LJWorld.com

esl03 (Anonymous) says…

OMG! I live not far from there!

TheEleventhStephanie (Anonymous) says…

This summer is getting weird.

doc1 (Anonymous) says…

Somebody from Topeka must have pushed him for sure. JK

misslawrence (Anonymous) says…

what is happening to my town?!??!!?!?!?! makes me want to move! AGAIN…………….

toughangel41 (Anonymous) says…

Oh my god this is just horrible your right misslawrence what is happening? So many deaths, it's so sad of all the losses in Lawrence. It's my hometown too I moved but Lawrence will always be MY hometown

PitBullGrandma (Anonymous) says…

Fabulous. This saves the city and county thousands of dollars in prosecution costs, saves the state millions of dollars in prison costs and justice is done !

boogeyman (Anonymous) says…

Toot toot…peanut butter

Who's next? Maybe you…maybe me…maybe all of us

PitBullGrandma (Anonymous) says…

Oops…JW listing too many items together…wrong blog… :( I see others got it wrong also.

Ragingbear (Anonymous) says…

It is quite possible that it is one of the town's long term homeless. The summer months mean they won't stay in the shelters, allowing them to drink more because they aren't worried about having a place to stay. It's sad, but we have been seeing a few cases a year like this. Especially being that there are lots of woods along the tracks, thus there are lots of camp sites.

unknownperson (Anonymous) says…

I blame all the liberals that let the homeless people live here for this

bearded_gnome (Anonymous) says…

OMG! I live not far from there!
–ESL

ditto.

wow, this is amazing. what is happening?

I do know that some other communities are experiencing increase in: shootings; deaths.

if this man had a family, I hope they can find comfort at this time.

raging, you are correct, camps along the north side of the river, in the woods you cite. fair number of homeless onfoot in north lawrence.

annimal (Anonymous) says…

This happened right next to my house. There are no woods. It is very sad. I do not know who it was but our thoughts are with the family of the victim.

esl03 (Anonymous) says…

This happens alot though- people getting hit by trains over in North Lawrence. Its not that uncommon. Just last year a homeless lady/man was killed there. I knew her, I took her/his dog to a new home because of his/her situation. Yes I said both sexes because they WERE both sexes.

annimal (Anonymous) says…

A lady was killed almost exactly 2 years ago here and last year at this time someone was injured by the train.

lawrenceks66 (Anonymous) says…

I was driving down Locust and saw all the police cars with lights and an ambulance on the tracks .. I wondered what was going on .. it's been one heck of a week in Lawrence!

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

“I blame all the liberals that let the homeless people live here for this”

That may make you feel good, but I blame Ronald Reagan and the conservatives who have defunded the social programs that used to keep such people institutionalized. I am old enough to recall when he opened the doors to the nation's loony bins and they flooded our streets as “the homeless.” There was a time when we took far better care of these folks, but this is just another social ill visited upon us by conservative politicians under the guise of lowering our taxes. I, for one, would gladly pay a few more nickels in taxes if it meant I did not have to read about some of the horrific consequences of those decisions.

notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

“That may make you feel good, but I blame Ronald Reagan and the conservatives who have defunded the social programs that used to keep such people institutionalized.”

Whereas your 'solution' is to keep them locked away, out of sight and out of mind. That may make *you* feel better, but it's hardly in their best interests.

Instead of blaming Reagan, as much as all the liberals like to blame him for everything, try learning something. The move away from long-term institutionalization was a result of the outrage over Willowbrook and places like it. You might 'blame' Geraldo for that, or maybe the physician who blew the whistle and made Geraldo a star - the doc lives in Kansas now, or at least he did recently. Before that we did, indeed, lock these people away, in conditions horrific well beyond the capability of your mind to even imagine, so we could forget about them and, more importantly, not be bothered by them.

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

Good to know about the camps, there's a house for sale close to there.

lawrenceks66 (Anonymous) says…

The camps aren't in the city limits. They are down near the tracks that go by the river. This happened at 7th and Locust street which is a fairly busy intersection.

