Monday, March 13. 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 3
Alcohol control agency raids Lawrence area
Bars, stores are targeted in operation
By Mindie Miller
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Alcoholic Beverage Control agents made 46 arrests at Lawrence bars and liquor stores March 2 and 4. And eight arrests were made March 3 in Topeka.
ABC officials said that seven
ABC agents participated in the three-day, two-city operation, which targeted underage possession of alcohol.
"We will continue to work with licensees to enforce the liquor laws of the state of Kansas," said Bob Longino, ABC director. "More community awareness and action is needed to curb underage possession and consumption of alcohol."
Half of the Lawrence arrests were made March 2, including the 15 arrests for underage possession that were made during identification checks at Lawrence bars. The other eight arrests were made as part of
ABC's Cops-in-Shops program, a program in which agents work with liquor store licensees to arrest minors attempting to purchase alcohol.
Scott Holeman, communications director for the Kansas revenue department, which oversees the ABC, said that with Cops-in-Shops, the owner of the store might know the agent was present but the person selling alcohol did not.
"The purpose of this program is to make sure everyone plays by the rules," he said.
Chris Joseph, a clerk at Ray's Liquor Warehouse, 1215 W. Sixth St., and Arkansas City senior,
"The purpose of this program is to make sure everyone plays by the rules."
Scott Holeman
communications director for the Kansas department of revenue
said that ABC agents had set up stings in his store but that he knew the agents would be there. He said that knowing the agents were there increased pressure for him to follow the rules.
"I always card people anyway because I can get in a lot of trouble for selling to people who are underage," he said. "This just makes me a little more likely to card."
Agents made 23 additional arrests March 4 in Lawrence 14 at bars for underage possession, five at liquor stores for minors in possession and four for furnishing alcohol to minors.
Holeman said he could not disclose the names of the bars or liquor stores that were involved in the operation because appeals processes were still pending.
A minor in possession charge for people 18 to 21 years old
draws a minimum fine of $200,
with no maximum fine.
Offenders under 18 face a fine
between $200 and $500.
Only one minor was arrested Friday at a Topeka bar for possession of alcohol. Four arrests for minors in possession and three arrests for furnishing alcohol to minors also were made in Topeka.
Holeman said Topeka probably had significantly fewer arrests because the agents spent two of the three nights in Lawrence.
Crossing KU streets may be perilous
Jedrzej Miadowicz, left, Poland graduate student, and John Fines, Cleveland, Mo., graduate student, attempt to cross 15th street near Learned Hall during the 5:00 p.m. rush hour. At the intersection of 15th Street and Burdick Drive, there are ramps for handicapped access, but there is no crosswalk. Photo by Craig Bennett/KANSAN
Changes could prevent mishaps with pedestrians
By Jim O'Malley writer@kanson.com Kanson staff writer
Improvements to 15th Street might have prevented last Monday's automobile-pedestrian accident.
There are no marked crosswalks on 15th Street between Nismith Drive and Iowa Street, but a lot of people cross 15th between Green Hall and Jayhawker Towers on the south and Learned Hall on the north.
It can be riskv.
It can be sadly.
Dede Preno, Prairie Village senior, was hit by a car Monday evening as he jogged south across 15th Street east of Burdick Drive, between Green Hall and Jayhawker Towers. Preno wasn't badly hurt, but he was given a jaywaking ticket.
Maggie Curry / KANSAN
Although this intersection can be dangerous, it's not a deathtrap. Sgt. Troy Mailen of the KU Public Safety Office said there had been one other automobile-pedestrian accident on that part of 15th Street in the past three years.
Other locations have had more accidents. In the last three years, there have been three automobile -pedestrian accidents at Irving Hill Road and Naismith Drive, and two at Irving Hill Road and Burdick Drive, Mailen said. There are marked crosswalks at those locations.
Greg Wade, landscape architect for design and construction management, said he was not aware of any immediate plans to mark a crosswalk at 15th Street and Burdick Drive.
And marking a crosswalk at the intersection might actually make it more dangerous to cross the street, said John Mullens, assistant director of the public safety office.
