University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, June 20, 1990
Campus/Area
3
Evening tabloid to vanish today
The Associated Press
The Kansas City Evening News will print its 27th and final edition today, even though it was making a profit, Stephen F. Rose, publisher, announced yesterday.
Rose blamed the afternoon tabloid's demise on city officials who were forcing him to take teen-age hawkers off the streets.
The Evening News was the second unsuccessful attempt to start a metropolitan newspaper in recent months. Ralph Ingersoll II launched the St. Louis Sun last September but closed it in April, citing insufficient circulation.
"We were forced to make a very painful decision, to go down in history as perhaps the only paper to close while making money." Rose said. "We simply wouldn't be making more money and had to convert to home delivery."
Yesterday's announcement came only a week after Rose had said the tabloid, which sold for 50 cents, was making a profit and that he planned to start home delivery in two Kansas City suburbs, Overland Park and Leawood, where city ordinances prohibit street sales.
Rose, who is president of a family-owned group of 18 suburban papers called Sun Publications Inc., was the sole investor in paper.
That announcement prompted city officials in Shawnee to write Rose and ask that he stop street sales in that Kansas City suburb as well.
Rose said Kansas City authorities also had been cracking down on the
street hawkers, including issuing a ticket to one and forcing others to move off medians. City officials cited safety and traffic considerations.
"I think the safety issue was overblown, although I understand the concerns of city officials," Rose said. "The fact is, hawkers are utilized all over the country, successfully and safely."
Rose said he would not be able to recover $250,000 in startup costs.
resides the street sales, The Evening News was sold in newsracks and stores. About 22,800 papers were sold when the paper started May 14. Last week, Rose said, sales were averaging about 15,000 copies a day.
Rose launched The Evening News soon after the Kansas City Star. Co-merged the afternoon Star with the Baltimore Orioles on the morning-only Star on March 1.
"If we hadn't run into this problem, we would have made a nice $250,000 profit of it. Rob was the part that idea went to the party. The part that sounded was trying to do it here."
The Evening News had 10 full-time employees, including four editorial workers. Rose said some would be added into Sun Public operations.
The paper averaged 32 pages a day and featured mostly wire service reports on national and international events, plus local sports.
Radio station donates shirts
From the beginning, analysts had predicted The Evening News would have a difficult time in a city dominated by the Kansas City Star, a morning paper with a daily circulation of about 300,000.
Special to the Kansan
Victims of a June 7 tornado that wreaked havoc in west Emporia received 360 gray T-shirts from local public radio station KANU-FM on Friday.
Marcia Cooper, membership director of KANU, came up with the idea to send the T-shirts, which read "Amazing Radio" and had the station's call letters and broadcast frequency numbers written on the front.
"We have a strong listening in Emporia because it has one of our translator stations (which rebroadcasts KANU's signal)," she said. "I
seemed like the right thing to do for a community that has given us so much support."
The Douglas County Chapter of the American Red Cross delivered the T-shirts to Emporia. Jo Byers, direc-
tor of the chapter, helped distribute the gifts.
"It was kind of nice to walk in and say, 'Hi,' and 'Here's a little gift for everyone.'" she said.
The tornado, one of 11 that touched down June 7 in Kansas, caused between $4 million and $5 million in damage to Emporia and left dozens of people homeless. Twenty-one people were injured.
Alliance vows to preserve church
By Preston Girard
By Eric Swanson Special to the Kansan
The Lawrence Preservation Alliance intends to continue its crusade to save a 120-year-old church from demolition, even if it must fight without help from the Kansas State Historical Society, a spokesman for the alliance said yesterday.
Ron Schneider, a lawyer who advises the alliance, said the group would go to court to delay the demolition.
The Lawrence City Commission last week voted 3-2 to permit the demolition of the Old English Church, Church, 1406 New Hampshire St.
"The alliance is going to file a petition with the district court requesting a restraining order against Allen Realty." Schneider said. He also request a rehearing and review of Allen Realty's evidence."
After the commissioners' decision, the alliance appealed to the state historical society, but the society refused to take action.
Officials at Allen Realty Inc., which owns the church, said they want to demolish the building to make way for a business expansion.
Schneider said the alliance would request that the court grant them access to the church so alliance members could examine the building and assess its potential for renovation.
Dave Billings, president of the alliance, said he thought the church was worth rescuing. He said the alliance needed time to examine the church closely to
determine if renovation was feasible, and added the alliance might be interested in buying the structure if funds could be raised and if Allen Realty would sell it.
"There have been preservationists who have looked at the church and said that it is savageable," he added. "Building is savageable for a price."
Dick Pankratz, director of the state historical preservation department, said the department would not intervene in the matter.
"The fact is that this property isn't listed either on the state or national historic registers," Pankatz said Monday. "It merely lives in a building in the building. The law only charges us with protecting listed buildings."
*cansas law requires that, if a city grants permission to demolish a building within 500 feet of a nationally registered landmark, the state historical society must be notified of the action within five days so that it may review the case and decide whether or not to block the action. Within 500 feet of the Douglas County Courthouse, which is on both the national and state registers of historic places.
