Something that finally got going late in 2000 edged out a guy who decided to stay put as the top Lawrence-area story of the year in voting by Journal-World readers and 6News viewers.
Though Roy Williams’ decision to remain head coach of the men’s Jayhawk basketball team attracted national attention this summer, readers picked the December start-up of the Lawrence Transit System as the top story of 2000.
To start rolling on an icy December morning, “The T,” as the system is known, had to overcome more than a year of legal skirmishes from competing bus equipment and service providers and scrutiny from federal transit officials. The startup of the city’s first fixed-route bus system in more than 30 years had been percolating for about 10 years.
Though ridership in the first few weeks of service has been low, officials are optimistic that the return of students and sidewalks cleared of ice and snow will help out.
Williams’ decision to stay at KU instead of returning to North Carolina was voted the No. 2 story of the year in Lawrence. With two words “I’m staying” Williams ended a week of suspense in front of a quickly gathered crowd of 16,300 people at Memorial Stadium. The crowd went wild, and Williams’ place at the head of Kansas basketball was cemented.
The No. 3 story picked by readers was the city’s abandonment of the South Lawrence Trafficway. After years of disagreement, legal and regulatory battles, the city and county threw in the towel on the South Lawrence Trafficway and started looking for other solutions to southside Lawrence traffic problems without the help of the Kansas Department of Transportation.
A development that promises to change the face of downtown was picked as the No. 4 story of the year. The Downtown 2000 project got started when ground was broken in October for the new $7.6 million Lawrence Arts Center in the 900 block of New Hampshire Street. The arts center is the anchor of Downtown 2000, a massive redevelopment project set to transform a downtown block into a retail, office, residential, cultural and parking mecca.
The Lawrence-area’s hot, dry summer was voted the No. 5 story of the year. Endless days of high temperatures above 100 degrees and weeks without raindrops took a toll on life in Lawrence. Lawns turned brown, gardens wilted and area reservoirs had to move docks to accommodate declining water levels. Utilities asked customers to conserve to avoid water and electricity shortages.
The bankruptcy of Lawrence-based Farmers Cooperative Assn. was voted the No. 6 story of 2000. With elevators in 19 locations in northeast Kansas and 1999 sales of $62.7 million, FCA is the state’s biggest agricultural cooperative. It shocked its 3,500 members and the rest of the state’s agricultural sector when it filed Sept. 27 for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
A pair of potentially deadly disasters tied for No. 7 and No. 8. The series of explosions that ripped Farmland Industries Inc.’s fertilizer plant of east of Lawrence tied with the tornado that roared through Tonganoxie in May.
At Farmland, fires and explosions at the plant rattled nearby neighborhoods, caused lengthy shutdowns and increased worry about the aging facility.
In Tonganoxie, a powerful tornado spawned multiple smaller funnels around a core funnel with winds of 100 to 115 miles per hour as it moved across the width of Leavenworth County. Gov. Bill Graves declared the county to be a state disaster area. The storm’s 75-yard-wide path scattered seeds of destruction. And, during subsequent cleanup a porch collapsed, killing a young girl.
The city’s passage of new rules regulating roommates was voted the year’s No. 9 story. After months of discussion, the Lawrence City Commission voted 4-1 in December to limit to two the number of unrelated roommates in residential neighborhoods and to require landlord registration. The move had been opposed by landlords and students. It was supported mainly by neighborhood leaders.
The continuing saga of the financially troubled Haskell Foundation was voted the No. 10 story of 2000. A year ago, Haskell Indian Nations University officials learned the foundation was more than $1 million in debt. The FBI is investigating a former director’s handling of foundation accounts and hopes for a bailout continue. Independent of HINU, the foundation is supposed to raise money for activities that fall outside the university’s federally funded budget.
