Lansing Current (Newspaper) - March 29, 2007, Lansing, Kansas MEMBERS GO TO STATE SB THE THURSDAY MARCH 2007 VOLUME 13 CURRENT 25 cents KANSAS TELEPHONE 7271525 FAX 7271772 SPORTS LHS SCORES OPENING VICTORY Lansing upends Mill Valley in girls IB INSIDE Keeping Neighbors CANDIDATES RESPOND TO Council hopefuls lay out positions Editors Note The Current asked candidates for the Lansing City Council to respond to ques tions of interest prior to next weeks April 3 elec Here are their which in some cases were edited because the candidate exceeded word Wardl Dee unopposed What is the most pressing issue facing the city How do you propose taking care of it Taxes and the mill Watching spending and working to keep the mill levy low by broad ening the tax base from revenue from new busi What do you believe are the top three cap ital improvement projects needed in the city Bringing the city offices to a central Maintaining and improving the Get the prison museum up and If elected to the what will be your 1 priority and why Keeping the mill levy and taxes down to con SEE PAGE 5A School board candidates full of ideas Editors Note The Current asked candidates for the Lansing School Board to respond to ques tions of interest prior to next weeks April 3 elec Here are their which in some cases were edited because the candidate exceeded word The seven candidates are run ning for four open seats on the Brian Duncan What is the most pressing issue facing the school district How do you propose taking care of it Longterm planning for facilities and 21st Century programming for students are the most pressing issues facing We must be pre pared to grow with the city of Lansing and not behind Also the type of education we provide to our students must be cutting edge and in line with 21st Century teaching What experiences have you had that quali fy you for this position I graduated from Lansing High School in 1990 and worked as the officer for the Lansing School system for three I also SEE PACE 8A Dog trainer pleads guilty to gun charges Former volunteer now faces federal prison for LCF escape plot BY STEVE VOCKRODT KANSAS The dog trainer who helped an inmate escape from the Lansing Correctional Facility entered a guilty plea for a fed eral charge of providing a felon and fugitive with Toby pleaded guilty Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Kansas before Chief Judge John Young faces up to 10 years in federal prison and is scheduled for sentencing June Young was president of the Safe Harbor Prison Dog pro gram at the Lansing Correctional where she was a regular She helped John a 28yearold prisoner who was convicted in a 1996 escape from the prison Manard sneaked out in a dog crate loaded up in Youngs who is already serv ing a 21month sentence on state charges of aiding and abetting a prison was brought up on the federal charge because Manard came in possession of two guns that belonged to Youngs husband guns he obtained at her Kansas home ly after the Young told the court Wednesday that she hated guns and did not give Manard the handguns a and a 9mm Clock from her 1 never told anyone I gave him the Young said in Young said there were guns in the home because other members of her family are SEE PACE 3A RICHARD TOBY YOUNG who founded the Safe Harbor Prison Dogs program at Lansing Correctional pleaded guilty to fed eral weapons charges related to the 2006 prison break involving Lansing inmate John shown during a Leavenworth County District Court appearance earlier this faces sentencing on the federal charges in Prison museum planners find building funds hard to come by BY ERIN CASTANEDA The Kansas Regional Prisons Museums board of directors is having an easier time finding funding for whats going to go inside the than for the building On the boards first meeting since Mayor Kenneth Bernard told members federal funding he requested Jrom Nancy Boyda During her February visit to tansing could only support the museums After a model of the muse um is Bernard said the board may have an easier time raising David Lansing Correctional Facility said the model was expected to 6e complete in a month or fie said inmates constructing it were extremely as he Kenneth Bernard a long wood replica of the stone but they are moving right To the museum project is estimated to cost approximately The board is searching for funding through state and federal The muse um received a anony mous donation in October to add to the approximately already raised for the The museum would be built behind Lansing Historical Museum on Kansas It would house historically items from area including Lansing Correctional the Penitentiary at Leavenworth and the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort The boards most visible evi dence of progress will be the launch of a Web on April Next Project the Overland Park based consulting group that conducted a feasibility report on the will present to the City Council and the board its educational feasibility Part of the museum will offer an educational facility that the Board and Project Explores consultants hope can be tied into the states school which could allow SEE PAGE 3A Airport talk encourages county commissioners BY JOEL WALSH Leavenworth County com missioners are on board with the concept of a regional air port in Leavenworth County but continue to have ques Commissioners met Monday with city of Leavenworth officials to dis cuss an I encourage you to go ahead with this while continu ing to Where will this gq and Where do we get fund ing Commissioner Clyde Graeber But we cant turn our back on Sherman Army the only air port in Leavenworth County that serves private and com We need to continue to utilize it while going ahead with plans for an COUNCIL TO HEAR ABOUT AIRPORT Lansing City Council will meet for a work session at 7 today to hear about a regional airport Leavenworth interim city manager Robyn Stewart will brief council members on the concept during the ses sion at City 800 First In council members will get a primer on the role of the Lansing Planning Commission by Public Works director John additional Leavenworth interim city manager Robyn who cited a 1992 said a regional airport would save time and money for travelers who currently must head to Kansas City International Airport and could provide another option besides which is on Fort Stewart said Sherman Airfield has access issues because it is located in a flood She also said that Federal Aviation Administration funds are not a possibility at since it is on a mili tary whereas the FAA could fund 90 to 95 per cent of the costs for a regional A site for the potential air port has yet to be but Greg the chairman of the citys airport advisory My personal pref is that its adjacent to SEE PAGE 3A For election go to Tuesday
