Multimedia Reporting (Adler-Noland)

Lawrence Police Officer Jay Bialek recently sat inside the station’s training room with a pamphlet, “Jihad, An Internal Struggle,” clasped in his hand.

Moussa Elbayoumy director of the Lawrence Islamic Center stood at the front of room telling him and other officers why in Muslim, a woman is not allowed to look an officer in the eyes.

“People have conflicts with Muslim behavior from lack of understanding about their culture,” Elbayoumy told officers.

Lawrence Police are required to go through 40 hours of community training each year. This year, for the first time training includes talks on diversity, reflecting the changing nature of Lawrence and its ethnic and cultural make-up. The diversity training session are presented by the Lawrence Alliance, a group dedicated to educating the community about diversity.

“Cultural learning serves to broaden our awareness and sensitivity to those citizens who represent different ethnic backgrounds and religious beliefs,” Bialek community services officer said.
“These are the citizens that make up our community and that we serve.”

The diversity in Lawrence has increased in the past several years, both in number and range.

According to the American Community Survey Lawrence’s diverse populations are rising. Between 2000 and 2005, the Hispanic population rose 2 percent, individuals for whom English is a second language rose 1.5 percent. The Asian and Native American populations are up .7 and .1 percent respectfully.

“Lawrence is comprised of a wide variety of individuals from many cultures,” said Trent McKinley, neighborhood resource officer. “Having diversity training significantly improves officers’ awareness of other cultures and perspectives that they may otherwise have limited knowledge of.”

During trainings, which started in December and take place six times a year, officers hear from leaders representing disabled, racial, religious, gay and elderly populations.

“Moussa came to speak about things officers should know when and if they need to interact with someone from the Muslim community,” Deb Taylor, director of the Lawrence Alliance said. “He explained that in the Muslim culture women do not look men in the eye. If an officer is looking at a female and she is not looking at him, it means that she listening respectfully.”

Officers listened to a lecture, received literature regarding the topics, and had a question and answer session at the end of the presentation.

“I personally took away a much greater understanding of the Muslim culture, which is something I really knew nothing about. I thought that it was presented in a very understandable way,” Bialek said.

“It certainly gave me a greater awareness of the importance of how religion is a much devoted value and part of the Muslim culture and way of life.”

The presenters also felt that the lecture served its purpose.

“From the reaction of the officers, it went well. We could tell by how much participation we saw,” Elbayoumy said. “They filled out an overall-form at the end, which showed they were very positive and appreciative. They even asked for more resources.”

The Alliance surveyed the officers and decided afterward to make the next presentation about Hispanic groups.

“We will cover cultural beliefs specific to Latinos and Hispanic in the country. We will also talk about systems from countries that many have come from and how their native language affects their actions and interactions,” Lydia Leon, coordinator of the Hispanic Resource Center said. “We want to facilitate the bridge of understanding.”

The Alliance approached the police department early last year to determine their interest in the program and to make sure that this was the only program of its kind

“It is something that we are committed to explore,” said Lawrence Police Spokesman Capt. Mike Patrick. “It is good that we have this opportunity, it will help when we come in contact with diversity.”

In the future the Alliance plans to approach the Lawrence fire departments, emergency and medical services and downtown business owners about participation in the lectures.

Developer John McGrew had a plan. McGrew wanted to construct a 60-acre development consisting of luxury town homes, apartments and single-family homes in the ever-expanding northwest side of Lawrence.

The city had a need. It wanted a new public park. The cost of the park, however, was a concern for city commissioners.

At a city commission meeting on February 27, 2007, McGrew and the city made a compromise. The city approved the development with the addition of a “benefit district” park.

“Lawrence has never received a park like this before,” said Sheila Stogsdill, Director of Interim Planning. “It’s a smooth, innovative way of thinking.”

Oregon Trail Park will be unique from other Lawrence parks by the way it is financed. The city of Lawrence has designated it a benefit district project, funded 100% by future residents, 0% by the city. Benefit districts are a popular tool to finance large city projects such as roads and sewers, but the new park is a first of its kind. Future homeowners in the subdivision will finance the public park completely. A fee will be included in their assessments the same way sidewalks and streets are paid for. The estimated cost of the project is $811,000, but at no cost to the general taxpayer.

“We had a need for a park, and they had a plan,” said Fred DeVictor, Lawrence Director of Parks and Recreation. “However, without a benefit district the city couldn’t finance this. That option definitely helped get this project moving.”

Oregon Trail Addition will be located on George Williams Way, north of Stoneridge Drive in northwest Lawrence. The new development will be a 60-acre subdivision that includes town homes, single-family home and apartments surrounding the 4.3-acre public park. The park will feature a recreation path, playground area and a pond that can serve as storm water detention.

The development was proposed in 2004, but didn’t receive city approval until September 2006, and the park was added February 27, 2007.

“Getting approval for the project took much longer than we anticipated,” said Nancy Breithaupt, Coldwell Banker McGrew Real Estate. Coldwell Banker McGrew Real Estate owns Oregon Trail Holdings, LC.

Developer John McGrew has long been a supporter of city projects. McGrew considered this an exciting project from the beginning. The location was northwest Lawrence, an area that is rapidly growing. The area also provided access to the south Lawrence traffic way for commuting. The land was expansive, scenic and most importantly it was available. However, getting city approval was not an easy task.

“I have dealt with developer and city partnerships on numerous projects, “ McGrew said. “Everything seemed according to the rules, but the city had many concerns.”

Difficulties included access to the property, street and median concerns, neighborhood regulations, but primarily how to pay for a much-needed public park.

“ I have always been interested in having a park in any residential project,” McGrew said. “Lawrence needs more parks and green space.”

McGrew’s appreciation for parks encouraged him to keep working with the city, until the benefit district was approved.

“It was worth it,” McGrew said. “It’s a nice area. It will be such an improvement to Lawrence’s westward expansion.”

Christopher Storm, an engineer for Landplan Engineering, has been working on the project and is pleased with the initial planning. Storm believes the developers and the city came up with the best proposal.

“It’s an extremely efficient area,” Storm said. “We can collocate everything we need; the detention pond, a flat area for the park, and space for the surrounding homes.”

Construction of Oregon Trail Addition is scheduled to begin this summer. Lots have been estimated at $60,000- $80,000, depending on whether it is a town home, single family home or apartment. McGrew explained the market is continually changing, so the subdivision’s lots haven’t been publicly advertised. McGrew and city officials are confident in its success.

“Having a park will immediately add value to this project,” Fred DeVictor said.

