photo by: John English/Special to the Journal-World

Homes south of Lawrence that were devastated by a tornado on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, are viewed from the air on Wednesday, May 29.

About a half-mile stood between Lawrence’s top story of the year and its top story of a generation.

An early evening tornado that cut a swath through Douglas County on May 28 likely is the top local story of the year in many people’s books. The tornado injured more than a dozen people, while destroying 13 homes and damaging at least another 70.

That’s already plenty big news, but if the storm’s path would have been about a half-mile farther north, Lawrence likely still would be rebuilding hundreds of lost homes.

The EF-4 tornado began doing damage in the largely agricultural region of southwest Douglas County. But as the tornado moved north and east, it became clear that both Lawrence and Eudora were at risk of devastation.

By the time the tornado reached U.S. Highway 59, it was only about 3 miles south of the Lawrence city limits. It soon would get closer.

After destroying multiple rural homes in the Shank Hill area south of the Wakarusa River, the tornado bounded farther north. It briefly jumped north of the South Lawrence Trafficway bypass, and skirted just along the southern border of the Prairie Park neighborhood in southeast Lawrence. At that point, just another half-mile of northward movement from the storm likely would have left Lawrence with a massive scar that would have taken years to repair.

A bit of movement to the south also could have been disastrous for nearby Eudora. The tornado remained on the ground destroying several more homes and buildings in the Kansas River valley between Lawrence and Eudora. Ultimately, the tornado went only about a mile north of Eudora’s downtown before creating heavy damage near Linwood in neighboring Leavenworth County.

With $22 million in damages to structures and buildings — the total is more if you count damage to cars, crops and other items — the tornado was the second largest in Douglas County’s history, trailing only a 1981 storm that killed one person when Lawrence’s Kmart store took a direct hit, leaving $70 million in damages in today’s dollars.

Here’s a look at some of the other big local news stories of 2019:

photo by: Nick Krug

A University of Kansas-branded Adidas basketball is pictured in March 2018.

Basketball recruiting scandal

It remains to be seen whether a scar of a different type will be left on one of Lawrence’s other hallmarks — the Kansas men’s basketball program. The program ends 2019 in the crosshairs of the NCAA’s enforcement staff.

Federal fraud trials involving representatives of Adidas produced evidence that some KU basketball recruits were paid to attend the school. T.J. Gassnola, a fixer employed by Adidas, admitted to making at least two sets of payments, and evidence at trial raised questions about how much KU coach Bill Self and his staff knew about Gassnola and his activities.

KU has denied wrongdoing, but the NCAA has formally accused KU of major rules violations. If KU is unsuccessful in appealing the NCAA’s findings, the violations could lead to a postseason ban and a major suspension for Self.

photo by: Kim Callahan

Police were called to Lawrence’s Liberty Memorial Central Middle School after a reported threat late Tuesday morning, Sept. 24, 2019. The school was put on lockdown, but the threat was determined to be unfounded.

School security

During a tense two-week period in February, Lawrence school district officials responded to the following: a student bringing a loaded gun to Lawrence High; a Southwest Middle School student reportedly threatening to shoot another student; reports of another student bringing a loaded gun to LHS; a Free State student allegedly using Snapchat to threaten to shoot an LHS student; and a student bringing a Taser to the LHS campus.

The spate of incidents led to Superintendent Anthony Lewis calling for a pair of community forums to discuss school safety issues. Although it appeared briefly that the district may look at programs such as metal detectors for certain school buildings, the school board backed away from that idea.

By September, school safety issues were in the news again as an unfounded report of a gun inside Liberty Memorial Central Middle School created some panicked responses, including one from a parent who broke a window of the building in an effort to pull children from the school. Five students were seen by paramedics for minor cuts related to the window incident.

Lewis later said the school had erred in how it dealt with the security threat, and school board members ended the year saying the district has to figure out how to improve its communications during crisis events.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

Anthony L. Roberts Jr. is handcuffed after being convicted of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, in Douglas County District Court. Roberts fired at least 15 shots amid a crowd at 11th and Massachusetts streets on Oct. 1, 2017.

