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Kelly Bradley never blinked an eye when it came to competition between Lawrence apartments.  As the manager of Legends Place Apartments, she was confident in the product they sold.  Her mind changed in early January 2009 when competition boomed right across the street.

            Not one, but two new apartment complexes are being built on West 24th Place.  Both The Grove and Remington Square are right next door to Legends Place, and are introducing some new competition to the area.  Bradley's initial reaction was far from positive.

            "I was truly shocked when I first found out," Bradley said. "I was surprised the city approved two new apartment complexes in an already overbuilt industry."

            The City of Lawrence issued eight new permits for apartments as of January 15, 2009, according to its Web site.  The Grove and Remington Square are two of the eight approved to build. 

            All three of these apartment complexes are doing their best to compete and come out on top.

            Bradley says that even though Legends Place was built in 2003, it still is an attractive living space for students.

            "Our shuttle to campus truly sets us apart," Bradley said. "That and renovations being done to the pool and exercise room help us out."

Photo of Legends Place taken by Kelly Bradley

            Bradley considers The Grove her main competition.  The Grove is also aimed towards students and offers many of the same amenities that Legends Place has. 

            Stephanie Smith, the property manager for The Grove, says she is excited about the competition, and is positive nearly all 172 units will be filled by August.

            "I am not concerned at all," Smith said. "Our apartments basically sell themselves, and I am confident potential residents will be impressed."

            A lot like Legends Place, The Grove offers fully furnished apartments, a pool and tanning booth, among other amenities. 

            Bradley said she knows Legends Place will lose some current residents to The Grove because it is very similar, and new and improved.  Smith said she has seen about 15 residents of Legends Place come tour The Grove.

            Bill Howard is one of the Legends Place residents who will be living at The Grove next year.  Howard chose to switch to The Grove because he thinks it is newer and better than Legends Place.

            "I like the location, so I didn't want to move to a different part of town," Howard said. "The Grove is like the Legends on steroids.  I couldn't resist."

            Bradley and Smith both say they aren't too concerned about Remington Square.  The complex appeals to a different type of resident because it only has one bedroom apartments. 

            Shannon Myer, property manager of Remington Square, is not worried about fighting for tenants.  Myer and her competition all agree that the one bedroom apartments set Remington Square apart.

            "I feel good about the competition," Myer said. "I know we will get some of the Legends current residents who want to live on their own."

            Remington Square is aimed at both students and young professionals who are tired of having a roommate.  The complex is already doing well considering construction just started in January.

            Myer said they are 10 percent filled as of now and have 80 people on the call list to tour the newly finished model. 

            "I have no reason to worry because of the progress we have already made," Myer said.

            Both The Grove and Remington Square love the competition and are on the fast track to success. Legends Place, however, is not getting as many renewals as they hoped.

            Bradley says Legends Place is currently six percent behind where they were last year. 

            "I know we are losing residents to the new apartments," Bradley said. "But, I'm hoping our specials and promotions will help out."   

            Legends Place arranged several promotions for both current and potential residents.  It recently hosted a pool party and had a raffle to award a lucky resident free rent for one year.

Inside an apartment at Legends Place. Taken by apartmentguide.com

  The complex has also reduced its rent prices and is offering free August rent to people who sign a lease. 

 "We are trying everything we can to get people to live here next year, but it is hard with competition right next door," Bradley said.

            Jeff Griswold said he will be returning to Legends Place next year.  He was a lucky resident who won a $500 gift card to Best Buy at one of the promotional parties, and the prize is one of the reasons he's coming back

            "I love it here," Griswold said. "A lot of my friends live here and it's a great atmosphere.  The parties they host are also really fun."

            Bradley said she is lucky to have residents like Griswold who are choosing to stay at Legends Place.  She hopes more people will follow his suit and renew their leases even though the new living options are springing up nearby.

            "The competition is definitely hurting us," Bradley said. "But, I'm optimistic that more and more current residents will decide to stay here."

