The murder of Kansas University student Shannon Martin and the subsequent investigation involving officials in two countries is the top Lawrence news story of 2001 as selected by editors of the Journal-World, 6News and World Online.
Martin, 23, was stabbed to death May 13 as she walked to her host family's house from the Jurassic Bar in Golfito, Costa Rica. She was there to do plant research and was just days away from returning to KU for graduation ceremonies.
It was mid-November before Costa Rican authorities made an arrest. Katta Venesa Cruz Murillo, 27, is being held in preventive custody as the investigation continues.
Until the arrest, Martin's mother, Jeanette Stauffer, complained about the slow pace of the investigation. After Stauffer met with Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria in July and after U.S. Senator Sam Brownback also pressured Costa Rican authorities that country allowed U.S. FBI agents to join the case.
Other top Lawrence stories:
2. It was a hectic year for KU athletics. Longtime athletic director Bob Frederick announced in spring that the men's swimming and tennis teams were being eliminated, chiefly because of the inability of the football team to generate sufficient revenue to support other sports teams. In April, Frederick resigned.
Frederick was succeeded by Al Bohl, then athletic director Fresno State University. Bohl came to Lawrence with a reputation for rebuilding football programs. When the Jayhawks stumbled to a 2-6 start in the 2001 season, Bohl fired fifth-year head coach Terry Allen. Tom Hayes took over for the remaining three games, winning one.
At year's end, Bohl hired a new football coach, Mark Mangino, assistant head coach at Oklahoma University. At OU, Mangino helped rebuild the Sooner program that captured the 2000 national championship.
3. Lawrence kept growing. Census figures released in March showed the city grew from 65,608 in 1990 to 80,098 in 2000, making it the fastest-growing city in the state outside Johnson County.
That growth had political ramifications. State officials said Lawrence might be moved to another congressional district or divided between two districts. City officials vowed to oppose such proposals.
The bigger population also made Lawrence more attractive to outside merchants, and two proposals for "big box" home improvement stores one at 31st and Iowa streets, the other at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive overcame initial rejections and gained approval from the Lawrence City Commission.
4. A weakening economy was felt in Lawrence. Three business fixtures folded or pulled out:
Maupintour LLC, famous for organizing escorted tours for more than 50 years from its Lawrence headquarters, announced in October it would move to Las Vegas to consolidate with parent company Lowestfare.com. The company blamed a slowing travel industry that became even slower after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The move took 39 local jobs and one of the few national companies that made Lawrence its base of operations. Maupintour will retain a Lawrence satellite office to accommodate five employees who did not relocate to Las Vegas.
Oread Inc., an offshoot of KU's pharmaceutical research, closed its doors in February and declared bankruptcy. The Oread buildings were bought by investment groups from Lawrence and Topeka, with the buildings to be used by Kansas University researchers whose projects include a $9 million cancer study. The laboratories are expected to generate additional research dollars, and adjacent, undeveloped land could be used to accommodate commercial spin-offs from the KU research.
Lawrence-based Farmers Cooperative Assn., in bankruptcy since fall 2000, was sold piecemeal in June to a variety of bidders. Ottawa Co-op ended up purchasing the North Lawrence and Midland grain elevators in time for much of this year's harvest. Farmers Cooperative had been the state's largest co-op.
5. Kansas Department of Transportation continued efforts to revive the eastern leg of the South Lawrence Trafficway. The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced early in the year that Haskell Indian Nations University would drop opposition so long as the road was south of the university and part of 31st Street was vacated.
The Douglas County Commission endorsed a 32nd Street route for the trafficway, but the Lawrence City Commission wouldn't take a formal stand though three of five city commissioners endorsed a route south of the Wakarusa River.
The trafficway's future was in question at year's end. State funding appeared in jeopardy because of budget problems, and officials said the permit process could be slowed by an invitation for consultation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to more than 500 American Indian tribes with Haskell ties.
6. For the second consecutive year the Lawrence school district reported an enrollment decline. The board approved closing Grant School in 2002. Officials pledged to improve struggling East Heights School after principal Laura Blevins resigned in March after investigation of an abuse allegation at the school.
7. The KU Endowment Association unveiled the biggest fund-raising campaign in university history, the $500 million "KU First: Invest in Excellence." The Hall Family Foundation in Kansas City promised $42 million to the campaign over five years. And Charley Oswald, former CEO of National Computer Systems Inc., gave KU its largest single gift ever when he pledged $10 million to the university in October.
Also in October, former Sen. Bob Dole helped break ground on the new $8 million Dole Institute of Politics, and KU's first all-university open house drew more than 20,000 people to campus. In August, KU outlined a $22 million, 10-year landscaping project for the campus.
8. Lawrence resident Deanell Tacha, a former KU law professor, was named chief judge of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer attended Tacha's January swearing-in at the Lied Center.
9. Karen Swisher was inaugurated in February as the first woman president of Haskell Indian Nations University. More than 500 people attended the ceremony.
10. An early morning fire destroyed the Total Fitness Athletic Center, 925 Iowa, on March 5. The flames caused more than $350,000 damage. Hundreds of club members were forced to find other exercise arrangements until the business found a new home at the former location of Plaza 6 Theaters, 2339 Iowa.
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