A Jayplay reporter gives a first-hand account of getting a Brazilian wax. INSIDE
Get ready for this year's basketball season with the Kansan's special preview section. INSIDE
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2006
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOL.117 ISSUE 54
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
PAGE1A
COURTS
Smoking ban appeal heads to top judges
A legal brief was filed with the Kansas Supreme Court yesterday on behalf of Dennis Steffes, owner of two Lawrence bars.
BY NATE MCGINNIS
The brief appeals a Douglas County District Court decision that upholds the city-wide smoking ban.
Steffes, owner of Last Call, 729 New Hampshire St., and Covotes,
1003 E. 23rd St., argued in his original lawsuit that the ordinance's language was unconstitutionally vague and preempted by Kansas law.
Steffes' cited a Kansas statute that stated people were limited to smoking in designated areas decided by the proprietor of a public place. It also states physical barriers and ventilation systems should be used to minimize the effects of cigarette smoke.
William Rork, Steffes' attorney, said the city of Lawrence unconstitutionally penalized businesses when it instituted the ban. He said he hoped to ultimately settle the issue by bringing it to the state's supreme court.
"It will be a sorry day if we lose, because it lets the city legislate morals in an improper fashion," Rork said.
Toni Wheeler, interim director of legal services for the city of Lawrence, refused to comment on the exact content of the brief because she had not yet received a copy, but she said that the city would vigorously defend the ordinance and that she looked forward to presenting to the Kansas Supreme Court.
In the 35-page legal document, Steffes argues the Kansas Supreme Court should overturn the lower court's decision that the ordinance is
not preempted by state law. He also argued that the law was unconstitutionally vague.
According to the brief, in July of 2005 Steffes first filed a petition for declaratory and injunctive relief to invalidate and restrain the city smoking ban until the case could be heard. The court denied his petition in December of 2005. Steffes filed a motion in January of 2006 to reconsider the decision, which the
court also denied in May of 2006. Steffes filed a notice of appeal to the Kansas court of appeals in June of 2006 and in August of 2006 the Kansas Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
Kansan staff writer Nate McGinnis can be contacted at nmcginnis@ kansan.com.
- Edited by Erin Wiley
Kline gets records as attorney general election nears
BY ERIN CASTANEDA
Kline was unavailable for comment for this story.
After a two-year battle, Attorney General Phill Kline announced Wednesday that he had received 90 records from patients at two abortion clinics in Wichita and Overland Park.
The purpose of using the records is to track child rapists, later-term abortion violations and child abuse and rape that is not reported, said Sherriene Jones, spokeswoman for Kline's campaign.
candidates
Jones explained that Kline received the records without the women's and children's personal information. The women and children are not under investigation, she said.
Kansans will vote in the hotly contested Attorney General race on Nov. 7. Voters will choose between Republican incumbent Kline and Democratic challenger and Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison.
"That whole thing is literally an attorney general's abuse of power
Privacy has been a focus of
Privacy Morrison's campaign. He has criticized Kline's decision to subpoena abortion records for investigative purposes.
Morrison said the controversy says more about Kline than himself.
"When we learned that Mr. Morrison was trying to confuse and lie to the media about the case, that's when we decided the facts of the case needed to come out," Jones said.
old sexual harassment claim by a female employee of Morrison. Kline decided to remind Morrison and to inform the public that Morrison was not innocent, Jones said.
"It's an old case that was dismissed because it didn't have any merit," Morrison said. "I'm not going to get down in the gutter with
"That whole thing is literally an attorney general's abuse of power to pursue a personal agenda."
Kline's campaign, meanwhile,
has drawn attention to Morrison's
past. Kline mentioned a 15-year-
Phill Kline on that."
to pursue a personal agenda," Morrison said. "That is absolutely wrong and that that's why there has been so much controversy swirled around him, because people know it's wrong."
PAUL MORRISON Attorney General candidate
Both Kline and Morrison have numerous plans to address violence and crime in the state as attorney general.
