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C M Y K morningsun.net Covering Pittsburg and southeast Kansas since 1887 75 ¢ T HE M ORNING S UN thursday, february 17, 2011 WEATHER MOSTLY CLOUDY BUT WARM After patchy fog early, skies will be mostly cloudy, but high temperatures will be near 69. Lows will be around 47. | COMPLETE LOCAL AND REGIONAL FORECAST, PAGE 2A PATRICK’S PEOPLE < CHANGE FOR THE BETTER The recent resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was a good thing for her homeland, says a Pittsburg State international student from Cairo. | PAGE 7A QUICK READ DEATHS ■ Dorothy Lee Brous-Umphenour-Evans, Afton, Okla. OBITUARIES, PAGE 8A Vol. 123, No. 41 ©2011 The Morning Sun INDEX Nation/World ................ 2A State/Local ................... 3A State ........................... 4A Local ............................ 5A Opinion ......................... 6A Neighbors ..................... 7A Obituaries ..................... 8A Sports .......................... 1B Comics ......................... XX Entertainment .............. 4B Classified ...................... 6B LOCAL NEWS Westar work forces closing of Atkinson Atkinson Road will be closed from Broadway Avenue to Joplin Street from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today to allow crews from Westar Energy to perform power line maintenance. Detours will be estab- lished at 29th St. from Broadway Ave. to Joplin St. — THE MORNING SUN NATION/WORLD Borders files for Chapter 11 NEW YORK — Borders was slow to get the message as the big-box retailer lost book, music and video sales to the Internet and other competition. The result: It filed for Chapter 11 bank- ruptcy Wednesday, and will close nearly a third of its stores. | PAGE 2A Only in today’s Morning Sun: Gov. joins coalition for tanker contract A coalition of governors aiming to bring an Air Force tanker project to the United States has added a member. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback joined Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire as co-chair of the U.S. Tanker Coalition — a group of governors across the county trying to lobby the contract award to the Boeing Company. See Page 3A. FIRST IN PRINT Stronger liquor availability discussed BY MATTHEW CLARK THE MORNING SUN A Kansas Senate panel continued hearing testimony on Wednesday regarding a bill that would allow grocery and convenience stores to sell liquor and stronger beer. On Wednesday, the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee heard argu- ments from opponents of the bill that said the measure could force mom and pop liquor stores out of business. This followed testimony Tuesday from pro- ponents of the measure who claimed that rural grocery stores and conve- nience stores could create new jobs. The bill would allow more stores the ability to sell wine, liquor and “full- strength” beer beginning Jan. 1, 2012 and would phase in liquor sales at gro- cery and convenience stores by 2015. Presently, the state does allow those stores to sell “cereal malt beverages” or “weak” beer. Kansas is one of only five states that regulates sales based on brewing strength. Missouri does allow for stronger beer and wine to be sold at grocery and convenience stores. Opponents said Wednesday that the cost for the state to implement the bill could well outweigh any benefits. “We’ve tried to focus on the eco- nomic problems with the legislation,” said Spencer Duncan, spokesman for Keep Kansans in Business, a coalition of liquor stores against the measure. “It will cost the state $1.3 million to imple- ment the system. “The State of Missouri has seen addi- tional costs dealing with increased DUIs, selling to minors and things like that.” Trade associations for Kansas gro- SEK COULD SEE BENEFIT One convenience-store owner said the new law could keep local customers from crossing over into Missouri to buy iiquor. See Page 5A. Cars’ bath time WARMER WEATHER ENCOURAGES CAR WASHES BY ANDREW NASH THE MORNING SUN J erry Wagner drove his red Dodge Durango into the automatic car wash at Majestic Car Wash on Wednesday and let the machine do all the work of cleaning his car. “I think it was very necessary. I live on a country road, and not only do I have sand and stuff on my car, but whatever they treat the road with, too,” Wagner said. He wasn’t the only one, as car washes seemed to be the popular place to be on Wednesday. After the winter storms that have ravaged the area the last few weeks, many drivers took advantage of the spring-like tem- peratures to remove the dirty build-up from their vehicles. The City of Pittsburg, on the other hand, is waiting just a little bit before they can get into their brand-new heavy vehicle maintenance building. The building, which will provide bays to power-wash trucks and equipment, is not quite open. But city work crews have kept busy anyway, as the city does have outdoor cleaning stations on existing properties. That’s important for the city, especially when dealing with equipment such as salt spreaders. “Salt is like anything else,” said Bill Beasley, Pittsburg public works director. “If you allow it to sit on steel, it can cause the metal to start to rust. Especially if it’s not treated. Against bare metal, it can cause deterioration. Most of our cars are treated. Our equipment is better protected than it used to be.”’ But not everyone has access to city cleaning The automatic car wash at Majestic Car Wash in Pittsburg sprays suds on the car of Jerry Wagner, rural Weir, on Wednesday afternoon. SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN Now that snow has melted off, the washing process begins E.J. Torbett, Pittsburg, points the spray washer from Oasis Car Wash at his vehicle’s tires while getting a car wash on Wednesday afternoon. SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN County looks at new graders BY MATTHEW CLARK THE MORNING SUN GIRARD — Crawford County Commissioners may be faced with trying to replace, or rebuild a pair of its road graders. Greg Hite, supervi- sor of the county’s Road and Bridge maintenance department, said that having the machines rebuilt would be considerably cheaper than outright replacement. According to figures from Foley Equipment, it would cost the county $125,000 to rebuild one of the machines while it could cost nearly $230,000 to replace one. The two graders in question have over 12,000 hours of oper- ation and are both located in the county’s 1st District. They were both built in 1999. “This is something that we do need to look into,” said Commissioner Bob Kmiec, who represents the 1st District. “I really don’t think we can do more than one at a time.” The reconstruction of one of the graders includes complete engine and radiator replace- ment as well as rebuilding the transmission and replacing the starter, alternator, muffler, stack, and exhaust manifold. FIRST IN PRINT See COUNTY | PAGE 5A See LIQUOR | PAGE 5A See WASH | PAGE 8A Fires hit Hepler, but officials not fazed THE MORNING SUN In September, Hepler was reeling after reports of a trio of reported arsons hit the town. And although the city has been hit by at least three more fires since then, law enforce- ment officials said there is nothing to worry about. Last September, a home at 406 N. Elm, as well as another home on Elm Street and a third house on Fourth Street were the victims of arsons, caus- ing severe damage to the first home and minor damage to the latter. Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton said that although some interviews have been made, no suspect has been arrested and those fires will remain under inves- tigation. Since that time, there was a “Salt is like anything else. If you allow it to sit on steel, it can cause the metal to start to rust.” BILL BEASLEY See HEPLER | PAGE 5A Commercial Sales & Service 422 W. Atkinson Pittsburg, KS 66762 620-235-0338 HEATING & COOLING CALL THE PROFESSIONALS 620-231-1830 201 N. JOPLIN Call Today About Our Fall Clean & Check Special COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL HEATING COOLING REFRIGERATION Commercial: • Boilers • Chillers • Refrigeration • Maintenance Residential: • Maintenance • Installation • Geo-Thermal
