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T HE T OPEKA C APITAL - J OURNAL www.cjonline.com | $1.00 THURSDAY | DECEMBER 13, 2012 7 8 93258 00006 Index Advice/Crossword ..... 7B Classified .................. 9B Comics ..................... 8B Daily Record ............ 11A Deaths/Funerals ..... 11A Opinion ..................... 4A Police news ............. 10A Sports ....................... 1B Stocks ...................... 2A TV ............................. 7B Today ........................ 2A Contact us Questions about delivery? Call (785) 295-1133 www.cjonline.com Bowl bound Kansas State Wildcat football players are healing heading into the Jan. 3 Fiesta Bowl. Sports, Page 1B Promoting literacy Topeka West Rotary Club members and Topeka RoadRunner hockey players distribute dictionaries at seven local schools. Page 3A Holiday music KTWU-TV to air Washburn Holiday Vespers special; Topeka Festival Singers to perform Christmas concert. Friday in Out & About American Profile Famous people contribute their family recipes for a cookbook to benefit Meals on Wheels. Weekly magazine Inside today Coming up Please see LIQUOR, Page 8A Private sector donates $4 million By Megan Hart THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL More tax dollars will go directly to- ward bringing businesses into Tope- ka, thanks to more than $4 million in private-sector donations. e results of Go Topeka’s cam- paign to raise private-sector money were announced Wednesday eve- ning at a gathering at the Topeka Country Club. Topeka-area businesses and indi- viduals raised $4,047,905 to support the operations of Go Topeka, which attempts to attract businesses to move to the city and encourages those already here to stay and ex- pand. Go Topeka receives about $5 mil- lion annually from a portion of the city’s sales tax. e privately raised money will go toward such expenses as staff salaries and advertising To- peka to allow more of the tax dollars Please see DONATES, Page 13A Please see DOWNTOWN, Page 8A Please see ETHICS, Page 12A Informed, having a voice By Tim Hrenchir THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Topeka City Councilman Larry Wolgast considers it important to keep residents informed about the progress of a downtown revitaliza- tion project. Councilwoman Karen Hiller wants to ensure local residents continue to have a voice in how the project is carried out. Hiller and Wolgast shared those thoughts Wednesday after both voted on the winning side Tuesday evening as the council approved a $4,967,000 budget to carry out the second phase of a project to im- prove S. Kansas Avenue between 6th and 10th streets. Council members voted 6-3 to adopt the budget for the plan, which includes increasing the sidewalk widths to 24 feet on both sides of S. Kansas Avenue and re- ducing the number of traffic lanes to three. Construction is expected to oc- cur in 2014 in the 700 and 800 blocks of S. Kansas and in 2015 in the 600 and 900 blocks. Suzie Gilbert, director of com- munications and marketing for the city, said Wednesday that the city’s next step would be to put out a request for qualifications from consultants — typically engineer- ing firms — to contract with to carry out the project’s final design. “at process typically takes eight weeks for them to prepare information, city staff to review and select, negotiate a contract, and several months for them to complete the survey and design work,” Gilbert said. Wolgast said Wednesday that city manager Jim Colson and the city staff would work through the legal requirements to proceed with the project’s planning and engineering components. “I am hopeful a tentative sched- ule would be developed so the public can be aware of the pro- cess/progress and that regular up- dates would occur,” Wolgast said. Hiller expressed excitement about the project Wednesday, say- ing she already had heard from a small-business man and an artist who had seen the concept designs and were eager to get involved as donors. e artist was interested in con- tributing her artistic talents, while the business owner was interested in teaming up with other busi- nesses to fund development of a “pocket park,” Hiller said. “It is clear that there are council members, as well as members of the public, who want to contribute to the final decisions about the in- frastructure and streetscape,” Hill- er also said. “I am hopeful that the city manager will reactivate the Kansas Avenue team for input.” Hiller was referring to a citizen’s advisory group the city put togeth- er last year made up of representa- tives from downtown businesses and residents, as well as represen- tatives of each city council district. Council members want continued downtown input Please see MISSION, Page 13A By Steve Fry THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Two