Kristen Keith was just like any other 18-year-old girl.  She was a bubbly, outgoing senior in high school who couldn't wait to graduate and go to college.  Keith was a track star at her high school in Southlake, Texas, and committed to the University of Oklahoma to pursue pole vaulting.  Her life was going great - until she found out she had cancer.

Keith was diagnosed with cervical cancer in June 2006. 

"The word cancer was big and scary," she said. "I felt like I had fallen victim to something that was so stupid that could have been prevented." 

Cervical cancer is a cancer that can be caused by human papillomavirus, or HPV, a sexually transmitted disease, according to Dr. Wendy Kindrik OBGYN.  This is what caused Keith's cervical cancer. 

Prevalence of HPV Infection Among Sexually Active Females Ages 14-59National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003-2004

 "I was more embarrassed than anything," Keith said. "I didn't like the fact that I was now a statistic."

 "It is very rare that patients generate cervical cancer from HPV," Kindrik said. "There are about 130 types of HPV, and only about a dozen of them can cause cervical cancer."

Keith was one of the unlucky patients whose HPV generated cervical cancer.  The next steps she had to take were telling her parents and best friend, and going through treatment. 

"It was extremely hard to tell my parents," Keith said. "This was the most difficult part of anything I had to go through."  

Keith gave her parents the least amount of information possible to keep them from worrying about her.

 "I refrained from using the words 'cancer' and 'treatment' around them because they are such harsh words," Keith said. "I felt like I was doing the right thing by protecting them from the complete truth."

Tim Keith, Kristen's dad, did not use the word cancer once when describing his daughter's condition. 

 "As a parent, you never want your kid to go through troubles," he said. "It was difficult for me because she mostly talked to her mom since it was 'girl troubles.'"

Kristen's mom, Jenny, found it difficult to discuss her daughter's cancer.  She could not talk about it because when she did, she started to cry.

 "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell them anything," Keith said.  "I knew it would be a hard pill for them to swallow, so I didn't say much."

Keith said she mostly went through the horrors of cancer alone.  She did not tell any details to even her closest friend, Wendi Ryon. 

"In the beginning, I knew the bare minimum," Ryon said. "Kristen found it hard to even confide in me.  She did not want me to worry about her, and I understand that, but as her best friend it was hard."

Keith' doctor referred her to another doctor in Oklahoma City because she was leaving for college in a month.  She would now be going through treatment on her own.  Her parents and best friend did not know about the next steps that followed.   

Surgery was the first procedure for Keith.  It was a simple outpatient surgery and the recovery time was fast.  After a two other surgeries, Keith had to go through chemotherapy. 

"I avoided chemo for so long because the side effects have such a bad reputation," Keith said. "I waited as long as I could before I had to start chemo." 

After going through three surgeries, two sessions of radiation and a round of chemotherapy shots all on her own, Keith went into severe depression.

  "I was very alone and scared," Keith said. "I was tired and emotional.  It was like having a bad case of mono and having to take care of yourself the whole time."

Keith decided she could no longer handle cancer on her own.  She started to see a psychologist to help her with the depression, and started to talk to her best friend again.

"When Kristen called me crying in the middle of the night, I knew she had hit rock bottom," Ryon said. "We talked for a couple hours that night, and I made her promise to call me whenever she needed to talk."  

Keith said these conversations were the best treatment for her, and she continued to talk to Ryon and her psychologist almost every day for the next couple of months. 

The cancer was officially in remission in May 2007.  Keith beat the disease, and the severe depression that came with it.

Kristen and Tim Keith - Taken by Jenny Keith

"I am a much stronger person because of this," Keith said. "It was rewarding to know that if I could beat cancer, then I could do so many other things."

Keith's parents still do not know the extremity of the cancer and treatments, but Keith said it was for the best. 

"I'm glad I went through those months of hell not telling my parents anything," Keith said. "It's worth saving my parents a lifetime of anguish."

