THE UNIVERSITY DAIRY KANSAN
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Park provides seasonal plus
Ice-skating rink serves community as winter playground
Sarah Leonard/KANSAN
Diane Almon pulls her son Julian Almon and his friend Seth Thompson-Goldich around a field of solid ice in Burford M. Watson Jr. Park on Thursday afternoon. "Go faster mom. This isn't fast enough," Julian yelled.
BY BETHANY BUNCH
Twenty-eight degrees was cold enough for 5-year-olds Julian Almon and Seth Thompson-Glodich to skate on a makeshift ice rink Thursday afternoon at the Buford M. Watson Jr. Park, near Sixth and Kentucky streets.
"I'm staying warm," Julian said, red-faced and sniffing.
By Thursday, the rink had frozen over again.
Diane Almon, who watched the boys skate, said they enjoyed the rink every year it was available.
The Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department filled the base of the park with water from a nearby fire hydrant on Tuesday evening as warm temperatures melted ice that was already there.
"I think it's a very good idea,
Alson said. "It's shallow so we don't
Nature allows," Risner said. "When the forecasts call for below zero tem-
have to worry
I think at it's deepest    it's probably only a foot"
Karen Risner administrative support at the recreation department said the availability of the ice depended only on the weather.
The ice was not maintained or leveled
"It's purely whenever Mother Nature allows. When the forecasts call for below zero temperatures for a week, then we will fill it."
KAREN RISNER Recreation Department
"It's purely whenever Mother
peratures for a week, then we will fill it."
The Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department couldn't fill the park last year because temperatures weren't low enough.
DeVictor, director of the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department.
said it didn't cost much to fill the
basin with water
Fred
"We don't pay for water because it's part of the city," DeVictor said. "Just a little money for labor."
When the sun comes to stay and the ice begins to melt, the water will pass through a drainage gate rather than make a mud hole in the park.
Sunday's forecast calls for a high of 48 degrees, which means the rink may not be around much longer.
Kansan staff writer Bethany Bunch can be contacted at bbunch@kansan.com.
Edited by Katie Sullivan
images of what the Lawrence Police Department found in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF). In Rose's apartment, the investigators found a key ring, a bottle of lighter fluid and two disposable lighters
— one in the bedroom and one in the living room.
ROSE (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Rose's apartment, as well as the others on his floor, were flooded with a waterline of three feet, nine inches according to Martin's estimation. The water that was dumped on the building to combat the fire completely flooded Rose's apartment and left some paper products unrecognizable.
Martin said the search warrant for the apartment listed a package that Rose had reportedly received full of photos and other memorabilia "that may have played a part in how the fire started." Among the photos presented to the jury were several photos of Rose as a child and one with what appeared to be a birthday cake.
The most emotional scene of the day came during the afternoon session, when pictures of the three deceased victims were presented to the jury. The 14 jurors — six men and six women, in addition to two male alternates — viewed the photos with grimaced faces. At one point, one juror looked away.
The key ring gained access to Rose's vehicle, a GMC Jimmy, Martin said the vehicle was in a state of disarray with fast food trash and clothing. Arson dogs that searched the vehicle and the apartment didn't catch a "hit" of accelerator that may have been used in the fire. Martin said.
District coroner Erik Mitchell detailed the condition of all three victims - 21-year-old former KU
According to the report, Mitchell prepared following examination, Gonzalez and Riddle were both under the influence of alcohol. Riddle also had marijuana and cough syrup in her system, but Mitchell said he doubted that played a role.
student Nicole Bingham, 50-year-old Jose Gonzalez and 32-year-old Yolanda "Helen" Riddle.
"The substances she's got on board, we might not approve of," Mitchell said, "but they're not going to kill her."
A portion of Mitchell's testimony was heavily contested by defense attorney Ron Evans. The report listed the cause of death to be carbon monoxide poisoning and exposure to fire in all three cases, but the manner of death was ruled to be homicide. Evans wanted further explanation of the difference between "cause of death" and "manner of death." Cause of death was defined as the physical way a person dies, and manner of death is a classification determined by the coroner. Evans questioned Mitchell's role in the investigation into manner of death, and Mitchell said it was mostly determined by police information.
Bingham's mother, Nancy, said in October 2006 that she thought her daughter's previous heart condition was what kept her daughter from escaping. Mitchell, though, said the structure of the heart was present and that she hadn't been at immediate risk of heart failure.
Seven more Boardwalk survivors followed Wednesday's testimony by giving their own account of a night filled with pain and anguish that still lingers today. The victims described their injuries, starting at the bottom, with broken heels and fractured legs, all the way up to broken vertebrae and severe concussions.
"I realized after a while of living alone without my fiance to care for me that the nightmares and anxiety continued for a long time," James said.
Shelby James, whose last name was Oaks at the time of the fire, was in a wheelchair for a month and a half following the fire. A University of Kansas Medical Center student, she has since married, but she said her pain didn't stop with the second-degree burns on her feet.
"I told her. 'We have to jump or we're gonna die' Greenbaum said.
Eli Greenbaum was asleep in his third floor apartment with his girlfriend Dawn Davis. After awaking to flames outside the front door, they were quickly forced back to the bedroom window. Greenbaum said he made a painful realization.
