University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, November 8, 1989
Campus/Area
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City Commission accepts Western Development Plan
By Dave Wakefield Kansan staff writer
The pattern for Lawrence's future was debated last night, as city commissioners approved a land-use plan for West Lawrence.
The plan faces an immediate test as debate continues today on zoning requests that have been delayed for several weeks, pending acceptance of the Western Development Plan. The commission will reconvene at 2 p.m., at City Hall.
Commissioners made few comments before accepting the plan, which was released by the planning commission in July and was the focus of a study session held last month.
Mayor Bob Schumm was concerned about the trend taken by residential development in West Lawrence.
"There seems to be a definite lack of to-moderate price lots," he said.
With a second high school planned for West Lawrence, Schumm said he wanted to see an economic mix so that the city doesn't develop an east
Blue-collar workers have told Schumm that they seem to only be able to locate in the southeast quarter of the city, he said.
vs. west character.
"There is a stigma associated with that, and they reagent that," he said.
Schumm also was concerned that Lawrence may become a bedroom community.
"If we continue to build $85,000 homes, but only have so many high-paying jobs that can support that kind of sale, we invite workers to commute from high paying jobs
City planner Price Banks said those concerns would need to be part of a housing policy and could not be addressed in a zoning plan.
elsewhere." he said
"Where that has been done, it has been part of a neighborhood plan," he said. "More frequently, it is done in conjunction with federal programs in place to subsidize development.
"National trends suggest that lower-income families are being priced out of the single-family housing market." he said.
Many times, the only way developers can afford to build low-income housing with current, high, land costs to be build duplexes and four-plexes. Banks said.
Sohum and commissioner Mike Rundle said they would like to see a study of housing policies that could lead to more equitable development in West Lawrence.
But commissioner Shirley Martin-Smith said, "I have trouble assuming blue-collar workers can't afford nice homes. I haven't heard it, and I work with blue-collar workers a lot."
Schumm also questioned early zoning for commercial development.
"Why can't we leave our options open?" he said. "We don't know how these areas are going to develop. We have any day of the month. To give all commercial zoning on day one may not be the best development."
In other business, commissioners voted to accept a letter requesting Industrial Revenue Bonds for the development of a plastic manufacturing company in the East Hills Business Park. A public hearing will be on Dec. 5 to discuss the request.
Republicans seek special tax session
- Legislators list options to relieve burden
By Derek Schmidt
Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
TOPEKA — A special session of the Legislature would have several options to relieve tax burdens, a publican lawmakers said yesterday.
State Rep. David Miller, R- Eudora, who is leading the cry for Gov. Mike Hayden to call a special legislative session to address tax
inequities created by classification and repaired, listed nine potential
relief measures that lawmakers could consider. He said more measures were possible.
Among Miller's proposals are:
"We believe this is a serious problem, and we believe the Legislature needs to act, and we believe that should start, in earnest, today." Miller said at a statehouse news conference.
Among Miller's proposals are:
► Re-opening the local appeal process for taxpayers. Taxpayers had the opportunity to appeal to local and county governments last spring, but many did not do so. Miller said that when property tax bills were mailed out later this month, the State Board of Tax Appeals would receive an estimated 150,000 appeals.
State Rep. Robert Vancrum, R-Overland Park, said local governments had discouraged many tax-payers from appearing last spring, saying that a decrease in state and local taxes would offset the rising state taxes. In many cases, that local decrease never occurred.
▶ Placing a limit on how much property tax schools and cities could levy. Critics of property tax reforms have argued that as state rates declined for some taxpayers, local rates have risen.
▶ Raising the cap on the "circuit breaker," a provision passed last spring by the Legislature to provide relief grants to taxpayers whose taxes rose unfairly. Miller said that the current cap of $500 per taxpayer was too low, but he did not say how high he wanted to raise it.
Poor and elderly taxpayers are eligible for a rebate if their property values increased more than 50 percent because of the reappraisal. The Legislature set aside $10 million for the circuit-breaker rebates, of which about $1.6 million remains.
Miller and a group of 10 other Republican lawmakers wrote Hayden last week and asked him to call a special session. A group of Democratic legislators, including the entire Wyandotte County delegation, joined in the call.
If Hayden does not call for a special session, a two-thirds vote in the Legislature could require one.
Hayden last called a special session in 1987 to address the state's highway needs. After a week of debate, the Legislature adjourned without accomplishing anything.
Accomplishing tax relief is more likely than was adopting a highway program, Miller said, because many people will be immediately affected by rising taxes.
