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FRIDAY • DECEMBER 11 • 2015
BUILDING HIT BY FIRE MAY DATE TO 1800S Justices
dig deep on judicial selection
By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
LAWRENCE FIREFIGHTERS CHECK FOR HOT SPOTS after a fire Thursday morning at Murphy Furniture Service, 409 E. Seventh St. By Conrad Swanson Twitter: @conrad_swanson
M
ike Murphy’s business — in a more than 100-year-old building — has been on the corner of East Seventh and New Jersey streets since 1976. In his nearly 40 years there, Murphy said, he’s been pretty lucky, but Thursday morning he found himself surrounded by charred furniture, broken glass and smoke damage.
Business suffers $35,000 in damages “Really it’s been pretty trouble-free, maybe a few cases of vandalism, but not much,” he said. At 7:36 a.m. Thursday, a fire was reported at Murphy Furniture Service, 409 E. Seventh St., after heavy smoke was seen in the area, said LawrenceDouglas County Fire Medical Division Chief Eve Tolefree. The fire was extinguished quickly, and
no injuries were reported. Tolefree estimated the cost of the damage was around $35,000, and the department’s investigation concluded the fire’s cause was accidental and could be attributed to spontaneous combustion due to the improper disposal of staining chemicals. Murphy said, for the most part, the damage to his furniture restoration
and re-upholstery business was caused by smoke, with a little fire damage in one corner of the old building. Most everything should be repairable, he said. “We can put it back together,” Murphy said. “Most of all my customers’ stuff is salvageable. There are some tools and equipment that have seen better days.” Please see FIRE, page 2A
Topeka — Kansas Supreme Court justices spent nearly two hours grilling attorneys on both sides of a case that could determine how independent the judicial branch of government is from the legislative and COURTS executive branches. At issue is the case of Judge Larry T. Solomon, chief judge of the 30th Judicial District in Kingman County, who is challenging a 2014 law that changes the way chief judges are selected. But underlying the case is another new law enacted as part of this year’s judicial budget bill that says if the judicial selection law is overturned, all funding for the judicial branch becomes null and void. Please see JUSTICES, page 2A
Local charges dropped against runaway mom By Conrad Swanson
Lawmakers order, delay audit of child welfare agency By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Topeka — A legislative panel tentatively agreed Thursday to order a wideranging audit of the Department for Children and Families’ child welfare programs, including a review of allegations the agency systematically discriminates against gay and lesbian couples when placing children in
Please see AUDIT, page 2A
Please see MOM, page 2A
INSIDE
Partly cloudy Business Classified Comics Deaths
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crimination. Ward presented the panel with a letter signed by no fewer than 13 Johnson County attorneys who also called for an audit of DCF. “In recent days, concerns which have long been held by attorneys and personnel who work within this system
All Douglas County charges have been dropped against a Lawrence woman accused of fleeing the country to avoid losing custody of her two daughters, the district attorney’s office said. Cheryl Wright Kunard, assistant to Douglas County District Attorney Charles Elmer Branson, said the charges against Samantha Elmer, 33, were dropped once federal investigators became involved. “Our office worked with the U.S. Attorney’s
Attorneys accuse DCF of discriminating against gay couples foster homes or with different parts of the adoptive parents. audit will be comBut the Legislative pleted. Post Audit Commit“It is very frustee will wait until trating because they January, when the could have taken full Legislature is the first step today,” back in session, besaid Rep. Jim Ward, fore deciding on a D-Wichita, who refinal statement re- Ward quested an audit garding the scope of the au- specifically about recent dit and a schedule for when allegations of anti-gay dis-
Low: 44
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COMING IN SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13TH’S LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD RECIPES FOR THE 1ST & 2ND PLACE WINNERS FROM OUR 2015 HOLIDAY BAKE-OFF PRESENTED BY: YYour Local City Market!
Twitter: @conrad_swanson
The holiday hits continue with “A Kansas Nutcracker,” the Holiday Farmers Market, a big band Christmas, radio-style, and an organ vespers benefit. Page 3A
Vol.157/No.345 34 pages