City commissioners are eager to see the reaction to the first benefit district park. If it is successful it may bring a new trend in city projects.

“I would love to see this change the way we go about future city projects,” Sheila Stogsdill said. “It allows us to give the developers and the city what they want and need so much faster.”

At the beginning of the year a new survey, done by Lawrence service providers, found that there were 413 people in Lawrence who were homeless. Fifty-six percent of that number was families with children. These figures shocked many in the community because in 2005 only 113 people were identified as homeless and according to local leaders the perception was that adults were the biggest segment of the population. The Community Commission on HomelessnessThe Community Commission on Homelessness and other groups are now working to decide how to best accommodate the families that they now know exist.

“This month [the Commission] decided to put together housing options,” said Lesley Rigney, Neighborhood Programs Specialist. “A lot of service providers said we were ignoring families. Instead of the city building huge shelters there should be smaller shelters with different options.”

Helen Hartnet, a professor at the University of Kansas and member of the Commission, agrees with the idea of several small housing options, but is worried about the condition the facilities are currently in and how that affects the children staying in them.

“It’s depressing,” she said. “It’s a rough facility. There are a lot of people in a small space. It’s not pretty. People are struggling with an array of issues and it’s not conducive to ‘I’m going to be better.’”

Eileene Miller-Green knows this firsthand. She and her seven-month-old daughter have been homeless for four months. They sleep at the Salvation Army and Miller-Green spends most of her days at the Lawrence Community Shelter, while her daughter is in day-care, subsidized by the government. Miller-Green is currently in the process of getting a divorce and her daughter has been sick for the past several months.

“I had a full-time job, but since she was sick I couldn’t do the full-time job,” Miller-Green said. “When I do get a job it’s hours when there’s no day-care assistance and the buses don’t run late enough. We sleep on the floor in the chapel with another family. The day shelter is hard for one’s with children.”

Donnell Turner, who has lived in Lawrence for seventeen years and who utilizes LCS, sympathizes with Miller-Green and says that children should not have to grow up homeless.

“Kids suffer the worst,” he said. “Little ones don’t understand. They want their own room and their own toys and their own clothes. They live out on the street.”

The Salvation Army is the only shelter in town that accepts families with children for overnight care and Lieutenant Wesley Dalberg expressed concern over the current situation and how quickly progress could be made.

“There’s a gap in our service in the community,” he said. “We don’t have anyplace to send them. There are plans to help alleviate the problem, but it’s never quick enough for those in need. Change is slow to happen.”

The Lawrence Community Shelter, Salvation Army and the Community Commission on Homelessness are the primary groups available in Lawrence to help those in need. The Commission meets every second Tuesday of the month from 8:30-10:00 a.m. in the City Commission Room of City Hall.

The Community Coalition on Homelessness is rushing to put together a package of ideas to help aid the homeless of Lawrence. The coalition plans to present the package to the Lawrence City Commission by June, as a response to the homeless census and what many of the members see as apathy to the poor of Lawrence.

“We’re going to probably recommend an emergency shelter to serve the chronically homeless and then look at emergency housing and transitional housing for families. Our goal in working with the chronically homeless is to get them a house so they can participate in the community as much as possible,” said Shirley Martin Smith, the head of the Community Coalition on Homelessness.

Some Homeless advocates are concerned that homelessness in Lawrence isn’t being given all the attention it deserves from the city. According to Hubbard Colinsworth, who heads the Pelathe Community Resource Center, there isn’t a homeless charity or advocacy group in the city who isn’t in need of money right now.

“If there are eight pieces of cheese and 10 agencies, how are you going to cut the cheese so everyone gets a piece?” Colinsworth said.

Steve Ozark, coordinator for Interfaith Initiative, a community- and religion-based homeless advocacy group, says that when the city focuses on emergency housing as it has been, people just get shuffled from the street to a shelter and then back on the street again.

“It’s never really been discussed clearly what the city’s responsibility is to poverty in Lawrence. It’s really about more than just poverty; it’s about gaps that can lead to homelessness… and trying to fill the gaps before more people fall through,” Ozark said.

Ozark also said that to confront the problem of homelessness in Lawrence, more has to be done than just emergency care. Ozark believes that getting money from the city for permanent supportive housing is the only way to solve the problem before it gets any worse than it already is.

“If we don’t make [rehabilitation] a priority, there will only be more gaps. We need more than just a park every quarter mile. Parks are important, but helping people is much more so,” Ozark said.

The difference between supportive housing and emergency housing is one that most citizens in Lawrence don’t quite understand, Ozark said. He believes that most people in Lawrence don’t care about homeless people because of preconceived notions towards them.

“We need the city to understand the face of homelessness. When I say the word homelessness or homeless person most people have a prejudged opinion.” Ozark said.
Interfaith Initiative is currently trying to build a rehabilitative housing program of its own.

After the homeless census was released by the Lawrence Journal-World a few weeks ago, the tone of the coalition has become much more urgent. The census counted 413 homeless, almost twice as many people as previously thought. The only relief of the census, Smith said, was that the number of chronic homeless, those defined as having a disability and being homeless for more than a year, was less than they had previously thought.

The commission knows that the going will be hard, but they still have high hopes that their plan can work to start reducing the number of people without a home in Lawrence.
“To say we’re going to erase homelessness is a little arrogant. We can do a lot to reduce chronic homelessness,” said Loring Henderson, who works with the Lawrence Community Shelter.

Ozark said he was getting considerably more optimistic considering where the city was with the homeless just a year ago.

“We’re just trying to be clear and loud as we can be. We need to get this on the table with all these other [city programs]. We’re in the ballpark but in the cheap seats. We need to be in the box seats with the other programs. We need to realize that our people are our most valuable resource,” Ozark said.

The coalition was formed by the Lawrence City Commission a little more than a year ago and is comprised of homeless advocacy programs around Lawrence, such as Interfaith Initiative, the Salvation Army, Pelathe Resource Center and concerned members of the community.

The Environmental Stewardship Program, informally known as KU Recycling, has received a grant exceeding $14,800 from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to install desk-side recycling bins in six University of Kansas buildings. But it could be late summer before the bins are placed because program administrators have not hired a new project manager.

Keaton Krell, a student crew leader for the program, said recycling on campus lacks the administrative leadership needed for an efficient recycling operation. His former boss, Jeff Severin, was recently promoted to director for the KU Center for Sustainability. Krell said Severin was an effective leader but his departure has caused a meltdown in the recycling department and has curbed the desk-side recycling bin project.

