The July homicides of George “Pete” Wallace and Wyona Chandlee, both 71, were Lawrence’s top news story for 2002, according to a poll of editors at the Journal-World, 6News and World Online.

Not far behind were stories on area officials’ response to deep cuts in state aid, a January ice storm’s toll and the Kansas University men’s basketball team making the Final Four.

Others on the list include Lawrence being divided between two congressional districts, a national symposium on the works of poet and Lawrence native Langston Hughes and the unveiling of plans for a second Wal-Mart.

Top story

Chandlee’s and Wallace’s bodies were found July 11 in the front room of the house they shared at 1530 Learnard Ave. Each had been shot twice in the head.

A week later, Lawrence Police charged 22-year-old Damien Lewis with breaking into the couple’s house and killing them when they returned unexpectedly.

At a Dec. 12 preliminary hearing, Det. M.T. Brown testified that during a lengthy interrogation, Lewis confessed to shooting the couple with a handgun he’d found in their bedroom.

Lewis’ arraignment, during which he’ll plead innocent, guilty or no contest, is set for Jan. 23. Because he’s accused of killing more than one person during a single criminal act, Lewis could face the death penalty.

The Journal-World learned the Kansas Department of Corrections had issued a warrant April 29 for Lewis’ arrest after he failed to check in with his parole officer in Hutchinson. Lewis had been released three days earlier from Lansing Correctional Facility, where he’d been completing a 56-month sentence for aggravated assault, burglary and criminal possession of a firearm.

City workers clear snow and ice from a downtown that looked like a frozen wasteland. January's ice storm was selected as one of 2002's top news stories.

Corrections officials later posted a list of nearly 500 convicted felons wanted for violating the conditions of their paroles.

Warrant information is now available on the Department of Corrections Web site at http://docnet.dc.state.ks.us/.

Other top stories:

• To cope with shifts in population and the loss of more than $3 million in state aid, the Lawrence school district trimmed programs, increased fees and began proceedings for closing Riverside Elementary School, 601 N. Iowa.

School officials also expect to close East Heights School, 1430 Haskell Ave., and Centennial School, 2145 La.

Actor Danny Glover answers media questions after an assembly at Central Junior High School. Glover presented a tribute to poet Langston Hughes at the international Langston Hughes Symposium. The likeness of Hughes is shown behind Glover on a replica of a commemorative postage stamp. The symposium drew more than 500 people to the city.

• Reacting to the state’s worsening budget picture, Gov. Bill Graves ordered nearly $120 million in spending cuts — $41 million in August, $78 million in November — causing major setbacks for local social service agencies, Lawrence public schools and Kansas University.

At KU, officials were forced to cut almost $19 million from the university’s budget, resulting in 159 positions — 44 of them filled — being eliminated, scheduled pay raises being shelved, and the public area of the Museum of Anthropology being closed. The annual Wheat State Whirlwind Tour was canceled.

The cuts coincided with a 25 percent tuition increase aimed at increasing student wages and graduate teaching assistants’ salaries, hiring additional faculty, and meeting other on-campus needs.

¢ 6News video: The top 10 news stories of 2002¢ Vote for the top stories of 2002

• Raymond Boothe, 34, is charged with first-degree murder after allegedly stabbing his 11-year-old developmentally disabled son with a pair of needle-nose pliers on Aug. 27 and leaving him to die on the Kansas Turnpike in Leavenworth County. Boothe then tried to kill himself and his three other children in a spectacular car crash in southwest Lawrence.

Boothe, who has a history of mental illness, remains in Leavenworth County Jail, pending a Feb. 12 hearing on his mental competency.

• A late January ice storm left thousands of area residents without electricity, closed schools for days and caused more than $600,000 in damages in and around Lawrence.
• After going undefeated in regular season Big 12 play, the Jayhawks fell to Maryland, 97-88, in the NCAA national semifinals in Atlanta.

First team All-American Drew Gooden later announced he would leave KU after his junior year for the NBA, where he was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies.

• Two years after errant fireworks caused a fire that destroyed an apartment building, the Lawrence City Commission voted to ban fireworks from city limits.
• Legislators agreed to a redistricting plan that split Lawrence between the 2nd and 3rd congressional districts. Generally, voters who live east of Iowa Street are now represented by U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore; those west of Iowa Street are represented by U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun.
• Controversy continued over the size and type of developments going in at 31st and Iowa streets. Across town at Sixth and Wakarusa streets, Wal-Mart has proposed continued wrangling with City Hall over plans for a supercenter.
• Actor Danny Glover and author Alice Walker were among the featured speakers at a KU-sponsored symposium, “Let America Be America Again,” which highlighted the life and legacy of poet and former Lawrence resident Langston Hughes.

The symposium attracted more than 500 scholars and Hughes enthusiasts from around the world.