Keith now attends the University of Arkansas and continues to excel at pole vaulting. Her life, she says, has done a complete 180 from the cancer days.  And, according to Ryon, so has her spirit.

 "Kristen's bubbly personality is back," Ryon said. "If you just met her now, you would have no idea what this girl has been through."

Mark Thiel is optimistic about the future of Lawrence roads. As the Assistant Public Works Director for the City of Lawrence, Thiel is an expert on potholes and how best to manage them given the amount of money available.  He is aware the city's tighter budget will affect the amount of work that can be done, but some factors such as the sales tax increase and mild winter, allow Thiel to take a deep breath.  

            "Budgets drive everything we do," Thiel said. "Reduced budgets require changes, but on a positive note, the approved general sales tax increase will enable us to perform more street maintenance."

            The city patches about 17,000 pothole locations in an average year, according to Thiel. These repairs require a lot of resources.

             "In 2008 alone we used 790 tons of asphalt patching material and about 3,320 man-hours of labor for pothole patching alone," he said.

            This process is not cheap.  In fact, in 2008, the Public Works Department spent nearly $200,000 on asphalt repair materials alone, Thiel said. 

            Lawrence residents are able to call into the city of Lawrence's pothole hotline, 832-8456.    Residents made 616 calls to the pothole line in 2008, Thiel said. The Public Works Department has a goal to correct a pothole that has been called in within two business days, he said.

            Britton Hufford, a Lawrence resident, said he called the number three or four times, and the pothole was fixed in about a week.  

             The city budget may reduce spending, but, along with the tax increase, winter weather is a key factor in pothole repairs.  A mild winter with fewer snowfall and freezes greatly reduces the severity of potholes. 

            Dr. David Mechem, assistant professor of atmospheric science at the University of Kansas, said potholes are caused by the repeated freeze-thaw cycles in the late winter and early spring.

            "During the day, water can flow into a crack in the road.  At night this water expands upon freezing, and forces the crack to become bigger and deeper," he said. "When a car rolls over these expanding cracks, the open space can't support the weight of the car, and the surface collapses.  This leaves a pothole."

How a pothole is formed

            Tom Orzulak, street division manager for Lawrence, said he noticed a reduced number of pothole problems this spring, which he attributed to a mild winter. Mechem agrees with his theory.

            Good weather does more for streets than reducing the number of potholes in city streets. It also gives crews the time they need to focus on making other street improvements and preventive repairs.

 "When we have a mild winter, we have more time to do other work like fixing heavy driven roads that may develop potholes," Orzulak said.

Lawrence tire repair businesses are also seeing less car damage from potholes this spring compared to past years.  Chad Ruder, manager of Firestone in Lawrence, says he noticed a significant decrease in customers coming in for repairs resulting from pothole damage. 

             "I have noticed potholes aren't as bad this year as past years," Ruder said.  "In previous years I have noticed more people coming in, but recently it has been about 15 to 20 customers per week bringing in cars damaged from potholes." 

              The Lawrence Public Works Department still sees a lot more money and time being spent on pothole repairs and maintenance, even with the help of a light winter and sales tax increase.   

            The city's Web site says more than 70 percent of the voters approved the 0.3 percent sales tax increase for street maintenance and improvements.  This indicates an overwhelming majority of voters felt Lawrence streets need to be rebuilt, resurfaced and repaired.

            Hufford is one of the many Lawrence citizens who did not think twice when voting yes for the sales tax increase in November 2008.  He did his research and found the money would allow the city to pay for what he felt needed serious improvement -  potholes.

            "Driving on these streets every day is a hassle," Hufford said.  "I wanted there to be a quick fix to the horrible street conditions in Lawrence.  This is why I voted to pay more in taxes for needed street improvements."

             Orzulak thinks Lawrence road conditions have taken big steps in the right direction and will continue to do so.

            "Even though we have less money to work with because of the budget cuts, regular street maintenance will be the last thing to be cut," Orzulak said.