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

OK, you have a point on the conditions, but instead of spending the money to improve those places, the decision was made instead to simply defund, open the doors and have them flood unto the streets of our cities. For that, the blame lays squarely at the feet of Reagan and the conservative “tax cutters.”

For the crazies amongst them, yes, I whole-heartedly believe they should be institutionalized for the rest of their lives. Better that than waiting for the murder of an innocent & then sending them to jail.

kujayhawk (Anonymous) says…

WTF is going on in Lawrence?

frustratednks (Anonymous) says…

My 15 yr old son was riding his bike and saw them covering up the body with a tarp. What a horrible thing to see.

hinomayo (Anonymous) says…

What if this poor person is actually just another person who was out for a walk downtown or a bike ride and did not realize that those train tracks are in use by the trains? The tracks themselves and those older buildings in that area are actively being used, but they look very abandoned. The train station is across the river, so it seems confusing how the trains are connected on the downtown side. In fact, there are lots of Lawrence folks who swill beer at the “good old” bars on weekend nights and during lunch hours, especiallystudents and those who think of the downtown as fashionable and chic, and then bike or walk to the River Front area to shop, so who knows?

esl03 (Anonymous) says…

My dad was down there watching they had to use a firetruck to clean the tracks. Its a very sad couple of weeks in Lawrence.

sammiesays (Anonymous) says…

We actually live in a safe community compared to Topeka or KC….

Unfortunately these things happen and the families of all the victims are in my thoughts and prayers…..

Northsidegirl (Anonymous) says…

hinomayo-
NONE of the buildings at 7th & Locust St./ Maple St. look abandoned.
Perhaps you are confused as to where the tragedy occurred? This is nowhere near downtown.

notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

“OK, you have a point on the conditions, but instead of spending the money to improve those places, the decision was made instead to simply defund, open the doors and have them flood unto the streets of our cities. For that, the blame lays squarely at the feet of Reagan and the conservative “tax cutters.””

You're arguing about something you evidently know absolutely nothing about. It wasn't a matter of money. The mentally ill were considered disposable. They were locked up not for their benefit but for ours. When they closed Willowbrook, 80 or 90 percent were successfully enrolled in community-based prgrams within a year. Yes, that means the other ten-twenty percent probably did need institutionalization. It also means 4-out-of-5 to 9-out-of-10 did not.

I have met the physician who blew the whistle and have heard him speak. One thing he said was that families were encouraged to drop off the mentally ill and forget them - to tell their siblings that they never had a brother or sister or that they were dead. The conditions at Willowbrook were beyond deplorable. People were mass 'bathed' with fire hoses. They sat around naked in hallways flowing with urine. Staff levels were at about what a modern hospital with a bed capacity of around two hundred uses - but Willowbrook had five *thousand* patients. 100% of them got hepatitis - yes, 100%, it was intentional, as part of a research project they injected them with feces. Patients who couldn't feed themselves had their meals jammed down their throats in a minute or less. There was no treatment or therapy, it was warehousing.

Before thinking you know the answers, or saying that your position is 'unarguable' like you did in the other thread, I suggest you take a short trip to St. Joseph to the Glore Museum to see how the mentally ill were treated before public outrage, not lack of funding, forced a rethinking of how we treat them, and the move began towards community-based treatment instead of warehousing them in huge institutions. You might even try to get a look at the cemetery there - wait, you can't. The headstones were knocked over and plowed under to make it easier to mow the lawn, in one final act of file-and-forget-them.

hairshoptalk (Anonymous) says…

all of your narrow minded comments and joking about someone from Topeka pushing him is disgusting. this man had a family and people who cared. do you people have any feelings? how do you even know this man was homeless?

hairshoptalk (Anonymous) says…

you are all to worried about yourselfs and your town to even care about who this man might have been! You should all be ashamed!

mom_of_three (Anonymous) says…

hairshoptalk,
although we don't all agree with the comments on the blog, we do all know that some people will post comments which may be offensive to others. but you can't take expect a blog to be perfect and good two shoes.

George_Braziller (Anonymous) says…

Unfortunately you are experiencing what has become the norm of the majority of the LJW posting community. Either irrelevant or inflamatory.
___________________________________
hairshoptalk (Anonymous) says…

you are all to worried about yourselfs and your town to even care about who this man might have been! You should all be ashamed!

