8A the university daily kansan
news
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wednesday, october 1,2003
Grin and bear it
Zach Bowles, Wichita senior, completed bench press repetitions Monday at the new Student Fitness Recreation Center. "The weight room is a lot better now, and it will be cool to see the rest finished," Bowles said.
Judge orders come back on kidnapping extradition
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — A Kansas judge yesterday ordered the return of a woman taken to Indiana to face charges that she misled a couple in that state into believing she was their long-missing daughter.
Shawneau County District Judge Nancy Parrish ruled that Donna Lynette Walker, a 35-year-old Topeka resident, had not exhausted her appeal rights when Indiana authorities took her from the Shawneau County jail last week.
During a 30-minute hearing
yesterday, Walker's attorney, Billy Rork, argued her removal was illegal and asked Parrish to penalize the jail. But Parrish said Kansas extradition law is unclear and declined to sanction the jail.
"I think we had a situation of a person at the jail jumping the gun," Parrish said. "I think we need to bring Miss Walker back to Kansas."
However, Parrish said she didn't know how that's going to be accomplished.
And Shawnee County Counselor Rich Eckert suggested that Indiana may be free to ignore
"The Boone County sheriff will probably tell me to go jump in the lake." Eckert said.
the order.
In Boone County, Walker faces charges of felony identity deception and misdemeanor false reporting.
She is accused of assuming false identities when she contacted the parents of Shannon Marie Sherrill, who was 6 when she disappeared in 1986 from outside her mother's home.
Rork has said Walker is mentally ill and believed she may have been their daughter.
UNION: Each stair will take three days to fix
The Union's stairs appear normal at first glance. But the heights vary slightly, causing people to stumble because they get used to a standard height, Beard said.
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"It's amazing what a very small difference of height did for patrons." Beard said. "People are catching their toes on the steps."
That's what Krumrey and Stephen Majerle, Olathe freshman, realized as they tripped one after another yesterday afternoon.
"It looks nice and big." Majerle said. "It's just dangerous."
The contractors, not the Union, will pay to correct the mistakes. Each stair will take three days to fix, and the Union has five flights of stairs. Beard said the project should be done a week before classes resume in January.
"The last thing we need is the stairwell to be down during book sales," Beard said.
sales. The staircase was a part of a $5 million renovation of the Union. Sections of the stairway were closed from summer 2002 to April 2003, slowing traffic in the Union.
Beard said the renovations were necessary. The staircase was less accessible on the south side of the elevators and had asbestos problems. It's a nicer place postrenovation, Beard said.
"Up and down, it's been well received," Beard said. "People who have been away for a while come back and stand there with their mouths open admiring the view."
— Edited by Katie Bean
City fines riders; scooters booted
The Associated Press
ELLIS — The fight over whether electric scooters should be allowed on the streets of Ellis has gone to court.
Twenty-three Ellis residents filed a petition Friday in Ellis County District Court asking a judge to allow their scooters on the streets after being told in August by the city council to stay off the roads or get a ticket.
The residents contend that the scooters are categorized as bicycles by the Kansas Department of Motor Vehicles.
The scooter controversy arose in August when the city council backed City Attorney Olavee Raub's contention that Freedom electric scooters are not legal to operate on city streets.
The council decided that people who drive their scooters on city streets would be cited for unlawful operation of a motor vehicle—an $85 ticket.
Apparently the scooter owners have obeyed the city.
"There haven't been any on the streets. They shut them down," Ellis Police Chief Leonard Debolt said.
Mayor David McDaniel said residents had complained about the scooters on city streets because the top speed is 15 mph, and they are so small they can be hard to see, especially from the cab of a pickup, McDaniel said.
Raub's research determined that scooters were not intended for use on roads or streets and did not require a vehicle registration.
"I really feel] bad for the people who spent money on those scooters, but I'm just doing what the law tells me has to be done," Raub said.
McDaniel said he sympathized with the scooter owners, but that does not make scooters safe to operate on the streets.
"Unfortunately, these people bought these things and didn't know anything about it. All of a sudden people started appearing and riding down the middle of the street, and people were calling and complaining," McDaniel said.
Raub said the scooter owners' contention that the devices were bicycles did not hold up because the scooters have no pedals.
Matt Moser, manager of the title and registration division bureau of the Kansas DMV, agreed with Raub.
"They do not meet the definition of any vehicle manufactured for highway use. If it doesn't have pedals, it cannot be tagged as a motorized bike," Moser said.
The state has to look at each new scooter design and determine what category it fits into, Moser said.
His department has not issued a determination yet on Freedom scooters, but one is on the way to the attorney general, he said.
The scooters do not have a vehicle identification number, and that alone means the state cannot issue license tags for them, Moser said.
Karaoke
7-9 PM. Hawks Nest, Level 1
Kansas Union
Afternoon Tea
3-4 PM, Level 4, Kansas Union
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle 7 & 9:30 PM, Woodruff Auditorium. Level 5. Kansas Union
Tunes @ Noon
Raised By Tigers
12 PM, Kansas Union Plaza
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
7 & 9:30 PM, Woodruff Auditorium,
Level 5, Kansas Union
NBC's Last Comic Standing Dat Phan
7:00 PM, Woodruff Auditorium,
Level 5, Kansas Union
$5 with KUID. $7 w/o KUID
tickets on sale now in the SUA Office
Committee meetings
5, 6, 7 PM
The Princess and the Warrior 8:00 PM. Woodruff Auditorium, Level 5. Kansas Union
All tickets for movies are $2.00 at the Hawk Shop.
Level 4, Kansas Union or free with an SUA Movie Card
Questions about these or other SUA events? Check suaevents.com or call the SUA Office at 864 -SHOW.
student union activities • The University of Kansas Level 4, Kansas Union • 785-864-SHOW • suaevents.com
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