City and Area
City Commission issues affect students
By WENDY ELDER Special to the Kansan
To some KU students, Lawrence City Commission meetings are boring.
But if they realized how many issues currently before the Lawrence City Commission directly affected the boredom might wear off quickly.
For instance, about the time students hit town every semester, the traffic begins to snarl and available housing begins to disappear.
To ease the traffic congestion, the City Commission is studying plans to build a southern or eastern trafficway that would connect the Kansas Turnpike and Kansas Highway 10.
Presumably, the bypass would reduce traffic on 23rd and Iowa streets.
The commission also is considering a zoning request change that would mean less housing in a portion of the Oread neighborhood.
Of the southern and eastern trafficway proposals, the southern route is more likely to be approved, primarily because it would cost $20 million less, said Price T. Banks, Lawrence city planning director.
The eastern route would cost more because it would bridge the Kansas River.
The southern route would loop south from Kansas Highway 10 at Noria Road and connect with the Kansas Turnpike west of Lawrence. The eastern route would run from highway 10 at Noria Road north to
U. S. Highway 24-40.
A Lawrence bypass is not a new idea. Banks said a southern trafficway was first proposed in the 1930 Lawrence city plan.
way was first proposed in the 1950 Lawrence city plan. "Since Lawrence is developing rapidly to the west, there is a feeling that we need some help to relieve internal traffic circulation." Banks said. "There is a strong feeling that whatever we do, we need to provide better access to downtown, and this may also provide better access to the
Banks said the intersections at 23rd and Iowa streets and at 23rd and
Louisiana streets were at the failure level.
I assume means that the intersections are not large enough to handle traffic that goes through the intersection,” he said. “Also, there is an expressed need to get truck traffic from the southern part of town out west without clogging up city intersections.”
Hannes Zacharias, city managerial analyst, said that because of Lawrence's growth to the south and west, the "demand for a southern trafficway is there. It will provide a way to relieve traffic pressure for people going through town."
Man on the streets is 'only clown in town'
By BRAD ADDINGTON
Special to the Kansan
Gene Williams watched a young couple engaged in a passionate kiss on a downtown Lawrence sidewalk.
"I've never done none of that. I don't know what that is," Williams joked, taking a sip of warm beer his convenience store coffee mug.
Williams has probably seen many kissing couples in his day, because he spends much of his time on the streets and in the parks of downtown Lawrence. Perhaps not many people know Williams personally, but many have certainly seen him and his colorful bike.
"I'm the only clown in town," he said. He wore a colorful plaid shirt with no sleeves, unbuttoned to expose
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his white undershirt. He also wore a loose, black tie with red and white stripes. Several turkey feathers jutted out of his black baseball cap, which was covered with buttons that he had found: "Sex Cures H脏aches," "Babies are Beautiful," and "Together We're Better." Williams would not say whether the buttons reflected his beliefs or were merely colorful adornments.
Yellow, pink and red balloons dangled from his bicycle. A blue milk crate full of clothes rested on the handlebars, and a yellow cooler hung from the side. Attached to the back of the bicycle and full of aluminum cans was a shopping cart, which Williams called. "The Dillons Trailer".
"oil up my brakes, but I don't need them because I don't go that fast." Williams said as he pulled an aluminum can from a trash receptacle.
Williams collects aluminum cans to supplement his monthly social security payments. He spends most of his nights in the house of some friends on New York Street.
According to Williams, Dillon stores pay the most for aluminum cans: 25 cents per pound. He said he did not necessarily haul his cans in to be cashed every day: "Depends on how I feel. Usually at this time I'd be sitting down."
This he soon did. After getting his mug filled with ice at a nearby
restaurant. he pushed his bicycle to South Park. There he sat at a picnic table and visited with a young woman and her eight-month-old daughter.
"What'd you let it get so hot for?" he asked the baby. "You had nothing to do with it? All right."
The baby looked with wide eyes and marveled at this dark man with white whiskers. "She doesn't see beards very often," Williams said.
The woman eventually took her daughter to the children's pool, and soon Williams' friend Marty arrived. The conversation became sprinkled with four-letter words, but it remained neatly in his mind how much he wanted for his bicycle, but Williams said it was not for sale.
"That bike is my home. You would have to adopt me." Williams said.
However, the bicycle has not always been his home. Williams, 64, was born and raised in the towns of Wetumka and Weeteka, Okla. He also spent some of his childhood in California. He was married in Lawrence at the age of 20. After having three sons and two daughters, Williams and his wife were divorced.
He was a cab driver in Lawrence City for six years after World War II.
"I drove at night. You make more money at night than you do in the daytime. He would drive from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m., would you sleep during the day."
"I had a quilt I put up in the window to keep my bedroom black," he recalled.
Williams mentioned that one of his daughters and one of his sons now lived in Lawrence.
"Here comes my daughter now," he announced.
Elaine Williams, a woman who appeared to be in her 30s or 40s, walked along the sidewalk. She limped slowly because she had injured her foot, but she finally reached her destination.
His daughter greeted him and slapped two dollar bills onto the picnic table in front of Williams.
Williams smirked, and then expressed his "gratitude."
"You can't make it no heavier than that?" he asked.
Diane Dultmeier/KANSAN
Gene Williams is a common sight on the streets of Lawrence. He calls himself the 'only clown in town.'
Local banks offer account options
By GEORGE NORTON
Special to the Kansan
Money can't buy happiness, but it sure can make misery a lot more bearable.
For most college students, making money is not the only problem. Finding a convenient account can also be difficult.
KU freshmen or returning students will find 10 institutions in Lawrence that offer options to deal with this problem.
Lawrence has four savings and loans institutions, and each offers a basic checking account, and other checking and savings account options. A savings and loan is a type
Bank Machines
of bank that invests depositors' savings in home mortgage loans. The bank pays dividends or interest on the depositor's money.
American Savings, 2435 Iowa St..
offers a checking account with no service charge as long as a $500 minimum balance is maintained,
said John Skidmore, customer service representative. If the balance falls below $500, the monthly service charge is $5. No charges are assessed for each check written, and no interest paid on the account, he said.
Tom Koenig, vice president of the Lawrence branch of Anchor Savings, 900 Ohio St., said his bank has an economy checking account that requires a $50 minimum deposit. It has no service fee and no minimum balance. Each check written costs 20 cents, and the account does not draw interest.
Capitol Federal Savings and Loan,
1025 Iowa St., offers a checking account with a $100 initial deposit that earns interest on any balance, said Dan Boeth, assistant branch manager. A graduated service fee is charged each month for accounts with an average daily balance less than $500. No fees are charged for check writing.
Columbia Savings, 901 Vermont St., has a checking account that charges a $3 monthly service fee for balances below $500, said Julee Smith, a bank customer-service representative. It requires a $100 minimum deposit to open the account, which pays no interest. There's no charge for each check written.
Other banks in Lawrence also offer a variety of checking accounts including some form of basic checking. Each has a different name for its account, but all offer similar services.
Douglas County Bank, Ninth and Kentucky streets, has a basic checking account with no minimum balance requirement and no service charge, said Jean Milstead, senior vice president. A $100 initial deposit is required to open an account, and it costs 50 cents to write a check on the account.
Debra Black, cashier at FirstBank,
955 Iowa St., said her bank has a special account that charges a $1.50 minimum monthly service fee, and 20 cents for each check written. It requires $100 to open the account, and has no minimum balance requirements.
First National Bank of Lawrence,
900 Massachusetts St. has an economy checking account that charges a $1.50 minimum monthly service fee. It costs 40 cents for each check written, requires a $100 initial deposit to open an account, and has no minimum balance requirement, said Linda Stanton, teller services manager.
Maley Madl, a loan officer with Lawrence National Bank, 647 Massachusetts St., said her bank offers an economy star-saver account. The account requires an initial deposit of $100 and no minimum balance. A $3 monthly service charge includes 10 withdrawals without any charge. A 50-cent fee is charged for each check written or withdrawal after the first 10
The Kansas Union is not a bank, but it also offers banking services for KU students. It does not offer any checking accounts.
Janice Arneson, vault clerk for the Kansas Union, said, they allow students to cash checks and buy money orders and travelers checks. The maximum cash limit for student checks is $25, and it costs the student 20 cents for processing. The Union will also cash payroll checks or checks from home for amounts up to $300. The union will not cash checks from one student to another.
In addition to the basic checking accounts, Lawrence banks have several forms of regular or interest-bearing checking accounts to choose from.
Each of these banks offer regular accounts that allow a limited number of checks to be written for a set monthly service fee. In most cases, when this limit is exceeded, the service costs from 15 to 25 cents for each check.
Interest-bearing checking accounts, according to bank spokesmen, require a fixed minimum balance. Normally, the minimum balance runs from $500 to $1,000, depending on the bank. This type of account pays interest on the balance maintained in the account. Interest rates paid on the accounts also vary from bank to bank.
Two Lawrence credit unions also offer KU students the opportunity to open checking accounts. Account holders are required to join the credit union, and students, faculty members and KU staff are eligible for membership.
The Air Defense Center-Kansas University Federal Credit Union, 603 W. Ninth St., offers an interest-bearing checking account. The account has no service fees if the balance is more than $300, and charges no fees on checks, said Dolores Werner, assistant branch manager. A graduated service fee is charged monthly if the balance is less than $300.
Tracy Hicks, administrative assistant at the School Employee's Credit Union, 1015 W. Sixth St., said the credit union offers three interest-bearing checking accounts and one basic checking account.
The basic account has no minimum balance, no service charge, and offers 10 check transactions without charge each month. After 10 checks, it costs 15 cents for each check. Hicks said.