"The church itself is not historic. It's 129 years old, but it's not listed on any historic register." Allen said. "The truth is, it's just an old, dilapidated building that's just about ready to fall down."
Arly Allen, who is representing Allen Realty in the case, said Saturday that he saw no need to preserve the church.
The Old English Lutheran Church may soon face the wrecking ball.
Former director is relocated after firing
Anderson moves from facilities operations to coordinating environmental projects
Kansan staff writer
By Melissa Bulgren
Tom Anderson, former director of Facilities Operations, will begin work in the Office of Research, Graduate Studies and Public Service as a coordinator of environmental projects.
Richard Mann, director of Information Resources, said yesterday that Anderson would deal with envionement concerns concerned the University of Kansas.
Anderson was fired May 23 by
Rodger Oroke, director of Support Services, for using state telephone and fax lines for personal business.
Anderson filed an appeal May 24. After it was reviewed by Mann and Keith Nitcher, director of Business Affairs, Anderson was rehired last month.
"After reviewing the facts of the appeal, we felt it would be best to move him to a new position on campus," Mann said.
He said Anderson's salary would remain the same as when he was
director of Facilities Operations.
Anderson said he was pleased with the new position.
"Everything I do at the University and have done over the past 10 years has been exciting and a challenge," Anderson said yesterday. "It's an area that needs exploration."
Robert Bearse, associate vice chancellor for Research, Graduate Studies and Public Service, said the details of Anderson's job are still worked out.
"Mr. Anderson will be dealing with environmental issues that KU hasn't had time to deal with yet," he said. "We're still discussing the details of the job."
Bearse said Anderson would probably start in July.
James Michael "Mike" Richardson, associate director for Garage; Landscape and Construction Facilities, will serve as acting director of the Facilities Operations department until a new director is hired.
Undaunted by wind and rain, eaglets test their wings at Clinton Lake
Kansan staff writer
By Deron Graul
High winds and rain have not kept three baby bald eagles at Clinton lake from trying out their wings.
Park ranger Teresa Rasmussen, who has been observing the eagles, said the eaglets had been fairly calm in their ventures into the wild blue yonder, staying close to the nest and their parents.
one eagles probably will remain in their nest for at least another six to eight weeks while their parents teach them to fly and fish, she said.
Rasmussen said she thought the eagles were fortunate because they chose to nest in the only tree in the area that was strong enough to support their nest during severe weather.
"I was pretty worried last week when we had the high wides," she said. "I rushed right out to check on them, but they were all right."
them. She said the eagles could be viewed from the south shore of Clinton Lake but the high water made it necessary to wade into the lake to get to the best observation site.
'tark rangers check on the eaglets' condition daily and patrol the area to keep curious lookers at a distance, she said.
Last year, a person was seen banging on the eagles' tree with an ear to stir the eagles into flight. Several others were fired for coming too close near the nest. But there been few problems this year, Rasmussen said.
Marty Burke, regional information director for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, said yesterday that harassing bald eagles is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 for the first offense and up to $250,000 for the second offense.
Dave Rhoades, park manager, said this was only the second year eagles had been observed nesting in Kansas. States around Kansas had several successful bald eagle nests in recent years.
taken summer. Last summer, two bald eagles hatched in the same nest occupied by this year's brood. That was the first successful nesting reported in Kansas.
The rangers said they assumed at
least one of the adult eagles had returned to the site this year. Burke said the department would try to band the adults this year to see if they are returning every year.
Bald eagles mate for life and may return to the same nesting site for 20 years, Rasmussen said.
"With something like this, no news is good news," said Burke. "If one of them turns up it usually means that it
was found dead somewhere."
She said bald eagles nesting in Kansas indicated they were making a comeback.
Dan Mulhern, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department biologist, said bald eagles had been on the endangered species list in most of the United States since 1978.
He said when the eaglets became more self-sufficient the size of the restricted area at Clinton lake would be reduced to protect only the nest.
Radio station selects Hiner for news post
By a Kansan reporter
By a Kannan reporter
Vance Hiner joined KANU-FM 91.5, public radio, on June 5 as
for the position after a national search. He was news director at WBAI, Purdue University Public Radio in West Lafayette, Ind. He was previously production manager and National Public Radio news liaison at West Virginia Public Radio in Charleston and filled in as a substitute assistant producer for
news director.
Hiner, who is a former
Lawrence resident. was selected
news director.
"Weekend All Things Considered" in Washington, D.C.
Hiner said he thought his experience in network radio would be beneficial to him as news director at KANU. "My ideal is to continue KANU's outstanding and award-winning news coverage, enhancing it wherever possible," Hiner said. "We'll be striving to achieve the
He said his philosophy as news director would be to try and get behind the headlines.
"We want to come up with explanations for why things are happening, and perhaps offer some solutions," he said.
nurer earned a master's degree in radio, television and film from the University of Kansas in 1984 and a bachelor's degree in journalism at KU in 1981.
programs would be not only hard news but also features. Hiner said, "We're looking for opportunities to celebrate the human experience," he said.
The emphasis of the KANU news
same editorial and production quality as National Public Radio."