Tire cleanup planned on the Kansas River

Not saying I'm a supporter at all, but I believe Brownback grew up on a dairy farm in Anderson County. I'm not sure what your experience is with milking parlors and manure management, but I would tend to say that hard work and dirty tasks are part of the life in dairy. Much more so than a life in the suburbs that is typical for most Kansans these days. I have no idea how he handles rabbits.

April 17, 2013 at 8:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Obama coming to Lawrence to visit KU on Friday

Actually, that part of the JW article was added after I posed the question. Glad to see they responded.

April 14, 2013 at 8:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Obama coming to Lawrence to visit KU on Friday

Who was the last sitting President to visit Lawrence? Not sure Eisenhower made it. Was it Harding, or Roosevelt? Ford and Clinton were after the fact?

April 13, 2013 at 3:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Census rejects city's appeal of 2010 population totals; new Census numbers for Douglas County show growth slowed in 2012

I appreciate the humor in these comments, yet at the same time it's slightly pathetic that the City has chosen this marker to rest it's case on. There are way too many scenarios to question the validity of this measure of population - garbage disposals, leaves and grass in blended sewer lines (let alone the vegetarian question).

This is likely the most crucial question in the City's planning process. We know that KU has dropped 1800 students since the 2010 census, and with restricted admissions will see that number dropped further in coming years.

Is it not possible to use water usage in the January-February billing period for all residential meters, calculate a baseline ratio from previous decades, then use that to factor current numbers? Of course, if more people are showering together now than in 1980, that might skew the calculations as well.

March 14, 2013 at 8:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

The sequel: Freezing rain, snow expected to hit Lawrence Monday

Very good! But Glinda was the Good Witch of the North. The witch of the South was of course Dorothy Gale, from the people of the south wind.

February 25, 2013 at 5:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Simons' Saturday Column: Focus on sports, athletes has gotten out of whack

When the admissions requirements are raised at KU, setting a higher academic standard for incoming students, will those requirements apply to athletes? Or is there a special exemption for "needed" students?

January 19, 2013 at 6:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Former employee sues Lawrence restaurant for discrimination

Yeah, it seems like the stress was hastened by the outrageously inappropriate demand by the manager that he use a broom and dust pan on a daily basis to clean the floor of the business. I think if you read the text of the complaint you'll realize no lawyer was involved in the filing of this document.

December 18, 2012 at 6:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Heard on the Hill: Update on Spanish minor; a closer look at college town rankings; Dole Institute director sounds off on Romney campaign

Good catch on the college town ranking reports. It looks like a data entry error boosted the ranking by missing the Lawrence rent factor by over 30 percent. HUD data lists Lawrence average 2 bedroom rent at $800, rather than the $536 this company posted on their report. It's always wise to double check the top and bottom outliers of data points, and Lawrence being listed as the cheapest rent in the entire rankings should have prompted a review. Who knows how such a mistake might alter their rankings, but it also prompts the question of how many other errors are included in this database. It's just an indication of how many of these ranking reports are just silly.

October 2, 2012 at 7:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

KU enrollment falls, but freshman class grows for first time since 2008

Even though KU decided several years ago to start hiding the Lawrence campus enrollment totals, once you sort through the information on the Edwards Campus, the numbers show through. It appears there are nearly 1,000 (946 actually) fewer students at the Lawrence campus compared with last fall.

We're still 4 years away from the reduction in enrollment planned with the selective admission initiative. That restriction is expected to drop 750 freshman from each incoming class. Without a concerted effort for student recruitment, there may be a need for more aggressive early retirement buyouts in order to shrink the staff and the operating budget.

Is there a significant reason KU has decided not to release numbers of enrolled students at the Lawrence and Edwards campus separately? If it's a concern for the K-State numbers surpassing our campus, well that's already happened, so there is no need to pretend. Let's be proud of being a great university for Kansas, and stop playing games with enrollment and tuition numbers.

September 27, 2012 at 10:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Property owners want answers on extra tax for more parking

$1,200,000 buys 72 parking spaces, that's the nearly $17,000 per space that is mentioned. The $1,400 is what a typical storefront would be charged over 10 years.

September 8, 2012 at 10:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )