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Major gift to hospital honors trailblazing nurse Cindy Murray was instrumental in changing childbirth for parents
By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
There was a time just a few decades ago when firsttime mothers had nary a clue of what to expect when they entered the delivery room of Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
Murray
And first-time fathers, well, all they knew was that the waiting room chairs weren’t too comfortable. Today it is practically a given that first-time parents go through a series of class-
and many remember the name of their fellow nurse who began to change it. Soon the rest of the community will know it, too. Lawrence Memorial Hospital officials announced
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Today’s forecast, page 10A
srothschild@ljworld.com
ONLINE: See the campaign finance reports at LJWorld.com
Traylor finally gets his shot
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QUOTABLE
After 35 years, they know all the bruises, all the positives, all the negatives about this guy. They know everything, and so to get an award like this is the culmination of a wonderful set of teaching experiences.” — KU professor and former Lawrence Mayor John Nalbandian, on being named one of two winners of the 2012 Kansas University Endowment Chancellors Club awards. Page 3A
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Please see NURSE, page 2A
By Scott Rothschild
INSIDE
After being ruled ineligible to play all last season, red-shirt freshman basketball power forward Jamari Traylor has a spot in the starting lineup for today’s exhibition opener against Emporia State. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse. Page 1B
they are preparing to rename the hospital’s birthing center the Cindy Murray Family Birthing Center, in honor of the trailblazing nurse who
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A lot of trial and terror
Nice fall day
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es to prepare them for the birthing process and all the swaddling, crying and diaper changing that is to come. But the nurses at LMH’s birthing center know it didn’t used to be that way,
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photos
LEE HOWE, WHO LIVES AT 2920 PEBBLE LANE, has created a musically synchronized flashing light display for Halloween. The display, which includes lighted pumpkins, gravestones and a pirate ship, puts on a nineminute show in Howe’s front yard. BELOW, The display has more than a quarter-mile of wires running around Howe’s yard. People driving by can tune their car stereo to 98.5 FM to listen to the music for the light show. See the video at LJWorld.com.
Resident rises to challenge of creating creepy holiday display By Adam Strunk astrunk@ljworld.com
Drive past Lee Howe’s home at 2920 Pebble Lane, and you will see a sort of nightmare before Christmas. Christmas lights, pumpkins on tomato cages and a pirate ship manned by a skeleton all light up, seemingly at random. That is until you turn the radio to 98.5. Then the display comes alive, flashing in rhythm to “Ghostbusters” and “This is Halloween.” Howe has spent about 100 hours creating a nine-minute musical Halloween light show in his front yard. Why would anyone spend that much time on
Halloween decorations? Two words: the challenge. “It’s so difficult that most people would quit before they would actually get it built,” Howe said. “A lot of people can do part of it. But to be able to do all of it — the computer side, the music side, the editing, the set — it’s really challenging.” Howe has spent the past month planning and building a set for the show. He designed the set in his head as he drove to work each day. He picked out songs, ran them by his wife and then began the real work: the computer programming. “I have heard this figure
Business 7A Classified 5B-10B Comics 9A Deaths 2A Events listings 10A, 2B Horoscope 9B Movies 4A Opinion 8A By Matt Erickson Puzzles 9B merickson@ljworld.com Sports 1B-4B As Kansas University basketTelevision 10A, 2B, 9B ball fans cheer the beginning of Vol.154/No.304 20 pages the men’s team’s season tonight, another group of people will mark a different, but related, milestone when KU takes on Emporia State in an exhibition game. That group would be those people who park their cars on
Please see DISPLAY, page 2A
High-dollar contributions from a small group of individuals are fueling the Kansas Chamber of Commerce political action committee’s efforts to lock down a conservative agenda in the Legislature, according to campaign finance reports released Monday. Meanwhile, the Kansas National Education Association PAC, relying on numerous small dollar donations, had a slight advantage in raising funds and was contributing to moderate Republicans and Democrats. The reports cover the period from July 27 through last Thursday. The Chamber PAC raised $590,530, in addition to having $58,558 on hand from before, for a total of $649,088. The Chamber PAC spent $543,155, leaving it with $105,932 as of Thursday. According to the finance report, Chamber PAC Chairman Ivan Crossland and his construction companies chipped in $80,000. Oilman David Murfin also contributed $80,000 and Wichita-based Koch Industries, run by the billionaire Koch brothers, $50,000. Crossland Construction also loaned the PAC $122,500, the report said. The Chamber PAC donated its money to the campaigns of conservative Republican legislative candidates statewide. Meanwhile, the Kansas National Education Association PAC raised $68,040, in addition to $630,115 cash on hand at the beginning of the period. That gave the PAC a total of $698,155. The KNEA PAC spent $279,905, leaving it with $418,250 cash on hand at the Please see CAMPAIGN, page 2A
Game nights present parking peeve to campus workers Some contend that students and employees should have priority the KU campus on weeknights so they can work, study or attend night classes. And for them, tonight is the first KANSAS of several nights UNIVERSITY during the next few months when it will become much more of a struggle for them
to find those parking spots. KU senior Rebecca Stout actually counts herself a member of both of those groups. She’s a KU basketball fan and goes to games at Allen Fieldhouse when she can. But she also works two jobs to help her pay her way through school, so she frequently has to take classes at night.
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“I like to go out and have fun,” Stout said. “Fun isn’t going to get me a degree.” Last spring, she enrolled in a 5 p.m. class that met at Summerfield Hall, just around the corner from Allen Fieldhouse. When she arrived one afternoon before a men’s basketball game was Please see PARKING, page 5A
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