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Thursday, May 28, 2020 | 3A LAWRENCE J OURNAL-WORLD LAWRENCE • REGION 785-865-0856 4930 Legends Dr., Lawrence 785-842-2922 903 N 2nd St, Lawrence We work with our clients to achieve their goals, not ours. DIVORCE AND CUSTODY • FAMILY LAW NONTRADITIONAL FAMILIES • ADOPTIONS PREMARITAL AND COHABITATION AGREEMENT ESTATE PLANNING • WILLS AND TRUSTS GUARDIANSHIPS/CONSERVATORSHIPS SMALL BUSINESS LAW • APPELLATE PRACTICE If you have questions about any of these topics, or need advice on some other issue, please contact us to set up a consultation appointment. We can help. 1040 New Hampshire Street, Lawrence 785-842-0777 • www.davidbrownlaw.com “It was a huge success, our largest ‘pop-up sale ever! Friends of Lawrence Public Library board member and pop-up sale chair. For help with your next event, Call Emily Today! 785.832.7142 [email protected] We all thank you for your part in helping to make this possible” LAWRENCE MARKETPLACE See Your Ad Here For As Little As $35 Per Week 785-832-2222 - classifi[email protected] + Local offers + Local Services + Local Businesses Counties mull their approaches to virus restrictions LIBERTY, MO. — Kan- sas counties had various reactions on Wednesday to Gov. Laura Kelly’s de- cision to give them the authority to determine their own coronavirus re- strictions, with some de- ciding to keep the current rules in place and others effectively allowing most activities to resume. Dr. Lee Norman, secre- tary of the Kansas Depart- ment of Health and Envi- ronment, urged counties to continue following Kelly’s March plans for a phased reopening of the state’s economy, saying it remains “the plan that will provide the safest way forward.” Wyandotte, Douglas, Lyon and Coffey coun- ties issued news releases saying they would contin- ue to stick to the gover- nor’s plan, while Johnson, Reno, Sedgwick and Ford counties said restrictions on the size of gatherings and how businesses can operate would now be only guidelines. Norman said he worked with county health offi- cials to persuade county leaders to continue fol- lowing the guidelines. He acknowledged situations are different in various counties, and said the next several weeks will be “uncharted, experi- mental waters.” “It will show us how the reopening efforts have impacted the dis- ease spread” he said. Despite easing the re- strictions, Johnson Coun- ty health officials said in a news release that resi- dents and businesses in the state’s most populous county should continue to follow the safety guid- ance from Kelly’s reopen- ing plan. “It is crucial that we all continue to practice physical distancing, wear barrier masks where we cannot maintain so- cial distancing, practice good hygiene and make decisions that protect the health of the communi- ty,” said Dr. John LeMas- ter, the county’s public health officer. Ford County, which has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases with 1,628, also chose to drop the state restrictions but will allow cities within the county to impose tighter restrictions if they wish. A team of depart- ment heads will work to- gether to deal with the vi- rus’ impact in the county. “Now that we have clear direction from the county, we will be mov- ing forward,” County Ad- ministrator J.D. Gilbert said. “We’re happy to have local control back.” Sedgwick County com- missioners also voted not to impose any restrictions By Margaret Stafford Associated Press AP File Photo IN THIS MAY 15 FILE PHOTO, the public pool in Mission is lifeless as plans remain in place to keep the pool closed for the summer to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. > VIRUS, 8A KU CFO to retire at end of calendar year, school says Diane Goddard, the chief financial officer at the University of Kansas and a university employee of nearly four decades, will retire at the end of the 2020 calendar year, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod announced Wednesday. During her tenure as KU’s top finance official, Goddard was responsible for spearheading efforts to redevelop the university’s Central District and for the creation of the univer- sity’s Changing for Excel- lence initiative on admin- istrative efficiency, which generated $51 million in cost savings, new revenue and cost avoidance, Girod said. “We have benefited im- measurably not only from her expertise, but also from her compassion, her unflappable calm in the face of crisis, and her love for this place,” he said in a written message to cam- pus. “She has been the consummate professional, a true colleague, and a Jay- hawk to the core.” The announcement of Goddard’s retirement comes less than a week af- ter KU revealed it will face a budget shortfall of at least $120 million in the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Goddard, though, has agreed to stay avail- able to lend advice as KU works to manage the finan- cial crisis, Girod said. “I suspect she may re- gret that when she learns how willing I am to keep calling her for advice,” he wrote. The search for God- dard’s replacement will begin shortly, with the goal of finding a succes- sor by the start of the fall semester. Girod said KU would use an outside con- sulting firm, rpk GROUP, to lead the search process, which Goddard will be part of. The firm will also evaluate Goddard’s posi- tion as it’s currently con- structed to see whether