Pastrana had been trapped in the third-floor apartment where she lived with her husband Victor Lamberto and their young daughter. Lamberto's brother, Joel Lamberto Maldonado, also lived in the apartment. Each of the adults testified through use of the Spanish translator.
The family, like so many others, were forced to escape through the bedroom window the night of the fire.
"There was no other way for us to save ourselves at that point," Maldanado said.
The trial will reconvene at 9 a.m. this morning in Judge Jack A. Murphy's District II courtroom.
Kansan staff writer Erick R. Schmidt can be contacted at eschmidt@kansan.com.
>> CORPORATE CRIME
Edited by Will McCullough
President's uncle hid earnings
BY MARCY GORDON ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — One of President Bush's uncles, William H.T. Bush, was among directors of a defense contractor who reaped $6 million from what federal regulators say was an illegal scheme by two executives to manipulate the timing of stock option grants, documents show.
The uncle, known as "Bucky," is the youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush and heads an investment firm. William H.T. Bush was an outside, nonexecutive director of Engineered Support Systems Inc., a defense contractor whose profits were bolstered because of the Iraq war.
St. Louis-based ESSI supplied equipment and electronics to the military. It was acquired last year by another defense contractor, DRS Technologies Inc. ESSI has been under investigation by federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the alleged options backdating scheme.
Bush and the others who sat on the ESSI board were not accused of any wrongdoing in the SEC's civil lawsuit Tuesday against the company's former chief financial officer and former controller. Those two
were accused of enriching themselves and others with a five-yearlong backdating scheme. Bush made about $450,000 selling some of the stock in 2005
It was the third case by the agency since last summer involving alleged improper options backdating. More than 100 public companies are under investigation by the SEC and the Justice Department, more than $5 billion in profit has been erased by restatements and 18 chief executives have been swept from their jobs.
The SEC said the former ESSI finance chief, Gary Gerhardt, told the ex-controller, Steven Landmann, to give the outside directors back-dated options for 132,000 shares of company stock that exceeded what they were authorized by shareholders to receive.
"The company never disclosed to shareholders that it had awarded this additional compensation" to the directors, according to the suit in federal court in St. Louis. The directors "realized approximately $6 million in unauthorized compensation from the exercise of their additional stock options," the suit said.
ESSI employees and directors received about $20 million in unauthorized compensation as a result of the backdating, according to the SEC.
William H.T. Bush had no
Bush, who was named to the ESSI board in March 2000, was a member of its audit committee, the watchdog over the company's accounting.
WANTED
FEBRUARY THEFT MARNES
The 68-year-old Bush is chairman of the St. Louis investment firm Bush O'Donnell & Co., which he founded in 1986. Before that, he was president of Boatmen's National Bank of St. Louis.
LAST SEEN AT THE DOME ON FEBRUARY 1.2007
FOR FEBRUARY THEFT MADNESS
comment, an aide at the former president's office in Houston said Thursday.
A number of retired high-ranking Army and Air Force officers sat on the company's board.
SEC officials declined to comment.
The SEC said in its suit that from 1997 through 2002, Gerhardt instructed Landmann to make company stock options more lucrative by backdating their exercise price to a historically low point in the stock's value. Usually, a stock option's exercise price coincides with the market value at the time of a grant; that gives the recipient an incentive to drive the price higher.
Backdating options can be legal if
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Kansan staff writer Bethany Bunch can be contacted at bbunch@kansan.com.
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Koeng will attend the pre-show awards on Sunday afternoon. The classical portion of the Grammy Awards isn't part of the main telecast but may be included in the evening telecast if time permits.
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— Edited by Will McCullough
has been a tremendous honor to get this nomination."
Five other ESSI executives and directors also cashed in on the company's rising stock price at the time. The stock price was bolstered by record income, mainly from increases in the company's military contracts. They included adding armor to military trucks, refurbishing trailers the Army uses to haul tanks and supporting satellite communications for troops.
In the ESSI case, the improper backdating was worsened because the options vested immediately, enabling recipients to cash in instantly, the SEC said.
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disclosed properly to investors and approved by the company's board or shareholders. If companies backdate options without accounting for the move, it can cause overstated profits and underpaid taxes.
William H.T. Bush made about $450,000 in January 2005 by exercising his company stock options and selling his, filing with the SEC shows. When questioned by reporters about the sale at the time, he said he had not pulled any strings in Washington for ESSI.
"It's sinking in now, especially since I'm leaving for L.A. on Saturday for the ceremony," Koenig said. "It's been an exciting time and
GRAMMYS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Another 15-year-old girl was later found with slight injuries, and another person, apparently uninjured, was found in the afternoon, officials said.
Koenig performs regularly throughout the world. Recent engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall in New York, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Louvre Museum in Paris. He has also made appearances on ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS' "This Morning."
Officials have not determined who the gunmen were but believe the driver, who was probably a smuggler, escaped along with a guide. They are still at large. At least two of the immigrants were Guatemalan, officials believe.
TUCSON, Ariz. — Gunmen stopped a pickup truck full of illegal immigrants, shot some and took the rest captive Thursday in an attack that left at least three people dead and two wounded, authorities said.
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The men shot at least five people, three fatally, along a known smuggling corridor near Tucson, and forced several others in the group of nine or 10 immigrants to leave with them, Pima County sheriff's officials said. The victims are thought to be two men and a 15-year-old girl.
Associated Press
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