Massachusetts Street shooting trials

The man found guilty of killing three people and injuring a fourth in a 2017 mass shooting in downtown Lawrence will serve at least 68 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. A Douglas County jury in June convicted 22-year old Anthony Laron Roberts Jr., of Topeka, after at two-week trial. In August, a Douglas County District Court judge sentenced him to two life sentences for the two first-degree murders, plus more than 18 years for the second-degree murder charge and other offenses.

photo by: Ashley Golledge

New City Manager Craig Owens attends the Lawrence City Commission’s meeting on Tuesday, July 2, 2019 at City Hall. Owens started his job as city manager on July 1.

New leaders

For the first time in anyone’s memory, the city of Lawrence and Douglas County government both have new leaders at the same time. The city brought in Craig Owens from Clayton, Mo., an urban center just outside of downtown St. Louis, to lead Lawrence City Hall. Douglas County, meanwhile, stayed with a local leader. The county, deciding to forgo a search process, promoted Sarah Plinsky from her position as assistant county administrator to become the new top nonelected official within Douglas County government.

photo by: Jordan Strauss/Invision via AP

David Rabinowitz, from left, Charlie Wachtel, and Kevin Willmott, winners of the award for best adapted screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman”, pose in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

KU professor wins an Oscar

Kevin Willmott, a professor of film at KU, took home one of cinema’s highest honors when he won an Academy Award for his contribution to the film “BlacKkKlansman.” Willmott, who co-wrote the film with Spike Lee, won the best adapted screenplay award during the 91st Academy Awards ceremony in February. Set in the mid-1970s, “BlacKkKlansman” is based on the memoir of Ron Stallworth, a black police officer in Colorado Springs who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. Willmott and Lee also won the British Academy Film and Television Arts award, also known as BAFTA, in the same category.

photo by: Chris Conde

LMH Health is pictured in a file photo from October 2018.

Hospital finances

After years of posting revenues far greater than its expenses, the nonprofit Lawrence Memorial Hospital started to lose money in 2019. LMH Health had budgeted to end 2019 with revenues coming in about $11 million more than its expenses, which would allow the hospital to reinvest in its health care mission. But instead, the hospital in late 2019 was on pace to post about a $10 million operating loss. That’s about a $20 million swing to the negative, which hospital leaders said was impacted by tougher contracts with insurance companies, higher drug costs, a tight labor market and other factors. The hospital has a plan to find about $14 million in savings in 2020. While finances were on the mind of hospital leaders throughout the year, it also was a momentous construction season for LMH Health. The hospital began construction on an approximately $100 million outpatient facility near Rock Chalk Park in northwest Lawrence. That building is scheduled to open in the summer of 2020.

photo by: Nick Krug

Thomas S. Fritzel leaves the Frank Carlson Federal Courthouse in Topeka, Kan. on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018.

Fritzel conviction

One of Lawrence’s most prominent developers and businessmen may be facing prison time. Thomas Fritzel in July was found guilty of felony charges related to improperly disposing of asbestos materials as part of his work to remodel the former Alvamar Country Club that he bought. He faces up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 in that case. But he also has been charged in a federal tax scheme involving sales tax issues related to The Oread hotel property he owns. Fritzel previously had pleaded not guilty in that case, but in December he notified the court that he planned to withdraw that plea. Fritzel faces up to 15 years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines related to that case.

photo by: Clinton Lake U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The Clinton Lake shelter No. 5 at Bloomington Beach is pictured in this photo posted Friday, Aug. 30, 2019, by the Clinton Lake U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Rain, rain, rain

Lawrence set a new record for rainfall and water levels at nearby Clinton Lake. The Lawrence Municipal Airport recorded 47.69 inches of precipitation for the year, according to measurements by the National Weather Service. That’s the most rain since the National Weather Service began measuring at the airport in 1998. Early summer was particularly wet in Douglas County. It resulted in pretty much of a washout for users of Clinton Lake. The federal reservoir saw its water level reach an all-time high in July. The lake’s elevation rose to 897 feet, which was about 19.5 feet above its normal level. It also was about 2 feet higher than the lake’s previous high-water mark set in 1995. The high water levels closed boat ramps, beaches and left several hundred thousand dollars in damaged park infrastructure, Corps of Engineers officials estimated.