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

Yeah, too much jockularity around death on this site. Let's slow down before we type. Dead people had value, all of them.

FlintHawk (Anonymous) says…

“It is quite possible that it is one of the town's long term homeless.”
––––––––––––––––––––––––—

He was 29.

What a fertile weekend for the bash-the-homeless cadre. One wonders how you'd survive in a metropolitan area with 3,000-plus homeless.

hairshoptalk (Anonymous) says…

mom-of-three,
don't mean to be goodie two shoes just not as cold hearted as some other people chose to be, and no not everyone has to agree i just wish we could all have a little more respect for the situation and this mans family.

bigdave (Anonymous) says…

FlintHawk (Anonymous) says…
What a fertile weekend for the bash-the-homeless cadre. One wonders how you'd survive in a metropolitan area with 3,000-plus homeless.

It seems to me there is over 3,000 homeless in Lawrence!!! The trains need to slow down when they come throw Lawrence so the homeless can jump on and get the hell out of here!!!!!!!!!

electricsaa (Anonymous) says…

people get hit by trains all the time . we cant help people who dont have the sence to get out of the way of a locamotive. being stupid is not a crime. unfortunate but true. if you want to blame it on something try the truth . he was most likly drunk. I used to work for the raildoad and we had to put extra people around the track after ball games to keep the drunks off. steve alexander seattle wa lawrence is my home town

hairshoptalk (Anonymous) says…

electricsaa,
what is wrong with you? what an awful things for you to say! you must be so much better than the rest of us to be able to judge so easily!!! Its easy to be narrow minded and ignorant.
emilyhadley,
it's nice to see not everyone is disgusting and selfish! I'm a north Lawrence resident myself and love it! This is very unfortunate what happen to this man.

Northsidegirl (Anonymous) says…

Thank you, Emily Hadley. Well said.

bearded_gnome (Anonymous) says…

I certainly didn't recognize the description of this intersection, above!

unfortunately, we got on the homeless issue because of a couple of inappropriate comments.

drunk? maybe. the guy that was hit was it last year, was trying to kill himself. this poor man may have succeeded at his suicide attempt. I do believe that suicide is a bit concentrated in lawrence because of the mix of populations we have.

you know, his family may read this. he was a man with some worth. he was one of our neighbors we learn now.
God comfort his greaving family.

bearded_gnome (Anonymous) says…

nota,
you are quite correct about willowbrook, wow that place was a hellhole.
I've addressed Scott####'s ranting about Ronald Reagan on the thread about the now dead Garcia-nunez who killed Jana Macky. He just spews this liberal talking point blaming Reagan, conveniently overlooking that Clinton could've addressed this issue and was heavily lobbied by mental health interests, to no avail. you are also quite correct, Scott~~~~~~ is obviously ignorant of what he writes. just to ref my post on the other thread, the effort to push the chronically mentally ill out of longterm care facilities, sanitaria, hospitals, etc., started in full throttle in the '60s.
and, I did volunteer work in such a facility in the early '80s working with such patients. mine was book learning as well as direct contact.

Scott&&&&& only has his vapid talking points, and wants to use this thread, highjack this thread, to fit his petty little agenda, as on the other thread.

will add, he has been caught calling our brave military members “gun toters.” he lacks proper respect and patriotism. he should simply be ignored from here on.

frustratednks (Anonymous) says…

It's time you guys get off your high horses. Someone died, we don't know who yet, and we don't know why. What we do know is that someone's son is dead. There is a mother out there mourning the death of her child, and all you can do is talk s**t. A parent should never have to bury their child. My thoughts and sympathies are with the family of this poor unfortunate soul.

igby (Anonymous) says…

Not that it matters. But, when anyone is found on the tracks there should always be suspect cause as to how they got there. Not that it matters in this case but there is the reasonable notion that they could have been left there for the train to hit to cover up a crime or accident. However, being drunk and walking on the tracks is not a good idea. 29 is to young to die by being careless and stupid. Hope this kids family to best. Accidents like this are hard to understand.

jackbinkelman (Anonymous) says…

I propose closing the comments option on stories relating to a local death. RIP

jonas (Anonymous) says…

jack: Maybe a disclaimer. Like “If you had a personal attachment to the victim, if you in general respect other people, and feel sorry for those that die tragically, or if you are simply faint of heart, we recommend that you do not scroll any further down.”