“Facilities Operations treats KU Recycling like an illegitimate stepchild,” Krell said. “They don't give us, the recyclers, any support. They don't have a clue as to the ins and outs of our operation, and they waited to post the job application for Jeff's old position until a day after he left the job.”

Severin applied for the grant from KDHE while he was still working for the program as environmental services project manager. He worked with the housekeeping staff to determine where they could best increase recycling on campus. Part of the criteria for the grant was to prove the money would be used for a project that reaches a new or under-served audience.

“Having that material taken as part of the waste taking process should have a positive effect on recycling,” Severin said. “This project adds the extra convenient element of having the bins near the desk.”

Before receiving the new grant, Severin worked with The Alumni Center last fall to install desk-side recycling bins in every office on the third floor. Jennifer Sanner, senior vice president of communications for the Alumni Association, said they requested the bins to increase their waste reduction.

“We’re just grateful that the service is available,” Sanner said. “We think it makes a lot of sense in a large community, such as a university, that uses a lot of paper. It makes a lot of sense to be conscientious of what we do with it.”

The Environmental Protection Agency reported 245 million tons of trash produced in the United States in 2005. That’s an average of almost five pounds of trash generated per person per day. The EPA estimates that only 32 percent gets recycled; the rest gets burned at combustion facilities or dumped in landfills. Recycling reduces water pollutants and the greenhouse gas emissions that change the global climate.

Statewide grants for recycling, composting and waste reduction come from tipping and dumping fees at landfill stations and from a percentage of the landfill permit fees. Grant money this year was just under $830,000. Kris Hicks, environmental scientist in KDHE bureau of waste management, said the allocation of the money was determined by KDHE and a governor appointed advisory board representing state, county and industry interests.

“It supports the local programs; it allows them to provide services in areas that they may not have in their own budget.” Hicks said. “As for the KU program, they were pretty limited on the budget.”

Krell said he looks forward to getting a new project manager and beginning the desk-side recycling project. He said that once they hire someone, KU Recycling can make a big step in making recycling more convenient for everyone.

“I'm sure most people don't recycle because it's not convenient for them, and with this they won't have that excuse anymore,” Krell said.

Providing affordable housing is a constant goal for Lawrence city government. Now, a committee is asking the city to do their part in helping them make that happen.

In April, the Neighborhood Resources Advisory Committee will propose that the city waive fees associated with water and wastewater development in two new Lawrence housing developments. Tenants to Homeowners and Lawrence Habitat for Humanity are overseeing the construction of the two developments, which will provide 10 and 16 houses for low-income families and first-time homebuyers.

“The city often touts its desire to do what it can to help create affordable_ housing, and since the city is responsible for the city's water service, it seemed like a good idea for the city to absorb the hook-up costs and in turn allow the NRAC to allocate more funds to other projects,” said Michael Randolph, NRAC Chairperson.

Waving the water fees would mean the city would install water meters for the homes free of charge. These meters typically cost about $3,000. Without needing to pay this fee, the two organizations can sell the homes at a more affordable rate.

“That three to four thousand really makes a difference to low income buyers,” said Rebecca Buford, Executive Director of Tenants to Homeowners.

Tenants to Homeowners is hoping to put the free meters into 10 new homes in the Brooke Creek Neighborhood near Haskell Avenue. Construction on the homes is slated to begin this spring and will be completed within two years.

Jean Lilley, Executive Director of Lawrence Habitat for Humanity, said that the organization is currently constructing 16 homes in the Comfort Neighborhood in north Lawrence, creating streets Comfort Lane and Comfort Court. Habitat for Humanity will install the free meters in these homes if the proposal is approved. Lilley said that water related fees are a finance that the city could easily accommodate.

“It seemed like one of the things the city would be interested in helping us with because they provide the water,” Lilley said.

The city operates programs to develop more affordable housing for Lawrence residents, such as the Housing Trust Fund Board, and the Housing Needs Task Force, which includes city commissioner Dennis Highberger as a member. Buford of Tenants to Homeowners is also a member of the task force. Lesley Rigney, Neighborhood Program Specialist for the city of Lawrence, works as the city liaison to the NRAC. Rigney said that the funding would be a good way for the city to help.

“The city has an ongoing focus and commitment to further affordable housing development, especially ways that won’t cost the city money,” Rigney said.

The NRAC is allotted money from the city and works to decide what to do with it. Each year, different groups apply for funding for their specific causes. Randolph said that the NRAC is involved with Tenants to Homeowners every year, and is involved with Habitat for Humanity periodically depending on their needs. In the past, the NRAC has supported the organizations with money from Community Development Block Grant funds. This is the first year the committee is asking the city to waive fees.

Tenants to Homeowners is a local non-profit organization that has partnered with the city since 1992. Buford said that the organization has been responsible for the construction of over 250 homes since it began operating, all of which have gone to low-income families. The organization also operates the Land and Housing Trust Program, in which first-time homebuyers buy the house but lease the land underneath it. This allows the organization to keep the property and sell it to other first-time homebuyers.

In the nationally registered historic district of North Rhode Island Street, nineteenth-century homes resembling dollhouses are the norm. Along a stretch from seventh to eleventh streets, a small apartment building or new multiplex dots the neighborhood every so often, but most of the houses are the same ones that were there in the late 1800s.

1211 Rhode Island is one of 63 homes considered to be contributing structures to the district, meaning that the house has remained essentially the same since its construction.

The two-story, wood-frame house could probably use a fresh coat of cobalt blue paint, but it stands tall about 50 feet from the original brick street with multiple bedrooms and a porch that wraps around one side.

The "historic" tag usually protects buildings from developers, but Reed Brinton, the owner of 1211 Rhode Island, seems to have something different in mind.

On Thursday, the Historic Resources Commission will review a demolition permit application that Brinton, a Johnson County real estate agent, filed on Feb. 16.

The prospect of losing a historic house has some community members up in arms.

"I think it's completely unprecedented. I don't think anyone has tried to demolish designated historic property in Lawrence," Mark Kaplan, who lives near the neighborhood, said.

The house was built in 1870 by the Rev. Henry Belmer on a lot that cost $200. In its present state, the appraised value of the house is more than $150,000.

Brinton, who is $6,000 behind on property taxes for the house, declined to comment on his reasons for wanting to demolish it, saying only that the issue was "too preliminary to talk about."

Both Kaplan and Phil Collison, president of the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association, said Brinton is proposing to build a sixplex on the lot that is surrounded by single-family homes. They said that would subtract from the atmosphere of the neighborhood, which consists of a mix of students, families and older citizens.

"No towns in America have neighborhoods left like this one in East Lawrence," Kaplan said.

Collison said Thursday's meeting would likely not produce a concrete decision. If the Historic Resources Commission rejects Brinton's application, he can appeal to the city commission, at which time preservation groups across Lawrence would begin lobbying the city to deny the permit.

Though he said he did not see any way the commission would approve the permit, Collison said that if it should decide to allow the demolition, "I think we'd be chaining ourselves to the outside of the house to prevent the bulldozers from coming in."

The burden of proof for someone who requests a demolition permit is to show a clear picture of why the house is uninhabitable and to have a plan for what to build next.

"We think the house is in pretty darn good shape,” Collison said. "There would have to be an incredible rationale to having that demolished."

Kimberly Simonetti was part of the last group of tenants to rent the house from Brinton. She said that when she moved out at the end of the summer of 2006, it was in good condition, and she said she was not sure how Brinton could justify tearing it down.

"Granted, there were a few problems," Simonetti said. "It's an old house, but it's still a house, and it functioned just fine."

Simonetti said she thought the proposed demolition was all about money and moving more people into the area, which she felt would change the way people in the area live.

"It's a good place to live," Simonetti said. "It's going to utterly change the makeup of the neighborhood."

Sven Alstrom, architect and member of the Historic Resources Commission, said sometimes a house can be moved to another site as a last resort.

"If it's physically possible to move a house, we should not let it be torn down,” Alstrom said.

But Kaplan said moving the house was not good enough.

"In a historic place like this, it's like 'give me liberty or give me death,'" Kaplan said. "If this place is forced to be moved or demolished, historic preservation is dead in Kansas."

Jonathan Pryor practices safe sex. He and his partner are monogamous. He is routinely tested for HIV. He is careful about his health and lives a lifestyle reflective of his concerns. He wants to contribute to other people’s health by donating blood. One factor stops him.

“Because I am gay I cannot help the Blood Drive’s cause,” Pryor said.

Pryor, Columbus senior and director of Queers and Allies, recently spoke out against the University of Kansas Blood Drive because of a policy that does not allow gay men to donate blood.

The controversy regarding the policy began on campus recently when a mass e-mail promoting KU’s Blood Drive was sent out over an organizational list serve. Two people, neither associated with Queers and Allies, replied to the e-mail; saying it should not have been distributed because of its discriminatory content. The KU Blood Drive Committee responded by hosting a forum to educate students about blood donation. Pryor was among members of Queers and Allies who attended the forum to voice concern regarding the policy.

Jeff Klinkhardt, St. Louis senior and president of the KU Blood Drive Committee, said the Blood Drive Committee held the forum because it wanted students to understand why the KU Blood Drive cannot allow gay men to donate blood.

“We’re not discriminating,” said Klinkhardt. “If we don’t follow the FDA guidelines, the FDA can’t use the pints we collect.”

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates the nation’s blood supply and determines the policies that decide who is eligible to donate blood, has faced controversy regarding their policy that defers gay men from being potential donors since the policy was enacted in 1983.

According to the FDA Web site, gay and bisexual men are considered to be high-risk for transmitting and contracting HIV and AIDS. Other high-risk groups include women who have had sex with gay men, people who have accepted money for sex and intravenous drug users. All high-risk groups are deferred from donating blood.

FDA spokesperson Pat Harley said that although tests can determine if a person is HIV positive, they are not always accurate.

“There’s a window period where an HIV test will not show up positive, even if the person is infected,” Harley said. “We’re taking the safer than sorry approach.”

Pryor said the policy is outdated and openly discriminates against gay men and those who have had a relationship with a gay man.

“This policy is reflective of the 1980s, when people were not educated and when people labeled HIV the gay disease,” Pryor said. “The FDA needs to reevaluate their policy because things have changed significantly in the past couple decades.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agrees with Pryor.

“I can understand the concern, but there have been so many advances in screening for HIV,” said Brett Shirk, executive director of the ACLU for Kansas and western Missouri. “(The FDA) is discriminating against an entire group of people because of the actions of a percentage of them.”

Shirk also said the FDA’s screening procedures are flawed because they defer safe donors while allowing unsafe donors to slip through the system. He said that the African-American community has a higher percentage of people who are HIV-positive when compared to gay men, but it is not considered high-risk for the virus. Shirk also said that few women truly know the sexual history of their partners, and could potentially donate blood without knowing that they have had sex with a gay man, and are therefore high-risk for transferring HIV.

Shirk said that although he disagrees with the FDA’s policy, Queers and Allies does not have legal ground to stand on to argue the policy because they are not a protected class under the U.S. Constitution.

“I think it’s a travesty in American law, but the FDA and the American Red Cross have every right to do it,” Shirk said. “There’s no civil right to give blood.”

The KU Blood Drive Committee responded to the concerns of Queers and Allies by posting a disclaimer on its Web site and at donating stations that reads: “The KU Blood Drive Committee is a non-discriminatory group. We are required to follow FDA regulations.”

Pryor said the disclaimer is a positive step, and he does not feel that the KU Blood Drive discriminates against gay men. But Pryor wishes more could be done to eliminate the FDA policy.

“Allow a student petition at blood donating stations to be sent on to the FDA,” Pryor said. “HIV has sadly been around for almost 30 years and there have been great advancements since then and we know anyone can be affected.”

Klinkhardt said that he was unsure whether Queers and Allies would be allowed to petition at blood donating stations, but he invited the group to be present at future meetings planning blood drives at KU.

Harley said the donor policies are under routine review by the FDA. The policy deferring gay men was last reviewed in March 2006, at which time the FDA felt there was “scientific justification for screening donors who are men who have had sex with another man.”

Pryor said he is concerned that the policy fosters false ideas about the gay community.

“Many people assume that gay or bisexual men are promiscuous and unable to have committed relationships. These are the kinds of ideas and thoughts that further perpetuate policies like that of the FDA,” Pryor said. “Everyone is high risk that does not protect themselves and educate themselves.”

Pryor said HIV awareness and education are key factors to diminishing the virus and the FDA policies. He cited personal reasons for wanting to donate blood in the future.

“It would make me feel equal, rather than an outcast,” Pryor said. “I would get satisfaction of knowing I’ve helped someone.”

Sixth Street is one of the most populous roads in Lawrence due to the number of businesses that can be found alongside. However, those who travel down the road notice building 1400, located at the intersection of Sixth and Michigan streets, has been vacant for over a year because of problems the owners are having with the location.
Purchased in the spring of 2006, the owners originally planned to open a Church’s Chicken eating establishment by the end of the year. Soon after their purchase, the owners realized there were issues that were needed to be brought up with the city of Lawrence regarding their property’s potential to have a successful business.
“The first issue the owners explained regarded safety of their customers,” Douglas county city commission member Paul Patterson said. “The location has two exits; one onto Michigan and the other onto Sixth Street. If the business were to open without change, then their drive thru lane would turn right into cars entering the lot from Sixth Street.”
The property’s exit onto Sixth Street is not only a safety concern, but also problematic for business says Patterson.
“There is a lack of parking available on the lot,” Patterson said. “In order to have an efficient business the owners are purposing that the particular exit be barricaded so sufficient parking can be made and they can eliminate safety problems.”
While parking and the two exits on the property are of concern, the location still has an issue with size. The lot is a total of 18, 687 square feet, but the property line ends right in middle of where the owners hope to put a drive thru lane. The potential drive thru area, located on the east side of the building is the only location logical for a drive thru, as the west end is desired for parking spaces.
“There is a fifteen foot setback which causes difficulty for a successful business,” the property owners’ business lawyer, Terrence Campbell said. “We were asked to meet a list of requirements given to us by the city of Lawrence, but were unable to meet all the requirements with the fifteen foot setback.”
Campbell and his clients sorted out all of the issues and proposed a variance to the City of Lawrence. However, it took over a month for an answer from the city.
“There were roughly about 15 agencies, such as utilities and parks, that had to give approval to the owners for their variance,” the current City of Lawrence planner of building 1400, Mary Miller said. “It took 21 days to get approval from all agencies and over a month to inform the owners.”
In addition to seeking approval from various agencies in Lawrence, the owners discussed their issues with businesses and home owners around the property.
“There was no opposition from anybody regarding our variance,” one of the property owners, Zarif Haque said. “We developed something that has utility and a nice look to it.”
On March 1, 2007, the property owners were granted the variance they needed to come one step closer to business. The variance grants the owners to go ahead and barricade the sixth street exit on the property and put in their drive thru lane. While the variance gives the owners hope and relief regarding their business future at 6th and Michigan, there still lies a challenge in the future.
“We took a step in the right direction but it’s a work in progress,” Campbell said. “We don’t have a building permit yet because of a series of ordinances we still have yet to meet and work out.”
Campbell believes there is no way to predict when construction on the location would begin, as it all depends on when the building permit is granted to his clients.
“I don’t have an exact date on when construction would begin because we don’t have the permit yet, but I believe my client hopes to start by fall of 2007.”
A lot of planning and work is being done in hopes of having a successful restaurant in the current vacant building. Changes are being made that look to make the property a successful restaurant in the future, but there are still those who doubt any change will do the property any good.
“I don’t think it will work,” a home owner whose house is located directly to the east of building 1400, Jo Barnes said. “I’ve been here 50 years and seen a lot of establishments come in and out of this location.”

Standing before the Lawrence School Board, Tonganoxie resident Alan Theno stood tall and looked strong behind the microphone as he addressed the members. The middle aged, light haired man’s speech was timid and hesitant, even though this was not the first time he has had to share his horrendous story about his son, Dylan.

Over a period of four years, Alan and his wife Cheryl watched their son’s confidence and self-esteem plummet because of constant bullying and harassment at Tonganoxie High School. He told the board Dylan left school his junior year and the family filed a federal lawsuit claiming the school district denied him the right to equal educational access under Title IX. Dylan was left scarred mentally.

“Our once happy son turned withdrawn and angry,” Alan Theno said.

Theno spoke at the Feb. 26 board meeting to offer his family’s story to support the Lawrence Board of Education’s decision to update its existing harassment policy. The board will soon add the words "bullying, cyberbullying and hazing” to the policy.

In the three years after the Thenos filed their lawsuit, bullying has evolved significantly and is more sophisticated. It is now possible to bully someone even without a face-to-face confrontation. Because of the Internet, students now have the unique
chance to bully anonymously through programs like AOL Instant Messenger, Myspace.com or even by a cell phone text message.

In a 2006 report, two university researchers define this new form of bullying called “cyberbullying” as the “willful and repeated harm inflicted through the medium of electronic text." The report by Justin Patchin of The University of Wisconsin and Sameer Hinduja of Florida Atlantic University surveyed 1,400 adolescents. It concluded that more than one-third had been victims of some form of cyberbullying.

The Lawrence Board of Education adding cyberbullying to its harassment policy allows Lawrence schools to discipline students for actions even taken off school grounds. “It may not be on our [computer] equipment or our time, but it does affect us if students come to school upset,” Dr. Karen Vespestad, Director of Grants, Board Services and Strategic Planning for Lawrence public schools said.

Nancy Willard, the executive director of the Oregon based Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use says that schools also need to be aware of the flip side of
cyberbullying. There is a possibility that a student cyberbullying could be the victim of a bully in school. “Cyberbullying may be a continuation of in-school bullying or may be in retaliation for in-school bullying,” she said.

Even with the Lawrence School Board doing its part in curtailing cyberbullying, Vespestad says that it comes down to parents teaching their children prevention at home.

As a 2002 article in the Journal of School Violence explains parents must talk more than just once with their children about cybersafety. “There appears to be a paucity of ongoing communication, leaving parents generally unaware of the online behaviors of their children,” the report said.

For the Thenos however, prevention only went so far. The family tried more than 40 times to get authorities at various levels of government to do something about the bullying of their son. They talked with authorities from the school district up to the Governor’s office but to little avail.

The family finally was recognized last August when the Tonganoxie school district was ordered to pay them $440,000 after the Thenos won their lawsuit.

“It wasn’t about the money, it was about getting justice for Dylan,” Alan Theno said.

Moldy walls, backed up drains and a broken heating system are just a few of the problems Rebecca Palmer has encountered in three years of renting a house just south of campus on Emerald Drive.

“A lot of stuff was wrong with the house before we moved in,” Palmer said. “It was supposed to be fixed shortly after we moved in, but never was.”

Despite the disrepair, Palmer and her three roommates are satisfied with the house because of its convenient location and low cost. She said a professional inspection of the property might prompt their landlord to make improvements and could have alerted them to problems ahead of time.

“A lot of students are moving into their own places for the first time, so they don't know what to look out for,” Palmer said.

Students scouting out off-campus living arrangements for next year may soon be getting a little help from the city in making sure their places are up to par.

The Lawrence Association of Neighborhoods (LAN) is proposing that the city expand its rental registration program to include multi-family units like apartment complexes, duplexes and student-rented homes. Landlords would pay an annual $25 fee per rental to have the inside of each rental inspected for neglect and safety hazards every three years.

“Many times the property is not livable, but the landlords still rent at an exorbitant rent,” said LAN president Gwen Klingenberg. “The price of rental property in the community is above the average scale. Renting sub-standard housing at all let alone at unacceptable rents should be a concern to all students.”

Klingenberg said landlords’ charging high rent for low-quality housing is a problem throughout Lawrence, but that it is most apparent in areas near campus like the Oread neighborhood. Located just east of campus, homes in Oread can be rented to students at high prices and without proper upkeep because of the properties’ location.

Lawrence has had rental registration for all single-family units since February 2002. A single-family unit is a detached dwelling in an area zoned for no more than 11 living units per one acre space. Multi-family units include apartment complexes, duplexes and other housing structures in areas zoned for 12 to 32 units per acre.

“I don’t think it makes much sense to have it for single-family rentals and not multi-family,” said LAN member Candice Davis, citing a report by Neighborhood Resources Director Victor Torres. The report said about 85 to 90 percent of maintenance complaints phoned in to the department came from multi-family units.

In January, Davis sent a letter to City Manager Dave Corliss suggesting that the city expand its rental registration program to include all rental units.

“The goal of the program is to keep properties at some minimal standard and to protect tenants,” Davis said. “Just inspecting the outside of multi-family rentals isn’t enough.”

All rental units are currently inspected for external damage by the fire department and gas company. In multi-family units, responsibility then falls on the renter to report any internal disrepair to Neighborhood Resources.

Brian Jimenez, code enforcement manager for the city of Lawrence, said the city’s high number of student renters called for required internal inspections of all rental property.

“When you’re dealing with a college town, it’s a unique situation,” Jimenez said. “Typically you have a different tenant every year and people may not call us for an inspection because they’re moving on, so then it will be the next person’s problem. If it’s the right location or rent, there will still be someone to rent it.”

Jimenez said expanding the rental registration program would be a positive step for both tenants and landlords.

“We have a lot of absentee landlords in this town,” Jimenez said. “Landlords will benefit from it because it creates a system that holds every landlord to the same standards.”

Landlord James Dunn rents several of his properties to KU students, and said that forgoing some maintenance allowed him to offer his rentals at lower prices for students.

“If the rents are fixed and all other things like property tax are increased, the only thing to cut back on is maintenance,” Dunn said. “Students are willing to compromise a lot of things for cheap rent.”

Dunn said he would have to raise tenants’ rent to cover the $25 registration fee if the city commission approved multi-family rental registration. Dunn was opposed to the forced inspections because they would violate tenants’ privacy. He said the current procedure for inspecting the inside of rentals adequately protected tenants.

“It’s been working for many years now,” Dunn said. “The onus is on the resident to want the property inspected. Society has to trust that an individual can tell if there’s a problem.”

Davis said relying on a tenant to report poor maintenance was ineffective and unfair to the tenant.

“It puts the person who’s complaining in an adversarial relationship with the landlord,” Davis said. “It could affect the person’s deposit and their stay there.”

To accommodate tenants’ privacy, Davis said that inspections could be conducted before tenants moved in or after they moved out.

Lawrence’s expanded rental registration program would model the Unified Government of Wyandotte County’s rental inspection program. The county has four inspectors who manage about 16,500 properties. Single-family units are inspected every five years and multi-family units are inspected every three years. The extensiveness of inspections is based on the number of rental units per acre. Each unit is inspected if an acre has fewer than five units. If an acre has five to 10 units, 50 percent are inspected, and 25 percent of the units are inspected if more than 10 units are on one acre.

According to a report by Neighborhood Resources Director Victor Torres, Lawrence has 12,375 multi-family rental units in Lawrence. The required $25 fee for each unit would generate $309,375 to go toward 4,125 multi-family unit inspections per year. If properties are inspected 100 percent, the city would hire four inspectors, and if properties are inspected on a percentage basis like Wyandotte County, the city would hire three inspectors. Davis said that overall, the expanded rental registration program would pay for itself.

LAN hoped to have the expansion of the program on the city commission agenda by March 27, which is the last meeting of the current commission before elections on April 3.

“They can’t implement it tomorrow, but we’d like to see some agreement that this is the direction they want to go,” Davis said. “A landlord has a business, and it should be held to certain standards just like any other business.”

The city of Lawrence and the University have worked together on many ventures for over 150 years, but it has taken that long for both to consider collaborating on an artistic project.

The city commission voted Tuesday in favor of the Spencer Museum of Art’s request to put a museum-commissioned mural on the north side of the parking garage at 9th and New Hampshire streets. The museum has commissioned local artist Dave Loewenstein to create the mural in conjunction with one the museum’s fall exhibitions that will showcase the works of Topeka native Aaron Douglas, who played a major role in the Harlem Renaissance. Carolyn Chinn-Lewis, assistant director of the museum and the head of the mural committee, wants to bring attention to the reputable yet unfamiliar work of Douglas.

“We want the mural to be seen by many people and to bring attention to the city and Kansas,” Chinn-Lewis said. “That is why we would like the mural to be painted in downtown Lawrence.”

Loewenstein, who happens to be a member of the Lawrence Arts Commission as well, said he was flattered to be chosen to paint the mural. He said Douglas was one of his role models and deserved to be in the same limelight as other Harlem Renaissance virtuosos from Kansas, such as Langston Hughes and Gordon Parks. Loewenstein said the proposed work between the city and the museum was mutually beneficial because of the exposure a downtown mural could get.

“It’s exciting to see the Spencer reaching out to the community to do a project off-site,” he said. “It’s a new partnership between the University and the town and the museum and the greater arts community.”

Loewenstein said he planned to create the mural with a handpicked team, but hopes to involve KU students, area youth and Lawrence residents. He emphasized the idea of public art as a medium that everyone in the community can take part in. Loewenstein said he was looking forward to working with his team.

“Because it’s public art, I think it’s good to get other people’s ideas,” he said.

Commissioner Dennis “Boog” Highberger was a vocal proponent of the proposed mural during the meeting and was the only commissioner to comment on the museum’s request. The commissioner said he was excited for the process to begin and hoped the city and museum’s plans could come to fruition.

“I think the idea of this mural is a great one,” Highberger said. “It would be another achievement of the city and the University.”

This summer, Loewenstein will work with his team to create a design for the Douglas mural. The team gives the Lawrence Arts Commission the completed draft and commission members vote on the design, but do not get the final say. If the team's work gets accepted, the commission makes a recommendation to the city commission members, who then vote on the design.