Hunger strike is over; legal fight to continue
Fred Markham's hunger strike is over six days after it began.
By Angela Baughman Kansan staff writer
He said, however, that his fight for his civil rights would continue in a legal arena.
"The strike is over, but the fight is not over," Markham said through his耳鼻喉 neighbor Paula Cleveland, who killed him. "I will continue on legal grounds."
Markham, 40, has cerebral palsy, which impairs his speech and confines him to a wheelchair. He quit eating Nov. 1 because the Kansas Civil Rights Commission would not permit retaliation complaint he wanted to fight against a Lawrence social service agency for the disabled.
because he was not an employee of the agency, Independence Inc., and because they were not an employment agency, he had no grounds for complaint. Commission officials could not be reached for comment late vetteday.
He said that commission officials met yesterday to reconsider his complaint, but did not change their decision. He said they had told him that
Markham claims Independence Inc. retaliated after he had filed an employment discrimination complaint against them based on disability discrimination. He filed that complaint with the commission after he was not hired as director of the agency, with withdrew it yesterday.
He said Independence Inc. retaliated against him after he filed the discrimination complaint by not publishing some articles he had written for their monthly newsletter. He said they did not warn him he wrote. In which his photo appeared and the last line always read, "Talk to you next month."
However, Independence Inc. did eventually publish two of the articles.
Hopes high for twice-tabled campus recycling bill
By Chris Evans
Karren staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Optimism is high that Student Senators will allocate money for the twice-tabled campus recycling bill when it comes to a vote tonight.
"I think it will go through," said Jeff Morris, student body vice president.
Patricia Marvin, city recycling coordinator, said she thought senators would be impressed with the program offered by the owners of River City Recycling Co. She said the recyclers' plan should work.
"I'm not guaranteeing anything, but I could see no reason why not," Marvin said. "It seems like such a nice, straightforward project."
Enthusiast has risen during the past two weeks as the partners at River City Recycling worked through a management dispute. The
dispute had cast doubt on the recyclers' ability to establish a workable program at the University of Kansas.
Now, with two of the three original owners remaining, Marvin said that anxieties concerning the recyclers' competence had been alleviated.
"I think they've really stabilized their company," she said. "They have a very practical approach and are very work-oriented."
Marvin and the co-owners of River City Recycling, Mark Akin and John Hebert, will attend tonight's Senate meeting to field questions.
Akin said yesterday that he was ready to answer those questions.
Morris said that, because of various delays, the program could not be started until next month if money is allocated, time will still be needed to buy and receive containers for the large cans.
"The University should have utmost faith in our ability to uphold the contract," he said. "I've already cut a route through the Univer-
ity. We could cover the University in 45 minutes."
According to a pilot program designed by Morris and members of Environs, a student environmental-awareness group, aluminum cans would be picked up from certain campus buildings each day.
Akin said he hoped to see the program start before the end of the year.
"There's still six weeks of school left," he said. "They said two weeks to order the barrels, and there's still a month after that. Let's get started."
Alan Walker, director of fire services continuing education, teaches firefighters instruction techniques to use on their teams.
KU helps fight fires with classes for firefighters
By Stacy Smith Kansan staff writer
The days when firefighting was no more than dragging hoses, putting up ladders and chopping holes in roofs have passed.
Many Kansas firefighters now take continuing education classes through the University of Kansas to keep up with the most rescue rescue techniques and firefighting skills.
"Firefighting is a lot more sophisticated now," said Alan Walker, director of fire service training for the continuing education division.
"There's more they have to deal with."
In 1949, the Legislature gave KU the responsibility to train firefighters in firemanship, fire inspection, fire protection, fire prevention and fire suppression as well as provide the municipalities with better trained firemen."
Since the formal recognition 40 years ago, KU has become the leading state instructor in fire training. During fiscal year 1960, Walker said, KU will offer more than 275 programs to 4,000 firefighters.
"That's very unusual that any program would experience an 80 percent enrollment increase in two years," he said.
enrollment increased 40 percent.
Walker said he expected this year's increase also to be about 40 percent.
Between fiscal years 1988 and 1989,
Walker attributed the enrollment jump to the increased number of instructors. The department started with three full-time instructors and in the last three years has added 92 part-time field instructors. Some of the part-time instructors are paid but most are volunteers.
"Now we can deliver a lot more courses," Walker said.
The classes are taught on a request basis. The fire service training division publishes a course catalogue every year, which details the types of courses available and their costs. The classes vary in length from five hours to 10 days.
Larger fire departments, which often have their own training programs, can have some of their personnel and programs registered with the University and still offer their own training for certification.