see the appeal, and I do believe in our right to bear arms,” said Scarpelli, a junior from Overland Park. “But I also would feel a little uncomfortable with someone sitting next to me with a gun in a holster in my archaeology class.” On the hill, comfort level varies when it comes to concealed weapons in university buildings. As university officials plan for a new law that will allow them, students and faculty members have strong views, falling on both sides of the debate. In April, Gov. Sam Brownback signed into law a measure authorizing those who get licenses to carry concealed weapons into any state or municipal building except those that have “adequate security measures” such as metal detectors or trained guards.
By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
KANSAS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS pass over one of several chalk messages on campus Tuesday that addressed gun-free zones on college campuses as well as Second Amendment rights and current state legislation regarding guns on campus. The messages and a planned forum were being organized by Young Americans for Liberty at KU as part of an Empty Holster Protest. Universities have been granted a four-year exemption. The Kansas Board of Regents has directed universities to conduct building-bybuilding assessments to address the impact of allowing concealed carry, a process expected to take the better part of a year. KU has 199 buildings on the Lawrence campus
alone, spokeswoman Jill Jess said. “As the regents have requested, we are analyzing the impact of the legislation and how we can best meet its requirements,” she said.
Challenging order Students such as Chris Rice, an Overland Park junior, see a conundrum.
By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
Douglas County officials may have to sacrifice some of the historic character of Lawrence’s century-old county courthouse to comply with the state’s new concealed carry gun law. “That is one of the special challenges of this building,” County Administrator Craig Weinaug said today after a closed-door special meeting with county commissioners to discuss security arrangements. Commissioners met to discuss a security plan that, if approved, could qualify the county for a fouryear exemption from the new law. That would give the county until Jan. 1, 2018, to add features such as a security desk, metal detectors and X-ray machines to screen visitors and ensure that no one is carrying a weapon into the building. Under the new law, cities and counties must either do that or allow anyone with a valid permit to carry concealed weapons into their public buildings.
Journal-World File Photo
THE HISTORIC Douglas County Courthouse at 1100 Massachusetts St. has several entrances that would have to be modified to accommodate the state’s new concealed carry law. All three Douglas County commissioners have criticized that law, which took effect July 1. Before it took effect, though, the county took advantage of a provision allowing for a six-month extension to develop
Rice didn’t like what he saw when he envisioned more than 1,000 students trying to file through a metal detector to get into a lecture class at Budig Hall. At the same time, he’s not OK with the thought of a fellow student in that lecture carrying a gun.
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a plan for securing its buildings. The county now has until Dec. 31 to submit a plan to Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office detailing how it intends to provide such security. Commissioners took no action after their closed-door meeting today. But Weinaug said if they intended to submit the plan, they would have to vote in public to do so, probably within the next few weeks. Even then, however, the plan itself will not be open to the public because the new law specifically exempts such plans from the Kansas Open Records Act. In addition to the courthouse at 1100 Massachusetts St., such a plan would also have to ensure security at the Zoning and Codes Department office and County Treasurer’s satellite office west of 27th and Iowa, the new Public Works facility to be developed along East 25th Street, and possibly other buildings as well. The Judicial and Law Enforcement Center and the county jail already
KU seeks proposals for retirement and research spaces By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
The idea of a creating a new Lawrence retirement community in partnership with Kansas University is poised to get its most formal review yet from KU leaders. KU officials soon will request proposals from development firms interested in a project that could include placing university research space next to a new “intergenerational” neighborhood of retirees and young families. “The university’s position now shows Domer that it is very serious about this idea,” Dennis Domer, director of KU’s New Cities Initiative, told a crowd at a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce event Tuesday. “And that’s very good. KU has to be a part of the formula for this to work.” A request for proposals could be Please see KU, page 5A
Please see COURTS, page 5A
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TOPEKA — A proposal to transport water from the Missouri River to irrigate crops in western Kansas and replenish the Ogallala Aquifer was rolled out before state legislators on Tuesday. “It’s exciting for the state of Kansas to be looking at this,” said Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office. At some point But officials notin time, there will ed they were in the early stages of con- probably be a play sidering the Kansas on the river, and Aqueduct Project. The project Kansas needs to be would siphon wa- well-positioned.” ter from the Missouri River from — Tracy Streeter, director the most northeast of the Kansas Water Office corner of Kansas in White Cloud, and transport the water some 360 miles through a series of lift stations and canals past Perry Lake, through the Flint Hills and into western Kansas. David Brenn, president of the Kansas Water Congress, said the aqueduct proposal “is the best and last long-term hope for water supply in the state of Kansas.” The congress is made up of water officials from across the state and works on water resource issues.
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County wrestles with how to comply with concealed carry law in historic courthouse
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Trail may start trend The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday night accepted the donation of land for a park, and a planned trail may be part of a citywide system. Page 3A
Vol.155/No.324 32 pages