Morrison said there was a tremendous
amount of work to be done that was not being addressed, namely the issue of domestic violence, which he said Kline had virtually ignored. He also said Kline had not addressed cyber crime during his tenure as Attorney General.
SEE ELECTION ON PAGE 4A
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . 5B
Crossword. . . . . . . . . 7B
Horoscopes. . . . . . . . . 7B
Opinion. . . . . . . . . 5A
Sports. . . . . . . . . 1B
Sudoku. . . . . . . . . 7B
All contents, unless stated otherwise
© 2006 The University Daily Kansan
Hangin'out
Lisa Linovac/KANSAN
Firefighters extinguish downtown roof blaze
James Piller, Lawrence senior, woke on Wednesday morning to the smell of smoke, sirens and the crackle of radios outside his window.
"I just woke up and there were fire trucks outside my house," Piller said.
Gwentessa Alfie, 6, of Lawrence climbs across the monkey bars on Wednesday afternoon. Alfie and other kids, who were sugared up from eating Halloween candy, from the Hilltop Child Development Center spent part of the afternoon at the playground because it was a nice day.
Douglas County Fire and Medical responded to a fire at Framewoods Gallery, 819 Massachusetts St., at 9:58 Wednesday morning.
Kansan staff writer Ben Smith can be contacted at bsmith@ kansan.com.
BY BEN SMITH
FIRE
Edited by Travis Robinett
Capt. Joe Hoelscher of Douglas County Fire and Medical said downtown buildings typically met the fire codes, but because of the era in which they were built, many buildings share adjoining walls. Only the building that houses Framewoods and the apartments closest to the fire were evacuated. The fire was dealt with promptly. There was little damage and there were no injuries.
Pillar, who lives in an apartment above Massachusetts Street, stood outside in the morning sun while firefighters talked to Dave Seal, the owner of Framewoods, on the rooftop where the fire started. Seal said that the cause of the fire was a roof-mounted heater in which one or more of the fan belts had overheated.
"A gas valve stuck open and the heater was left on all night," Seal said. "There wasn't much smoke damage."
Seal said the heater had been worked on the day before the incident.
CRIME
Trial date set for alleged rape case
BY DAVID LINHARDT
District court judge Michael Malone decided at a preliminary hearing Wednesday that Douglas County prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for a University of Kansas student to stand trial for allegedly raping a McCollum Hall resident.
Arrin Bernard, an 18-year-old KU student reiterated a plea of not guilty Wednesday to one count of forcing sexual intercourse with a non-consenting person. Bernard will now stand trial March 26.
The judge's decision followed the second of two hearings in which testimony was heard from the alleged victim and from Gall Ciesielski, a Lawrence Memorial Hospital nurse who specializes in examining victims of sexual assault.
Bernard's attorney, Greg Robinson, contended that Douglas County assistant district attorney Amy McGowan had not proved that the alleged victim was too intoxicated to have given consent for sex. Judge Malone disagreed and said the McCollum resident was "incapable of giving consent" according to the evidence presented.
This type of injury is generally not consistent with consensual sex. Gieselski said.
Ciesielski said the alleged victim also complained of painful urination and bleeding, and that she had not been bleeding before the alleged incident Aug. 26.
According to the victim's testimony, she had been drinking vodka with several friends Aug. 26 before
Ciesielski said the alleged victim had suffered from a heavy scratch near the opening of her vagina, which often was an indication of "forcible entry of any object into the vagina."
leaving to go to a party on Tennessee street. Drinking continued at the party until the group returned to McCollum.
They began watching a movie, and the victim fell asleep. At some point Sunday morning, the victim was allegedly raped while she slent
Bernard and attorneys from both sides will return to count March 22 for a pre-trial status conference.
Kansan staff writer David Linhardt can be contacted at dlinhardt@kansan.com.
Edited by Erin Wiley