For the first time in its history, Lawrence is applying for the All-America City Award. The City Commission has been planning in applying to the award for the last couple of years. City officials are finalizing minor details before turning in the application, which is due on March 22.

The National Civic League created the All-America City Award in 1949. Ten communities receive it every year, and it is the most prestigious civic award a city can get.

“It honors community collaboration and problem solving. It especially looks for collaboration between public, private and nonprofit sectors,” said Jonathan Douglass, management analyst for the city of Lawrence. He is one of the people responsible for completing the application.

The application includes several parts, including population data, city infrastructure and history, and a detailed section on collaborative community projects.

The winners do not receive any monetary prize, but Lawrence could reap other benefits if it wins the award.

“Communities tend to market themselves having won the award,” said Mike McGrath, senior editor for the National Civic League publications. “There is some thought that this helps economic development, tourism and things like that.”

City officials expect the award to benefit the economy, and, if Lawrence wins it, plan to market it in every way possible.

“It would bring positive attention to the community as a whole,” Douglass said. “It can be advertised on the chamber of commerce Web site, our city website, and on welcome signs.”

Local businesses are also excited about the potential economic benefits that the award would bring.

“An award like that gets picked up by different news organizations,” said Rick Marquez, director for Downtown Lawrence Incorporated, an association created to promote the interests of downtown businesses. “It peaks the interest of those outside of the community and makes them plan a little trip here. Anything like that obviously is something good.”

Filling up the application has taken a considerate amount of time and effort. The application is 17 pages long, and asks for detailed examples of how the community has fostered and encouraged collaboration amongst its different segments.

“It took quite a bit of work. We had four different city staff people working on different sections,” Douglass said.

The most detailed section in the application asked the city to highlight collaborative community projects. The city met with and interviewed dozens of people to complete it. One of the projects highlighted was the strengthening of downtown Lawrence.

The project is an ongoing effort to enhance downtown so it can continue as an important economic center, and maintain its importance as a community resource and tourist destination. Changes include the expansion of the farmers’ market, and construction of a new arts center and parking garages.

“Collaboration has been the key success in the downtown enhancement,” said David Corliss, city manager. “Because there are dozens of businesses and property owners, nothing happens without cooperation among many different partners.”

Winning the All-America City award would recognize the people responsible for the efforts of improving downtown and reward their work.

“The All-America City award would bring greater credit to our downtown,” Corliss said.

Although completing the application has been hard work, it already brought some benefits, including an increase in the visibility of community cooperation.

“It allowed people to see what others in the community were doing, and how it fit into our greater community vision,” Douglass said.

Since the year 2000, the average number of competitors has been 56 communities. Previous winners include Wichita, Kan.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Kansas City, Mo.

Carrollton, Mo., won the award in 2005 and, as a result, the city has seen some economic benefits.

“We have got new industry popping all over the place. It has rewarded in many ways economic development,” said Kathy McGinness, administrative assistant for the town of Carrollton.

Other benefits include the strengthening of community ties and an increased interest in civic responsibilities and actions.

“It makes you ooze with civic pride. It empowered the people more and it made them just so proud of their community,” McGinness said.

Winning communities tend to have several things in common, most importantly the ability for citizens, community members, business leaders and city government to come up with solution to problems.

“You don’t just have one sector of the community leading the effort,” McGrath said.

The members of the National Civic League will announce 30 finalists on April 16. They will meet in Anaheim, Calif., from June 7-9, where after individual presentations a panel of judges will select the 10 winners.

“It is a life changing thing for a community and the people in it,” said Sharon Metz, mayor of Carrollton. She may serve as a judge for this year’s competition.

Elaine Jardon has been using the same birth control for two years at a price of $8 per month. Now she has to pay almost $40 a month to get the same prescription.

The large price increase is a direct result of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.

The act that was signed December 2005 is said to reduce spending by $39 billion over the next four years. With $11.2 billion saved from Medicare and Medicaid, this savings directly affected birth control. Manufacturers are now forbidden to sell reduced birth control to university health centers.

“I’m a little upset, but I understand,” Jardon, Overland Park senior, said, “The government didn’t intentionally target college students, but it leaves a lot of people in a tough place.”

Cathy Thrasher, pharmacist in charge at Watkins Health Center, said companies such as Janssen Ortho McNeil and Organon have canceled its contracts with universities. The contracts ended in December.

“Because of the Deficit Reduction Act 2005, these manufacturers decided to no longer offer favorable pricing to university health centers across the nation,” Thrasher said.

The NuvaRing, Desogen, Cyclessa, Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo are the current birth controls effected by this change. Watkins Health Center offered NuvaRing and Desogen for $8 each. The NuvaRing is now $39.70, while Desogen is $40.

While some girls are switching to different and cheaper birth controls, Thrasher recommends looking around at every option available. Generic prescriptions are available on some, and some insurance plans may cover the cost.

“Student Health Services usually has lower prices than retail pharmacies,” Thrasher said, “Our staff would be glad to help the student decide on a primary birth control method. At the appointment, you can discuss your specific needs.”

The birth control prices went up around the nation. The American College Health Association is reportedly trying to figure out ways around the prices.

“Many of the university student health centers belong to the American College Health Association. ACHA is working to resolve this issue,” Thrasher said.

The Daily Pennsylvanian reported a letter was sent by the association’s president to all its members.

“"We are pursuing several means in which we might lessen the impact the [act] will have on your student health services," ACHA President Dorothy Kozlowski wrote in a letter to member organizations this month, “This issue will also be a priority for the ACHA Board of Directors' annual Capitol Hill visit in February 2007,” Mara Gordon reported.

The American College Health Association is not the only group advocating against the price raise. Elaine Jardon wants to start a nationwide campaign against this issue. She is concerned with girls who cannot afford birth control or who do not have insurance to help pay for it.

“I’m fortunate enough to have insurance cover it, but not everyone else is,” Jardon said, “I want to start a letter writing campaign at numerous universities and visit legislatives.”

Anyone interested in helping with funds or letter writing should contact Elaine Jardon starting in April. The funds would help cover stamps, envelopes, and other materials.

When Bethany Premis, Kansas City junior, and her boyfriend, Jeremy Henderson, won a trip to Ensenada, Mexico, from radio station Mix 93.3 for spring break, the station mentioned that they would have to get passports to re-enter the country. Not knowing how long it would take, the couple waited two weeks to start the process.

