14 • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS IN BRIEF
WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2003
CITY
Residents still fixing damage after tornado from early May
LAWRENCE (AP) — For Lawrence residents whose homes were badly damaged by a tornado in early May, perhaps the only consolation about having to live* amid such reminders as boarded-up windows is that they're far from alone.
"There is just so much to do," said Val Smith, a University of Kansas professor whose southwest Lawrence neighborhood was hardest hit. "Our block had so much damage, our contractor said it could be mid-August before they could get to our home."
In all, Douglas County Emergency Management counted 192 dwellings many of them individual apartment units damaged by the tornado. Total damage in Lawrence and the county was put at $6.39 million.
"Cleanup has been really slow, mainly because I have never done this before," said Lori Crabtree, who lives a block north of Smith. "I had to get three or four estimates and then choose which contractor to do the work, some of who did not even call me back."
STATE
Edwards Campus expansion planned after decade of use
OVERLAND PARK (AP) - As the University of Kansas' Edwards Campus celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, plans call for revamping the 36-acre suburban Kansas City site with a $70 million expansion plan.
"When I came here, this was essentially just a building," said Bob Clark, vice chancellor for the Edwards Campus, who started in 1997. "In June 2004, this evolves from a building to a campus."
Clark said the new building would allow the University to increase the number of programs it offers at the campus from 25 to 40 during the next five years. The current programs are a mix of graduate and undergraduate degrees, with some programs offering only junior- and senior-level courses to students who received associate's degrees from Johnson County Community College, a few miles away.
Great White plans tour to aid victims of deadly nightclub fire
RUSSELL (AP) — The band whose concert ended in a deadly nightclub fire in Rhode Island in February is planning a stop in Kansas next month during a benefit tour.
Organizers are working out details for
an Aug. 22 concert in Russell by Great White, the 1980s band whose pyrotechnics are blamed for starting the Feb. 20 fire that killed 100 — including the band's guitarist -at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, R.I.
The concert would be at the Plains Amphitheater, a bowl-shaped plot of land with no permanent stage and no seats. Organizers say the concert could draw as many as 10,000 fans.
City Council members and emergency officials objected to having the concert on city property,but organizers Richard Hogan,Brett Holt and Gerald Brown,all of Russell,received permission to have the concert at the Amphitheater,which is on property owned by the AmericInn motel.
Workers find abandoned fetus in tree grove at country club
ANDOVER (AP) — Police were investigating the discovery of a fetus at an Andover country club.
Two maintenance workers found the remains in a grove of trees at Cedar Pines Golf Course at about 10:30 a.m. Monday, Andover Police Chief Randall Harris said. No one could tell how long it might have been in the area.
Police said the fetus looked to be maybe four months into gestation, or about 16 of the normal 40 weeks.
The department said it hoped an autopsy on the fetus might provide more clues.
It is against the law to intentionally abort fetuses without the care of a medical doctor.
Coal-car derailment in Bonner injures none, requires clean-up
BONNER SPRINGS (AP) — Nineteen coal cars derailed early yesterday near
the Leavenworth-Wyandotte county line, damaging 800 feet of track. No injuries were reported.
The Union Pacific train was hauling 101 cars of coal from Colorado to East St. Louis, Ill. The derailment occurred at 3:21 a.m. on tracks parallel to Kansas 32 just west of downtown Bonner Springs.
Union Pacific representative Mark Davis said investigators did not immediately know what caused the derailment. Workers expected to have the coal cleared and one damaged track fixed yesterday. Another track was expected to be repaired by late yesterday or early today.
Board of Ed balks on decision concerning evolution guidelines
TOPEKA (AP] — Even if they never used the word evolution, State Board of Education members knew it was behind their disagreement over science standards.
The board on Wednesday discussed reviewing standards for science tests given to Kansas students every other year. Revised in 2001, those standards identify evolution as an important concept for students.
Board members split 5-5 over having such a review, or an internal examination focusing on how students perform on the tests and not the standards themselves. The board plans to discuss the issue again in August.
A full review would include a committee of educators making recommendations to the board.
State law requires the board to start a review of the science standards this year. Board members supporting a full review said science standards should not be handled differently than standards for reading, math, writing or social studies.
NATION
Man armed with hand grenade killed by police during standoff
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City man died early Saturday after he confronted police with a grenade, police said.
Police Capt. Rich Lockhart said officers were called to an area containing several duplexes at 11:20 p.m. Friday on a disturbance call. Officers responded and found a 25-year-old man armed with a hand grenade, police said. Officers negotiated with the man until about 4 a.m. Saturday, when the man walked toward them holding the grenade and police shot him, Lockhart said.
After he was shot the man fell on the grenade. When a police department robotic device tried to retrieve the grenade, it detonated. Lockhart said the man was dead before the grenade went off.
Lockhart said the man, whose name was not immediately released, was in the area trying to reconcile with his girlfriend. Residents in the area were evacuated for several hours during the standoff.
Evangelist urges retirement of 3 Supreme Court justices
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson urged his nationwide audience Monday to pray for God to remove three justices from the Supreme Court so they could be replaced by conservatives.
"We ask for miracles in regard to the Supreme Court," Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club.
Robertson has launched a 21-day "prayer offensive" directed at the Supreme Court in the wake of its 6-3 June vote that decriminalized sodomy. Robertson said in a letter on the CBN Web site that the ruling "has opened the door to homosexual marriage, bigamy, legalized prostitution and even incest."
The same letter targets three justices in particular: "One justice is 83-years-old, another has cancer and another has a heart condition. Would it not be possible for God to put it in the minds of these three judges that the time has come to retire?"
Ex-teammate will not speak with police in Baylor case
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A former teammate of missing Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy will not talk to police again unless he is ordered to by a