6A / NEWS / MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2011
LOCAL
Lawrence police respond to city disturbances
"We see only the bad it seems like. Nothing shocks me," officer Tim Froese said. Kansan reporter Mike Montano rode along with Lawrence policemen March 18 to learn what they go through on a day-to-day basis.
BY MIKE MONTANO
mmontano@kansan.com
Jessica Janasz/KANSAN
It was Friday night, the kickoff to spring break, and the evening began with a phone call of a disturbance in north Lawrence near Woody's Gas Express around 9:10 p.m.
Officer Tim Froese got out of the car and walked to the two people who reported the incident to briefly hear their story. Soon, Froese walked around behind the car wash next to the gas station.
Shortly afterward, another police car drove up and two officers get out with their hands slightly on their guns. One of the officers checks in with the man and woman who reported the incident in order to get a grasp of what was happening.
The other officer walks around the car wash as well. About 10 minutes later, Froese climbs back into the car and says there was an intoxicated man who was being loud and creating a nuisance.
"You never know if these calls are going to be with someone mentally unstable or not," he said.
As Froese pulls out on 2nd Street going south, his CB radio goes off and now he's headed to 7th and Massachusetts streets to investigate a disturbance near Teapouro Tea & Espresso, 712 Mass. St.
He parks across the street and walks around the area. Froese gets out his flashlight and shines in the dark establishment trying to see something.
"The calls are usually vague so you just have to check things out," he says as he walks around to the back of the building. There's a small empty backlot directly behind
Teapouro, but there was nothing but a lit apartment window and complete silence.
After checking it out for a few minutes, he finds nothing and he heads back to the car. No more than a few seconds later, a driver does a U-turn to get into the only vacant spot on the block on the opposite side of the street.
Froese again parks his car and gets out to greet the driver. He tells the driver that he can't do a U-turn in the middle of traffic. After giving him a warning, Froese drives off.
Not long after that, he pulls up into the precinct and ends his 3 to 11 p.m. shift, where other cop cars are lined up and ready to go for the third shift, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., which begins with riding along with officer Tracy Russell.
Before starting his shift, Russell reaches for his laptop and checks the taser gun.
While driving for a few moments the CB announcer interrupts: "We've got a gentleman outside a Taco John's ..." Russell picks up his end of the CB radio to find out that there is already a cop on the scene. But, he said that when there was any kind of disturbance then it's recommended to drive by and make sure everything was under control. Upon pulling up, there is a man wearing purple tights, nail polish, a necklace and a dress sitting on the curb.
Supposedly, he was seen masturbating in public. One of the officers was getting his story while a few of the employees looked on through the window.
The night continues with the arrest of a woman who has three warrants and pulling over a man for going through a red light and checking out a call of a drunken man having seizures and who might need medical attention.
causing problems.
The police officers decided to let the man go because he was not
"Citizens never call the cops to get the cat out of the tree. They call the fire department," Froese said. "They only call us when something is wrong. We see only the bad it seems like. Nothing shocks me."
—Edited by Samantha Collins
Student battles cancer, overcomes adversity
RELAY FOR LIFE
ISAAC GWIN editor@kansan.com
The backdrop of the small café mirrored her personality: serene and well-mannered, yet teeming with life and busy thoughts. Her soft eyes beamed with enthusiasm as the conversation took hold.
Holmes
She was quick to make a point of showing the scar. The multicolored scarf parted to reveal a light-pink line running the breadth of her lower neck, a lasting testament to a life met with adversity.
To Courtney Holmes, though, it has come to mean so much more.
A freshman at the University of Kansas, 19-year-old Courtney Holmes is energetic and devoted to living life to the fullest. This is in no small part due to her past struggles. Holmes is a cancer survivor. The culmination of her battle with the disease will come on April 15 as she participates in Relay for Life for the first time. To truly grasp what this momentous occasion will embody for Holmes, one must know what has led her to this point.
Holmes' story begins in the
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suburbs of Wichita. Always encouraged by her parents to try new things, Courtney spent her childhood partaking in a variety of different sports and activities.
"I was pretty much into everything and anything," Holmes said. "I got to experience a lot of stuff. My parents were always very supportive and really put my future in my own hands."
In fifth grade, Courtney noticed a large growth on her lower neck. Concerned, her family quickly took her to a doctor.
A CT scan produced images of Courtney's thyroid gland, swollen to twice the normal size. It had grown downward through her neck into her chest cavity, and pushing her esophagus to one side. The doctor recommended immediate surgery.
"I remember just feeling so lonely and desperate." Holmes said with a slight crack in her voice. "My friends sent me these huge posters that said simple things on them like 'we care.' That meant a lot. I looked at those posters every day. Just knowing that they were thinking of me meant the world."
"It's not all about me," Holmes said in an urgent tone, her eyes set firmly ahead. "My situation could have been a lot worse. The fact that my cancer has a cure and that so many others don't really upsets me. I want all cancers to be curable. That's why I'm doing Relay For Life."
In her junior year of high school Holmes said she started to feel very rundown and sluggish. A visit to the doctor resulted in the discovery of a cancerous papillary tumor developing on the remnants of her thyroid, which, if left untreated, would eventually result in death. Holmes was devastated.
In April of that year, surgeons removed half of Holmes' benign thyroid in hopes that the other side would regulate itself. Holmes said she never felt truly normal again, but that did not keep her from returning to her active lifestyle.
Four weeks later she began her treatment. Because of the radiation therapy, Courtney was put into isolation and forced to spend the next 10 days alone in the basement of her house.
Her friend's concern for her well-being taught Holmes that she need to be supportive for others in their trying times as well. This, she says, is why she will be marching in the Relay for Life.
Edited by Becca Harsch
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