photo by: Nick Krug

Two-year-old Orris Ihloff looks over his shoulder as he walks down a rainy alley Tuesday between Massachusetts and New Hampshire streets with his mother, Christina Ihloff, Lawrence, and his sister, Iris, 5.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Gov. Sam Brownback on Tuesday said he will push to reduce the state's personal income tax rate. Speaking to reporters and editors at the Lawrence Journal-World, Brownback said growing the economy was his primary goal as he prepares for the 2012 legislative session that starts next month.

photo by: Mark Fagan

Terri Durgan, right, an elementary teacher who favors use of standards-based grades in school, listens as members of the Lawrence school board receive a report at district headquarters, 110 McDonald Drive. In the row behind her are Megan King, left, and Jill Patton, two parents who have been critical of the Lawrence school district's use of standards-based grades for sixth-graders, now in middle schools. Folks on both sides of the issue listened intently Monday night as board members reaffirmed the district's use of standards-based grading.

photo by: Nick Krug

The Kansas student section goes wild after Tyshawn Taylor converted a bucket after being fouled by Long Beach State during the second half on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011 at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas Athletics Inc. has collected nearly $500,000 toward defraying at least $2 million in losses from a scheme in which employees stole football and basketball tickets for redistribution through brokers and others. As of this week, the department thus far had recovered a total of $496,952 lost in the scheme. An internal investigation conducted for Kansas University determined that thefts involved more than 17,000 tickets for regular-season basketball games and at least 2,000 tickets for football games.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Patricia Hawley participates in a lab meeting with graduate student researchers Dec. 8. Hawley, a Kansas University professor of developmental psychology, is part of a KU team working on KiVa, an anti-bullying program developed in Finland. Hawley and other researchers are translating the program for U.S. use and will be testing it with some fourth- and fifth-graders in Lawrence schools next year.