Flashing banner, red. Then another at the bottom, right above the comments, that says:

“See, now you're pissed off! We tried to warn you!”

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

jonas..
you helped me figure it out…it's a premie thing!
Thanks.

offtotheright (Anonymous) says…

“There was a time when we took far better care of these folks, but this is just another social ill visited upon us by conservative politicians under the guise of lowering our taxes. I, for one, would gladly pay a few more nickels in taxes if it meant I did not have to read about some of the horrific consequences of those decisions.”

You have at it there ol scotty boy. Raise your taxes to any amount you prefer and support as many of these people as you like. You can also buy food, medical care, pay for rent and utility bills for all those out there who choose not to work. You can also support all of the mothers and fathers who don't care to work to feed, clothe and provide medical care for THEIR children.

I don't want to pay higher taxes to do this. I want my taxes to be lowered so that I can afford to take care of me and my own.

I want a choice. Maybe if all you liberals would put your money where your mouth is my bank account would be looking much better!

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

Off:

Well, that's one way of looking at things. I sure hope you don't ever complain about the murders and general unpleasantness these people cause by being thrown in to the streets and underpasses and bridges of our country.

My simple point was that some of these people deserve to be institutionalized at public expense in decent facilities. The rest of the horribles that you raise is just the usual con blatherings. I never said I wanted to support people who don't work, or who don't care for their children, so quit putting words in my mouth.

Your bank account, by the way, would look better if you:

a. managed your finances better (i.e. lived within your means)

b. had more talent and education, and/or

c. worked harder.

Sorry, that's a little harsh, but does fit with your conservative point of view. If you're unhappy with your bank account balance maybe you should focus your efforts in one of those areas.

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

Bearded:

You accuse me of hijaking this discussion with vapid liberal talking points. My first entrance in this discussion was a simple retort to the idiot who blamed the homelessness problem on liberals. I simply pointed out the generally accepted understanding that Reagan and the conservatives of the last 20 years have defunded many of the programs that used to pay for the public housing of the unfortunate mentally ill individuals who now fill our streets as “the homeless.” Why do you not attack the first person who introduced the political element to the discussion? Because you agree?

Proper respect and patriotism??!! What is a certain level required to participate here? Who decides? You!?!

You people are so dangerous. I will be here spouting my point of view as long as you are, so get over it.

1Patriot (Anonymous) says…

I have a suggestion for everyone who wants to raise and support the homeless. I've heard several comments about that crossing/intersection being dangerous. I've not see any one of you good citizens out there to volunteer as a crossing guard to insure that pedestrians who travel that route do so safely. If you feel so strongly about helping people who may have fallen on tough times why don’t “YOU” do something constructive about it instead of the bashing and bickering amongst yourselves.

Get the homeless off the streets, invite one of the homeless to stay/live on your couch since it sounds like you could so do much better at rehabilitating the homeless than the politicians, Clinton and Bush.

I personally feel there should be no reason to be “homeless”. There should be communities where “homeless” people could be sent to live, be trained in a skill to support themselves and earn their way in life. This would give them a chance to earn their self respect back and make them a productive asset to society. But then we all have our pipe dreams, don’t we?

crosstownbytch1 (Anonymous) says…

First i would like to say to the mans family and friends i am sorry for your loss i pray that this is not someone that i know because i have lived here all my life and this man is the same age as i am. Second i lived in north lawrence almost all my life i am a sandrat and that intersection is dangerous if you are not paying attention. my aunt was killed at that intersection. But when you have grown up in north lawrence there are two things that you are taught do not mess with the train tracks or the river.when im in north lawence i try not to drive over the tracks unless i have to because they are dangerous.i feel sorry for the kids that have to walk across them to get to school.