clerks at a Topeka liquor store, where underage youths tied to a fatal car wreck on March 19 bought beer and alcohol, have been charged with selling alcohol to minors on the day of the accident. e two, Paul Stephen Smith II, 30, and Moses Jesse Jackson, 28, are to be tried in Shawnee County District Court on Jan. 8. A district judge will hear the evi- dence, then decide the verdicts. Jackson and Smith, both of 3113 S.E. Fremont, are charged with one count each of furnishing alcohol to a minor on March 19, which is a class B misdemeanor. During the seven-day trial of Hunt- er Hillmer, 19, witnesses testified that Hillmer and a second man bought beer and rum at Murphy's liquor store, 400 S.W. 29th, on March 19. Liquor store clerks cited Charges related to sale to minors in fatal car wreck On Friday: Senator’s home for teens brings scrutiny. 13th in a series of 15 articles. CJOnline.com/policymatters POLICY MATTERS Needs for needy rise as holidays approach Donations of food, money, new clothing sought By Ann Marie Bush THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Connie and Dan Neuenswander are two of the many volunteers who are help- ing the Topeka Rescue Mission prepare gift bags and food baskets for the numer- ous Christmas needs of the community. “I feel this is a calling that was laid on my heart,” Connie Neuenswander said while preparing gift bags at the mission’s Distribution Center, 401 N.W. Norris. “We are here to serve. ere are great needs in this area.” e Neunswanders are retired educa- tors who recently moved to Topeka and are new to volunteering at the mission. e mission and its volunteers have been busy gearing up for Christmas. “We do know we are in a soft economy,” said Barry Feaker, the mission’s executive director. “Donations are down, and need is up.” For all of 2011, the mission spent about $23,000 purchasing food for giveaways. is year, the organization has spent $75,000. e number of food baskets giv- en away in 2012 totals more than in the previous four years combined, Feaker said. ere has been a “significant upswing for services” in the past four years for shel- ter and food, too, he said. e mission doesn’t want to turn any- one away during the Christmas season, Feaker said. For Christmas, the mission is seeking donations of new, unwrapped items for guests. ere is a need for women’s shirts, sizes medium and large, and for all sizes of children’s clothing, said Kay Ireland, di- rector of the Distribution Center and vol- unteers. Donations can be delivered to the Dis- tribution Center from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Donations after hours and on the weekend can be dropped off at the main shelter, 600 N. Kansas Ave. Feaker said it is helpful if people who are going to donate do so early this year. e mission also is accepting food items, such as canned vegetables, cereal, soups, macaroni and cheese, pasta and pasta sauce; hygiene products, including razors, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, foot powder and deodorant; linens; ANN MARIE BUSH/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Sara Hyman, left, an office assistant with the Topeka Rescue Mission’s Distribution Center, and Lauren Welborn, a temporary helper at the center, prepare Christmas bags. The mission is in need of donations for holiday distribution. TOPEKA RESCUE MISSION RELATED The United Way of Greater Topeka still has dozens of families not adopted for holidays. Page 2A Medical issues an ethics tightrope By Andy Marso THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, carried a bill to the Senate floor in 2011 that placed restrictions on pharmacy audits, including man- dating a minimum of seven days’ notice. Schmidt, a pharmacist, says she was only doing her job as chair- woman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and she treated the bill no differently than any other that came through her committee. But her in- volvement with the bill and others re- lated to her professional field was noted by Rep. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wich- ita. "Look at the bills she's intro- duced that deal directly with phar- maceuticals," Landwehr said. Landwehr's comments came in response to questions about her own ties to the medical industry — a long-term care insurance broker- age she and her husband own. ey highlight the balance she, Schmidt and other health commit- tee leaders like Rep. Jerry Henry and Rep. David Crum have to strike in legislating the industries in which NOV. 2012 FILE PHOTOGRAPH/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Sen. Vicki Schmidt, a pharmacist, carried a bill that involved pharmacy audits. Some legislators try to draw upon their expertise VIDEO WU’s Bob Beatty weighs in on potential ethical conflicts. CJOnline.com