the job description needs to be altered as the univer- sity moves forward in the COVID-19 era. “While Diane’s depar- ture will be a loss for KU, I am delighted for her to begin the next chapter of her life,” Girod said. “No- body is more deserving of a happy and healthy re- tirement than she, and it makes me smile to know she will soon have plenty of time to spend with her husband, three daughters and two grandchildren.” By Conner Mitchell [email protected] Goddard County Commissioners could hold in-person meeting in June The Douglas County Com- mission could hold its meetings in person next month. During the commission’s meeting on Wednesday, which was held on an online confer- ence call, County Administra- tor Sarah Plinsky told the com- missioners she recommended they resume in-person meet- ings after the third phase of Gov. Laura Kelly’s reopening plan concludes. According to the plan posted on the state’s coronavirus website, that would be after June 22, when the state stops restricting the size of gatherings. Plinsky told the Journal-World after the meeting that means the commissioners could begin holding in-person meetings as early as June 24, its earliest meet- ing after June 22. The commis- sion began holding its meetings online in March as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. The commissioners all said they supported the plan. “That works for me if every- thing goes as planned and ... we don’t see any spikes (in coro- navirus cases),” said Commis- sioner Michelle Derusseau. In other business, the com- missioners approved award- ing a construction contract to MegaKC Corporation worth about $152,000 to repair a drainage structure for Lakev- iew Lake in northern Douglas County. They also approved a revision to Lone Star Lake’s regulations in preparation for the county in June to install an ADA-accessible fishing dock along the north shore of the lake’s east arm, which is also known as the “swimming arm.” Prior to the meeting, fishing was prohibited in the swim- ming arm between May 1 and Sept. 15, according to a memo to the commissioners. The amended regulations now al- low for fishing in the swimming arm during that time, but only from the planned dock. Both items were included in the meeting’s consent agenda, which allowed the commission- ers to approve several items in one motion. By Dylan Lysen [email protected] Plinsky ‘‘ That works for me if everything goes as planned and ... we don’t see any spikes (in coronavirus cases).” — County Commissioner Michelle Derusseau Kansas among states not providing virus patients’ data to 1st responders NASHVILLE, TENN. — Tennes- see will soon stop providing the names and addresses of COV- ID-19 patients to first respond- ers, after initially arguing that doing so would protect those on the front line. Gov. Bill Lee’s administra- tion decided on the change this week, conceding that the data may have created a false sense of security to those responding to emergency calls. The data sharing will stop at the end of the month. The announcement follows an Associated Press review that found public officials in at least two-thirds of states are sharing the addresses of people who tested positive with first responders. A small handful of those states, including Tennes- see at the time, also shared the patients’ names. Supporters argue that the information is vital to helping them take extra precautions to avoid contracting and spread- ing the coronavirus. Yet civil liberty and community activists have expressed repeated con- cerns of potential profiling in African American and Hispanic communities that already have an uneasy relationship with law enforcement. By Kimberlee Kruesi Associated Press Group files suit to keep Medicaid expansion off Missouri ballots JEFFERSON CITY, MO. — Conservative advo- cacy group United for Missouri on Wednesday announced it’s suing to take a proposal to expand Medicaid health care eligibility to thousands more low-income adults off the Aug. 4 ballot. The limited-govern- ment group’s lawsuit against the Secretary of State’s office claims the proposal would expand the government health in- surance program without coming up with a funding source to pay for that. “The costs to cover Medicaid expansion will come directly off the top of the budget without any regard to available funds and the legislature will have absolutely no dis- cretion over this spend- ing,” United for Missouri senior adviser Ryan John- son said in a statement. The director of Ameri- cans for Prosperity-Mis- souri announced Tuesday that he has filed a similar lawsuit. Missouri’s Medicaid program currently does not cover most adults without children, and it’s income eligibility thresh- old for parents is one of the lowest in the nation at about one-fifth of the poverty level. The ballot proposal would expand eligibility under the terms of the 2010 federal health care law signed by President Barack Obama. That law provides a higher-than- usual federal funding share for states that ex- pand Medicaid coverage to adults earning up to 138% of the federal pover- ty level, about $17,600 for an individual or $30,000 for a family of three. The spokesman for Healthcare for Missouri on Wednesday said the Medicaid expansion cam- paign will “aggressively” intervene to fight the lawsuits. “Filing frivolous lawsuits to prevent By Summer Ballentine Associated Press > MEDICAID, 8A > DATA, 7A
