Baker to honor ‘Partners-In-Progress’

Baker University is honoring three Lawrence residents and a Douglas County family for their business and civic excellence.

Sidney Ashton Garrett, president of Brown Cargo Van, is winner of the Business Person of the Year Award. The award recognizes an individual in the Lawrence business community who makes significant contributions to the area’s business and civic interests.

“I’m very humbled,” Garrett said. “I’m flattered to be considered.”

Receiving Outstanding Leadership and Achievement in Business Awards:

• Vickie Randel, president of First State Bank and Trust of Lawrence since 1997.
• The Pendleton family — John and Karen Pendleton, along with John’s parents, Albert and Lorita Pendleton — who operate a farm east of Lawrence and other diversified agricultural operations, including Pendleton’s Country Market as an outlet for their horticultural products and services.

Marceil Lauppe, retired executive director of Douglas County Visiting Nurses Assn., will receive Baker’s Humanitarian Award.

The winners will receive their awards during Baker’s Partners-In-Progress breakfast, set for 7:30 a.m. March 22 at the Lawrence Holidome.

Internet

Firm sues government over tapping costs

Want us to spy for you? Here’s the bill.

That’s what a Dutch Internet service provider is saying to its government as it sues for reimbursement of costs the company says it has incurred to install technology used for online surveillance.

XS4ALL said it had spent $660,000 since 2001 to comply with a 1998 law requiring that it be able to track Web sites’ subscribers’ visits and read their e-mail. The data could be handed over to police and prosecutors with a court order.

“XS4ALL thinks it is unreasonable that the state doesn’t compensate these costs,” the company said. “There’s no gain at all for providers in making these investments, which are in the general public interest of tracing criminals.”

The suit, filed in The Hague, is scheduled to be heard March 23.

Wibbe Alkema, a Justice Ministry spokesman, said XS4ALL would need to successfully challenge Dutch telecommunications law to win its case. The law calls on telecommunications companies to pay for “investment, exploitation and maintenance costs incurred” in complying with tapping requests.

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