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Ninth, N.H. project won’t be opposed
In from the wild
West Nile cases increase
By Karrey Britt
kbritt@ljworld.com
Like other parts of the country, Kansas is seeing an increase in West Nile virus, a potentially deadly disease that is spread by mosquitoes. So far, 18 cases have been reported, including one in Douglas County. Eleven of the cases have been in Sedgwick County, and the rest are from across the state. “We usually think of the peak time for West Nile virus cases in Kansas being in August and even in September. So I think we are definitely going to be seeing more cases,” said Ingrid Garrison, state public health veterinarian for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. She said the virus can cause a mild illness with symptoms such as a fever, headache, body aches, nausea and vomiting. For a few — about one in 150 — it can develop into a severe illness with permanent neurological effects. Garrison said Kansas has had nine cases fall into the severe category. Last year, one Kansan died from the illness. “That severe disease usually affects people who are older than 50 and people who are already sick with another illness or chronic condition,” she said. She said it’s important to contact a doctor right away if you have symptoms, which typically develop three to 14 days after being bitten by an Please see VIRUS, page 2A
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By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photos
NADINE BOOTZ, AN EXCHANGE STUDENT FROM GERMANY, shows one of the horses to be auctioned during a wild horse and burro sale Thursday at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. Bootz had worked with the horse to make it gentler to handle. BELOW: Two of the wild burros that were up for sale. See the video at LJWorld.com.
Sale connects residents with ‘living legends’ By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
The kick of a mustang is always a bit misunderstood. Cindy Branham — with a silver cross around her neck and a horse whip in each hand — watches the big pinto mare thrust its hind legs in Branham’s direction. Branham simply flicks one of her two whips, the one with a tattered plastic shop-
KRISTI BILLINGER, OF WELLSVILLE, had adopted this mustang, and she came to teach others about the breed. ping bag from Target tied to its end. The plastic bag ruffles up against the hind quarters of the mustang, and Branham
gently chides the wild horse for turning its tail toward her. Then she offers a brief explanation to the crowd who had gathered around the corral in the Douglas County Fairgrounds arena, and was still a bit stirred up from the kicking display. “If she wanted to kick me in the head, she would have done it al-
ready,” said Branham, a professional horse trainer from Topeka. “Their aim is perfect.” It pays to have good aim in the wild, and as everyone at the fairgrounds on Thursday already knew, these horses are all wild. Officials from the Bureau of Land Management captured the horses off
A multi-story hotel and retail building proposed for the center of Downtown Lawrence won’t have to fight a battle in court after all. The attorney for a group of neighbors opposed to the plans for the hotel/retail building on the southeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire streets said his clients won’t file a lawsuit appealing a previous decision by the Lawrence City Commission to approve the building. Lawrence attorney Ron Schneider, though, said his clients still don’t like the plans for the project, which they have argued will encroach upon a historic neighborhood that is just east of the Ninth and New Hampshire intersection. “But the reality is the project is going forward as approved,” Schneider said. “We could spend a lot of time and money appealing, but we do not know if we would be successful.” A lawsuit was considered possible because the City Commission approved the plans for the approximately 80-room Marriott extendedstay hotel even though the Please see NINTH, page 2A
Please see WILD, page 2A
Motorcyclist killed in N. Lawrence crash By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
A 44-year-old Linwood man died in a car-motorcycle crash Thursday morning in North Lawrence. Sgt. Trent McKinley, a Lawrence police spokesman, said preliminary information indicated that at 8:50 a.m. Thursday,
an 80-year-old Lawrence woman was driving north and turned left in front of the motorcyclist when she had a flashing yellow light. The crash occurred in the 1000 block of North Third Street at the intersection that allows drivers to turn west into the I-70 Business Center or east toward the East
Lawrence interchange of the Kansas Turnpike. “She possibly had a flashing yellow light indicating she was to yield to southbound traffic,” McKinley said. The southbound motorcyclist, who was wearing a helmet, struck the woman’s car. He later died from his injuries, McKinley said.
Business Classified Comics Deaths
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Police did not identify either driver. McKinley said Thursday evening officers were still working to notify the man’s family before releasing additional information. North Third Street was reduced to one lane each way for several hours Thursday as officers investigated the crash scene.
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TWO LAWRENCE police officers examine the scene of a fatal motorcycle accident Thursday in North Lawrence. A motorcyclist from Linwood died after colliding with a car.
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Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo
Guilty pleas in bank heists A 26-year-old Lawrence man pleads guilty to robbing a Lawrence bank twice in 2011. Page 3A
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Vol.154/No.237 36 pages