overplayedhistory (Anonymous) says…

For 15 yrs I have lived close enough to that intersection that the train shakes my house.
I have never had a close call with a train. There is no silver bullet. Instead of placing the blame on ideology. Lets get a liberal president to through money at unfunded national education goals set by a conservative president. Then maybe we will not depend on teachers to pull money out of their @$$, to save the public and stupid people from stupid people.

overplayedhistory (Anonymous) says…

oops I meant throw, not through. Then the the new batch of educated peeps can edit for me when I open my big keyboard.

notajayhawk (Anonymous) says…

scott3460 (Anonymous) says…

“I simply pointed out the generally accepted understanding that Reagan and the conservatives of the last 20 years have defunded many of the programs that used to pay for the public housing of the unfortunate mentally ill individuals who now fill our streets as “the homeless.””

'Generally accepted' by liberal kibitzers, you mean - not the people who really know anything about it. If you had looked into the movement to begin shutting down these huge warehouses for the discarded people with mental illness and retardation, you'd know it began even before Geraldo's special report on Willowbrook, which itself aired almost a decade before Reagan entered office. Instead of blindly accepting the 'generally accepted understanding,' think for yourself, don't use terms like “unarguable” when trying to present your opinion, and actually do some research. If you do, you'll end up being d***ed glad they shut these places down. Or maybe you won't - but then again, in my first reply to your posts, I suggested your desire to see them institutionalized was more for your benefit than for theirs.

Catherine_Taylor (Anonymous) says…

I'm so saddened by how this story has spun into everyone's issues. He was my friend. He not homeless. He was not a criminal. He was a new father and a decent man. He was a good and loving person. There was no apparent foul play. All this speculating only makes things worse for those of us who are grieving.

crosstownbytch1 (Anonymous) says…

cat- im sorry for your loss i know that they said he was from lawrence i was just wondering if he had lived here his whole life or just been here for awhile i was wondering this because he is the same age as me and i have lived here my whole life

Dwight_Schrute (Anonymous) says…

emilyhadley (Emily Hadley) says…

Jesus, people. Have a heart.
–––––
Emily - Jesus people do have a heart(s). Maybe you should try meeting some.

OldEnuf2BYurDad (Anonymous) says…

“I'm so saddened by how this story has spun into everyone's issues. He was my friend. He not homeless. He was not a criminal. He was a new father and a decent man. He was a good and loving person. There was no apparent foul play. All this speculating only makes things worse for those of us who are grieving.”

See? Flippant comments about victims are just plain wrong. We don't know who these victims are or how they got there. It takes a lot of self-important arrogance to be so quick to place judgment on others. Even if he was homeless - “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

max1 (Anonymous) says…

“See? Flippant comments about victims are just plain wrong.” -OldEnuf2BYurDad

Here's some fodder for the usual knee-jerk reactionaries to feed on.

July 4, 2008
http://www.wibw.com/localnews/headlines/…
Kurtis Ramage, 18 years of age, of rural Holton allegedly shot Jessie Hayes, 18 of Holton and a 17 year old female also of Holton.

July 5, 2008
http://www.wibw.com/localnews/headlines/…
Police have arrested a 21-year-old Junction City man on suspicion he shot his roommate in the chest while they were playing video games.

July 5, 2008
http://www.wibw.com/crime/headlines/2358…
20-Year-Old Topekan Shot and Killed Overnight

July 5, 2008
http://www.wibw.com/localnews/headlines/…
Topeka police … arrested 36 year old Todd Gerhardt. He was very upset with his two neighbors for popping fireworks, he stepped outside, pulled out a gun and started shooting at them.

July 5, 2008
http://www.wibw.com/crime/headlines/2351…
Woman Gets Hit With a Stray Bullet

quisp (Anonymous) says…

So… any more news on this, or is the World just gonna sweep it aside?

JOEHAWK (Anonymous) says…

Nota…
Maybe Reagan wouldn't have had to lower taxes and make government smaller if we hadn't of had 21% interest rates left to us by Jimmy Carter.

Dwight_Schrute (Anonymous) says…

Emily - not sure why you sent me an email through LJW. You simply were taking the Lord's name in vain, I am trying to tell you that, indeed, “Jesus people” do have hearts. Clean up your language a bit.

snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

spiderham, stop emailing me.