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T HE T OPEKA C APITAL - J OURNAL www.cjonline.com | $2.50 MANZIEL, NOT COLLIN KLEIN, WINS HEISMAN. 1B SUNDAY | DECEMBER 9, 2012 On Monday: House member joins payroll of powerful lobbying organization. Index Advice/Crossword ..... 2C Business ............... 8, 9A Classified .................. 1D Connected ................ 6C Daily Record .............. 4C Deaths ............ 9A, 8, 9C Midway ...................... 1C Opinion ..................... 4A Police news ............... 4C Sports ....................... 1B Today ........................ 2A Contact us Questions about delivery? Call (785) 295-1133 www.cjonline.com College hoops No. 9 Kansas clobbers Colorado 90-54, and K-State slips by George Washington 65-62. Sports, Page 1B Infrastructure The Topeka City Council is considering adding funding to the city’s capital improvement budget for next year for three proposed street projects. Monday Seeing the stars A Holton observatory is raising money to expand its facility, equipment and programs. Midway, Page 1C Odd and rare The items at the Museum of the Odd range from cow hairballs to Elvis’ underwear. Connected, Page 6C Inside today Coming up But retailers don’t want construction to be hindrance Downtown plan finds support Repent, praise, sing, rejoice By Corey Jones THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL For about three hours Saturday, To- peka held the eyes, ears, hearts and souls of followers of Jesus Christ throughout the nation and world as host of a religious movement within a stone’s throw of the governor’s man- sion. Several hundred believers gathered for a celebration at MacLennan Park inside a large white tent before a sim- ple stage that would transmit music and gospel from 3 to 6 p.m. to a pro- jected 25 million to 30 million people across the globe via television and In- ternet. ReignDown USA, a worship and prayer movement, welcomed Topeka- ns and Gov. Sam Brownback with open arms and joyous spirits to pray for re- pentance, humility and unity. “It is so great to be in Kansas,” — said the Rev. Walt Kallestad, a co-creator of the movement — “the heart of Ameri- ca, the heart of the nation.” Please see PRAISE, Page 10A By Megan Hart THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL An informal poll of S. Kansas Avenue retail stores and restaurants found the majority favor a plan to upgrade aging in- frastructure and beautify the corridor, but many expressed concerns that construc- tion will drive away customers. An $8.4 million proposal to redo a four- block segment of S. Kansas Avenue will go before the Topeka City Council on Tuesday. e plan includes about $5.8 million in infrastructure work paid for by the city, $1.8 million for aesthetic im- provements paid for by businesses and $888,000 in landscaping, with a funding source for that work not yet settled. Some of the proposed changes would include narrowing the road to three lanes, adding handrails and benches, widening the sidewalk, and adding eight “pocket parks” paid for by businesses. e side- walk, widened to 24 feet, would accom- modate the parks and allow businesses 11 feet for outdoor seating or sales. Rob Briman, co-owner of Briman’s Leading Jewelers, 734 S. Kansas Ave., said he and co-owner Debbie Briman Lata are behind the project “100 percent.” “Any time a city makes an investment in the future, that’s a good thing,” he said. “It is long overdue.” Over the course of about one week, e Topeka Capital-Journal spoke to owners, managers and employees in shops and restaurants on S. Kansas Ave- nue between 6th and 10th streets, the site of the proposed upgrades. Representa- tives for Barker Printing & Copy and C & J Niknaks, two other businesses along S. Kansas Avenue, couldn’t be reached. About two-thirds of the 29 business people interviewed said they liked at least the idea of the project, though some ex- Please see DOWNTOWN, Page 10A PHOTOGRAPHS BY THAD ALLTON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Rob Briman, co-owner of Briman’s Leading Jewelers, 734 S. Kansas Ave., says he and co-owner Debbie Briman Lata are “100 percent” behind a plan to upgrade aging infrastructure and beautify the corridor on S. Kansas Avenue between 6th and 10th streets. At right, Terry McPherson, who owns Laser Art Creations, 729 1/2 S. Kansas Ave., says she is concerned of losing foot traffic while work would be done, something that could push her out of business. Christians gather under big tent near governor’s mansion Christmas Bureau bag not full By Aly Van Dyke THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL Despite working more than 40 hours a week at two jobs, Kim Cushinberry can’t af- ford to put presents for her three children un- der the Christmas tree this year. In fact, she hasn’t been able to do so for the past 17 years. Instead of waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve or outside of Best Buy on Black Friday, each year Cushinberry waits for the phone call telling her she has been adopted through United Way of Greater Topeka’s Christmas Bureau. at call tells Cushinberry that her chil- dren will have presents — toys, games, even winter clothes and blankets — to unwrap Christmas morning. ey won’t have to go without a holiday even though she barely has enough income to pay rent and buy food. “It’s hard being a single parent, and you can’t provide like you want to provide for your family,” said Cushinberry, 37. “ey provide for my family when I can’t quite make it.” But as of Friday, Cushinberry was still wait- ing for that call. She isn’t alone. As of noon Friday, 459 families — 1,593 in- dividuals — still hadn’t been adopted this year. e United Way has set Wednesday as its deadline to contact families, making it the first time in recent history a real possibility that not all of the Topeka families in need will be adopted this Christmas. “It’s rare for us to have this kind of difficul- ty,” said Tonya Bell, director of communica- tions for United Way. “But we’re extremely hopeful that we are going to take care of the families who need it.” Bell said she didn’t know what would hap- pen to any families who didn’t get adopted. “We’ve never had to deal with that,” she said. A news release from United Way pointed to two factors that seem the likely cause of the shortfall. For one, there are more individuals per household this year. For another, the country still is facing difficult financial times, the release says, meaning sponsoring agen- cies and individuals have less money and Please see CHRISTMAS, Page 7A $8.4 MILLION REVITALIZATION PROPOSAL Subsidy sought by change in policy By Tim Carpenter THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Sen. Chris Steineger banked $450,000 in federal tax breaks for renovating the defunct Lowell Elemen- tary School build- ing into apart- ments for senior citizens. While working on a similar tax- payer-financed subsidy request for $181,000, the Democrat- turned-Republi- can concluded acquisition of government sub- sidies for restora- tion of the 1898 limestone and yellow brick school in Kansas City, Kan., had been too ardu- Please see SUBSIDY, Page 7A ALY VAN DYKE/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL United Way volunteers Milly Echeverria, left, and Shavonne Holmes work to match families with people who want to buy them presents for the Adopt a Family program. VIDEO Matt Watkins, chairman of the Wyandotte County Democratic Party, discusses Republican Sen. Chris Steineger. CJOnline.com INSIDE Readers weigh in on the newspaper’s 15-part Policy Matters series. Page 7A INSIDE “It needs to be done yesterday.” That is the sentiment of some business owners when asked about remaking S. Kansas Avenue. Business, Page 8A ONLINE View video of Rob Briman and Terry McPherson discussing the proposed downtown project. CJOnline.com POLICY MATTERS 9th in a series of 15 articles. CJOnline.com/policymatters