"A pedestrian trying to cross four lanes of traffic is taking his safety into his hands."
Mullens said there were cross-
Proposed pedestrian safety measures The University's long-term Transportation Study and Master Plan proposes adding a median and pedestrian barrier down the center of 15th Street between Burdick and Naimmith drives to serve as a pedestrian refuge. Two automobile-pedestrian accidents have occurred there in the past three years.
John Mullens Assistant director of the public
safety office
walks at all intersections, whether they were marked by white lines and signs. Several years ago, the City of Lawrence marked the crosswalks at the intersection of 15th Street and Engel Road. Mullens said there had never been any pedestrian accidents there, but that in the first six weeks the signs were up, three pedestrians were hit.
"So the city came and cut off the signs and painted over the white lines with black paint," Mullens said.
He said the University community developed bad habits on Jayhawk Boulevard, where everyone jaywalks and drivers expect it. So campus pedestrians develop a false sense of security and don't keep a proper lookout when they cross streets, especially at marked crosswalks, he said.
Pedestrians encounter another problem on 15th Street - multiple lanes to cross.
"One of the problems with 15th Street is that with anything short of a traffic light, a pedestrian trying to cross four lanes of traffic is taking his safety into his hands," Mullens said.
pedestrians from crossing outside of the crosswalks. There would be two breaks in the barrier for marked crosswalks, and the crosswalk at Burdick would be marked.
The University's long-term Transportation Study and Master Plan proposes adding a median and pedestrian barrier down the center of 15th Street between Burdick and Naismith to serve as a pedestrian refuge and to keep
But engineering solutions to safety problems can be expensive, Mullens said. When funds aren't available, the public safety office relies on education and then enforcement as a last resort.
But at a university, everybody should know they need to look both ways when crossing a street, he said, so pedestrians shouldn't be surprised at jaywalking tickets.
Maggie Curry / KANSAN
Number of stolen bicycles drops dramatically in '99
By Sara Shepherd
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
1999 was not a good year for bike thieves.
According to KU Public Safety Office records, there were only 10 bikes stolen from campus in 1999, compared with counts in the 30s in 1997 and 1998, and the 60s in 1995 and 1996.
Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the public safety office said he was unsure of the reason for the decrease in bike thefts. He said if cyclists took the time to lock up their bikes properly, it would be harder for someone to steal them.
The bikes, which ranged in value from $30 to more than $3,000, were stolen from residence halls, parking lots and outside of other campus buildings. Bailey said the sites seemed to be evenly dispersed.
Bailey said most of the bikes were reported to be locked when they were stolen. If the lock were applied incorrectly, however, thieves could still take most of the bike — or just cut the chain.
Scott Trettel, an employee at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 602 Massachusetts St.. described some of the bike locks that were available. He said cable locks and U-locks were the most common styles.
Cable locks, ranging in price from $10 to $20, are the least expensive — and weakest — kind of lock. Trettel said the locks' chains or cables easily could be cut with bolt cutters.
"They're the first ones to be
"Unfortunately, most stolen bikes are not recovered."
Schuyler Bailey KU Public Safety Officer
stolen from campus," he said.
U-locks, which cost between $35 and $80, are like oversized pad locks, Trettel said. They are virtually impossible to cut, and many brands actually come with guarantees and insurance, he said.
There is also a device called a seat leash cable that prevents the theft of quick release bike seats, Trettel said. The cable costs about $6.
Bailey said registering bikes could be helpful in attempting to locate them if they were stolen. City law requires that all bikes must be registered in Lawrence.
For 25 cents, owners can purchase a bicycle license from either the KU Public Safety Office, Lawrence Police Department, Student Union Activities or several local bike shops. Bailey said the bike's brand, serial number and any other identifying information is placed on file with police, and the owner attaches a numbered sticker to his or her bike.
But Bailey said chances were slim that a stolen bike would ever be ridden by its owner again.
"Unfortunately, most stolen bikes are not recovered," Bailey said. "But we do what we can to try and find them."