THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
1
Ice storm remnants pose threat
Current warm-up poses threat to Kansas residents
BY JASON SAAD
jshaad@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
The winter ice storm from early January caused extensive damage throughout the state and limited damage in Lawrence. As weather warms up this week, ice will melt and refreeze causing dangerous road conditions. Facilities Operations crews are continuing to clean up fallen tree limbs and uprooted trees.
Damage on campus was minimal, said Vince Avila, associate director of Student Housing.
One heating line froze in Ellsworth Hall and some food spoiled while refrigerators were out of power during the storm.
Power outages lasted for a few hours and no major damage to university housing facilities occurred. Avila said.
According to a report from Kansas Emergency Management, the storm caused
an estimated $40 million in damages statewide. Governor Kathleen Beelius proclaimed 56 counties, including Douglas County, to be in a state of disaster emergency.
Mike Akulow, meteorologist for the National Weather Service forecast office in Topeka, said Lawrence was not as badly damaged as other areas.
"We got more sleet than the freezing rain around Wichita," Akulow said. "Sleet doesn't stick as much, so it wasn't as bad here."
Temperatures will rise this week, causing frozen tree limbs and ice to thaw, Akulow said. Ice that melts during the day could refreeze at night, resulting in dangerous driving conditions, Akulow said. Stressed tree limbs could also expand and break as temperatures rise, he said.
Westar Energy, the state's largest energy provider, reported that 211,000 customers lost power because of the ice storm, with 121,000 customers out of power in Wichita alone. More than 11,000 customers in Lawrence lost power.
The company enlisted repair crews from various states to fix
Saturday is the last day residents can take tree limbs and branches to Lawrence's brush drop-off site.
LIMB DROP-OFF
Where: 1420 E. 11th St.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday
Cost: Free Saturday, $3 to $4 a truckload after that
**How:** Bundles should not exceed 5 feet in length, 18 inches in diameter or 65 pounds per bundle.
Tree limbs and brush from a citizen's private property may be taken to the location free of charge. (In April, it costs $3-4 a truckload). The limbs will be chipped and used as mulch throughout the city. Private tree materials not taken to the drop-off site need to be properly bundled for city refuse collection during its weekly scheduled pick up. Materials need to be bundled and placed with trash for removal. It will be taken to the landfill.
For more info, call the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department at 785-832-3450
damaged power lines, some from as far away as West Virginia. Olsen said the last time the company experienced such widespread problems was during the winter ice storm in January
Source: Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department
2002. She said that storm caused more damage to northeast Kansas, but did not cause as many power-outages statewide.
— Edited by Jennifer Voldness
14th Street entrance closed until March
Steven Bartkoski/KANSAN
BY NATE KARLIN
nkarin@kansan.com
KANAN STAFF WRITE
The 14th Stb construction, which was started last June, is part of a two-phase project to work on the steam tunnels underneath and run fiber optic cables to the new scholarship hall.
Students no longer have to walk around construction on Jayhawk Boulevard, but the 14th Street entrance will remain closed until the end of March.
Altmar Construction will resume digging the first week of February when it will finish the second and final phase of the steam tunnel project.
The construction workers will place data communication pipes along 14th Street. Networking and Telecommunication Systems will use the pipes to run fiber optic cables to Spooner Hall, the Juanita Strait House and the new Rieger Scholarship Hall on Ohio Street.
Construction crews completed the steam tunnel renovation
more than a month before its original February completion date, but 14th Street will not reopen.
Construction workers tore out curbs and sidewalks along the street, which would have made it difficult to re-open said Doug
Riat, facilities and operations director.
"I don't see any value in reopening 14th Street," Riat said. "Rather than re-open it for a month and close it again, the decision has been made to keep it closed."
Lawson said there would be a few days when scholarship hall residents would not be allowed to park their cars in the alley between Louisiana and Ohio Streets.
Construction of the steam tunnel between Lippincott, Dyche and Spooner Halls, began last May after the commencement ceremony.
The $1.5 million project was necessary because the tunnel's old age inhibited the value of its service and made it unsafe.
The construction paid off said Ryan McCarty, Bay City, Mich., graduate student. It looks nice now that it is completed, he said. He will not miss the construction that spilled onto Jayhawk Boulevard.
"I'm just glad I don't have to walk in the road," McCarty said.
- Edited by Austin Caster
(book signing to follow)
Thursday, February 3, 2005 7:30 p.m. Lied Center
Free Tickets Available Now at the SUA Ticket Office and the Lied Center (785) 864-2787
Thursday, February 17, 2005 7:30 "Stagecraft Stories: How Advance Work Builds Presidential Image"
Thursday, February 24, 2005 7:30 "Reagan and Gorbachev:
How the Cold War Ended"
"Electing Reagan: The Presidential Campaigns"
Monday, February 28, 2005 7:30
(Remaining free tickets for the three Hansen Hall lectures are available now by calling the Dole Institute) (785) 864-4900
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