“I had never been out of the country before,” Premis said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal until we went to the post office.”

After Premis waited in line for two hours, a Lawrence post office employee told her that she would have to expedite her passport, which is a $60 extra fee (in addition to the standard $94), in order to get it before her departure on March 29.
Premis and Henderson are among the millions of travelers headed to Mexico or the Caribbean who have had to expedite their passports since January in order to get them on time for spring break.

The standard process for applying for a passport normally takes about six weeks, but recently, estimates the process is taking up to 10 weeks. Expedited passports usually arrive in two weeks, but are now taking three to four weeks to process.

Since January, the State Department has been overwhelmed by new passport requests. The now says in bold red letters, “please expect delays,” and asks travelers to call only if they have urgent concerns or need their passport within the next ten days.

In order to help locals to get their passports on time, local Congress offices and post offices are busy helping locals to fill out their forms and to get in touch with the State Department to expedite their passports.

Judy Raney, Postmaster at the Lawrence Post Office on 6th and Vermont, said that the post office has been averaging about 28 passport requests a day, and many of the requests are from students going to Mexico or the Caribbean.

“It’s constantly busy,” she said. “We always have a line.”

Kevin Albrecht, a constituent services aide for Congressman Dennis Moore, said that he has recently had about 10 passport inquiries each day. This is remarkable, he said, because he typically gets only one or two such requests a month.

The biggest problem, he said, is that many people have applied for their passports without paying the expedite fee. When they realize their passport hasn’t arrived yet, he has to contact the passport agency on their behalf in order to get it expedited. He said that about 75% of the time, he is successful.

“It all depends if we’re able to get through to the passport center and if they’re able to locate the application, which is sitting in boxes of tens of thousands of other passport applications,” Albrecht said.

The main cause of the high demand and long delay for passports is the recent Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which now requires all US citizens traveling by air from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean to present a passport in order to re-enter the country. Next year, it will also require passports for travel by land or sea from those regions.

The Homeland Security initiative, which the Departments of State and Homeland Security enacted on Jan. 23, is a response to the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations that they require all travelers to present legitimate documentation to re-enter the country.

The goal of the Homeland Security initiative, according to the Department of State Web site, is to tighten border security and to smooth the process of entry into the United States for all U.S. citizens and foreign visitors. This will create a standard process that allows the Department of Homeland Security to “quickly, reliably and accurately identify a traveler,” the Web site says.

Largely due to the initiative, passport applications for the fiscal year of 2007 are 44% higher than they were in the same period last year, according to a Congressional memo from the State Department. The State Department said it expects to issue more than 16 million passports this year, compared to 12 million in 2006.

In order to accommodate the surging demand for passports, the National Passport Center is now operating 24 hours a day and has hired 49 new passport adjudicators this month alone. In addition, next year, the State Department plans to build mega-processing center in Arkansas, which will be capable of producing ten million passports per year.

Though the rush may calm down after spring break, it will ramp up again as summer vacation season approaches, Albrecht said. But the biggest increase, he said, will be next year, when the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will require passports for land and sea travel as well.

Premis received her passport in the mail last week, though the post office told her it would take longer to process. Despite the inconvenience, she said she understood why it is important.

“I can’t complain. It’s a safety precaution we have to take now.”

Susan Peterson doesn’t look out at her window and wonder when it will happen again. She doesn’t have to.

“I just tense every time I hear brakes,” she said. “I’ve had kids in my house crying because their mother didn’t know what to do.”

Peterson has lived in her house near the intersection of 21st and Tennessee St. for more than 20 years. In that time she has seen numerous near misses, fender benders and accidents take place - some just a few feet from her house.

Visibility at the intersection has been a problem for some drivers traveling east and west. Parked vehicles on the west side of Tennessee Street have impaired drivers' vision enough to where drivers think it is safe to cross the street. Peterson recalled that in November one driver attempted to cross the intersection but didn’t make it. Instead a mother and two children were broadsided.

There were no deaths in the accident, and Peterson, like she had done many times before, became a helping hand to the accident victims. The mother suffered a broken foot and her two children were noticeably frightened. Peterson later wrote a letter to the Lawrence Traffic Safety Commission requesting a no parking zone along the west side of Tennessee Street adjacent to 21st Street.

“I’ve seen enough,” Peterson said. “I felt someone needed to do something.”

Last week on a 4-3 vote, the Traffic Safety Commission recommended the City Commission to establish a no parking zone 115 feet north and 115 feet south of the intersection.

Traffic safety commissioner Carol Bowen voted in favor of Peterson’s request. Her reasoning was because of an increase in city traffic.

“Traffic is a lot worse now than it was last year and certainly five years ago or 10 years ago,” Bowen said. “So I think the measures of anything we can do to limit people’s chances for rear-ending each other and getting injured, we need to do as a Traffic Safety Commission.”

But traffic safety commissioner Ken Miller voted against Peterson’s request, citing police reports that indicate only three crashes at the intersection in the last three years, and the need to preserve parking.

“I wanted to maintain parking spaces for people to use,” Miller said. “It wasn’t an easy decision. But I feel that three crashes in three years - and it’s not even determined if the parking situation played any role in those three crashes - I just don’t think the traffic safety data – the crash data – indicates that there is an abnormal problem there.”

But Peterson disagreed with Miller’s analysis.

“To think that this is a low accident (area) is a misnomer,” she said.

Alex Newman has lived on Tennessee Street for 47 years. If the City Commission approves the no parking request, the parking area in front of her house will no longer be available.

“I wouldn’t like it,” Newman said.

While Newman usually doesn’t park on Tennessee Street, opting to park in her garage or driveway instead, she agrees with Peterson that the intersection has been problematic over the years. But Newman thought the accidents haven’t been caused by parked cars, but rather driver error.

“I’ve been out here a lot of times and see people going either direction on 21st Street that go right through the stop sign,” she said. “So they just aren’t paying attention.”

Newman agreed that taking steps to save people from injury was a just cause but felt the inconvenience of having friends and family not being able to park in front of her house would be troublesome because they would have to park further down Tennessee Street or on another block.

Peterson wouldn’t speculate on what the chances are that her request will be approved by the City Commission when they meet in a few weeks, but she realizes both points of view have valid reasoning.

“I can understand both ways,” she said.

Peterson did not attend last week’s meeting at City Hall and doesn’t plan on attending the City Commission meeting when her request goes for final approval. But no matter the outcome, Peterson is content knowing she made an effort - pass or fail.

“I would be appreciative of the fact that they took it to heart knowing that someone in the community did something to help.”