Destruction rate remains high at animal shelter
By DEBRA A. PFTERSON Special to the Kansan
Special to the Kansan
rine door opens. Sunlight streams across the beige tiled floor and stops at the counter where a small woman stands waiting.
When she sees what her visitors have brought, the woman's eyes narrow, and her lips press together. The visitors place two six-week-old calico kittens on the counter.
for a registration card and a pencil.
Roma Tesch, manager of the
Lawrence Humane Society shelter,
1805 E. 19th St., has lived there six years
hundreds of years at the shelter, she has
seen more than 18,000 cats and dogs brought in and more than 10,000 destroyed.
Roma Tesch, director of the Lawrence Humane Society, holds Impy, who is $1\frac{1}{2}$ years old and may soon be put to sleep.
The woman sighs as she reaches for a registration card and a pencil.
In a room adjacent to the reception area are two stacked rows of caged cats waiting for adoption. In one cage, two adult cats rub against the door. On a card affixed to their cage, a few scrawled words explain why the cats are there; "Moving — can't keen."
"There are days when you go home and you're just so depressed," Tesch said.
But whatever the reason for bringing an animal to the shelter, the result is always the same: one more creature awaiting adoption or facing death.
Other excuses written on cards in the high-circulated, air-conditioned dog section are: "dog needs more attention," "can't afford" and "too many dogs."
"That's the number one excuse." Tesch said.
In 1986, the shelter took in 3,067
Tesch cautioned that if people lose their pets, they should contact the shelter immediately, because animals are kept only for 72 hours before they are destroyed. Sometimes, if the shelter is full, they are destroyed the same day.
A veterinarian comes in two or three times a week to administer lethal injections. During the summer, he is kept busy, because summer is kitten and puppy season. Recently, 33 animals were put to sleep in one day, and within 24 hours the shelter was full again.
dogs and cats. Less than half were adopted; 1,889 were destroyed. And this number is small compared to other places in Kansas, Tesch said.
Both Tesch and her assistant manager, Lori Coffman, attribute the number of unwanted animals to the failure of pet owners to spay or neuter their pets.
Coffman has been working at the shelter for five years. When she started working part time, she said, she found the job so difficult that her mother advised her to quit.
"Men, especially, don't like to neuter male dogs," Coffman said. "They say it ruins them."
Adopting one of these dogs costs $60, and adopting a cat costs $40. The new pet owner can take his fee receipt to a veterinarian who is supposed to spay or neuter the animal in exchange for the receipt. Unfortunately, Tesch said, some veterinarians in Lawrence charge more than that for the operation. This angers pet owners who haven't anticapped the additional expense.
"I'd cry almost every night when I went home," Coffman said.
Cruelty to animals is a misdemeanor, said Kevin Harmon, Lawrence police patrolman. It carries a maximum penalty of a $100 fine for the first offense and a $100 fine and 10 days in jail for a second offense.
"we try to find out where people live," Tesch said, "because it'd be better for the animal to be put to sleep than to be cruelly treated."
But even though shelter workers are eager to find homes for the animals, they screen potential owners carefully to make sure the animals will be properly cared for.
Part of Tesch's job is to follow up on cruelly calls. A 24-hour answering service takes emergency calls, many of which come during KU spring and Christmas breaks.
Tesch said one cruelty case last year involved a KU student who left his puppy and kitten in someone else's care while he went on break. For some reason, signals got crossed and no one came to feed the animals. The kitten survived because it could drink out of the toilet and jump up on the kitchen counter where food was kept. The puppy starved to death.
"The sad part is, a lot of people don't complain until an animal is dead," Tesch said. She said shelter workers often tried to investigate reported animal abuse when people weren't home so they could accurately assess the situation.
On the first day of a cruelty investigation, Tesch said, they are required to leave a note if no one is home. The second day, they leave a "Notice to Reply." On the third day, they take the animal. They also take photographs of the place in case the animal's owner decides to sue.
"It's hard to prove how an animal dies," Tesch said. "If we can't prove it, we don't have a very good case in court.
"They're mostly iffy situations. They might have a doghouse for the dog, but we suggest that they might want to move the house into the shade so the dog can keep cool."
People telephone the shelter frequently to report abuse, Tesch said, but not all the calls are founded on
actual cruelty
"We get calls all the time on a little tian terrier on Connecticut (Street) that lies down right by the side of the road." Tesch said. "People think he got hit by a car. Someday he will."
Even though some calls are unfounded, the shelter must investigate each one, and that costs money.
The shelter receives an annual operating budget of $85,000 from the
Some shelter money comes from a $10 fee charged when pet owners come in to recover a lost pet. Fees are assessed, Tesch said, because if people don't have money invested in an animal, they won't take care of it.
city, and it also receives donations. The money must pay the salaries of three full-time and three part-time workers, and it must also pay for food, medicine and veterinary services for the animals.