WWW.KANSAS.

COM/NEWS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2008 „ THE WICHITA EAGLE 3A

SNOW of attacking it,” Hein said.

From Page 1A
with winter’s first storm every
year, “Yesterday, it just never
let up,” he said. “æ.æ.æ. I don’t
understand it.”
Even after snow and strong
winds had hammered Wichita
most of the day, he said,
motorists were flying along
the turnpike as if it were a dry
summer day.
One motorist on the turn-
pike was clocked at 80 miles
an hour through the snow-
storm, Baughman said, and
another at 75.
The highway patrol docu-
mented 66 accidents involving
injuries or significant damage
on Tuesday in and south of
the Wichita area, Baughman
said.
There were countless other
accidents not added to that
total because no injuries
occurred, he said.
In Sedgwick County,
516 accidents were reported
from midnight Monday to
midnight Tuesday, said Diane
Gage, director of Sedgwick
County emergency communi-
cations.
“That’s a lot,” Gage said,
noting that the same 24-hour
A Wichita city worker spreads salt on sidewalks downtown on Tuesday. The area got less
than 2 inches of snow, but gusty winds kept reglazing pavement that had just been treated.
period on Monday saw 79
accidents.
Another 83 accidents were
reported in Sedgwick County
from midnight Tuesday to
shortly after 11 a.m.
Wednesday, she said.
KDOT crews treated the
roadways with a mix of salt
and sand and even sprayed a
Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle
light salt brine to speed the
melting process, Hein said.
But the winds kept refreezing
roads.
“There wasn’t a better way
Pat Pruitt, street mainte-
nance supervisor for the
city of Wichita, said he felt
good about how the city’s
crews responded to storm,
but he echoed Hein’s frustra-
tion.
“There’s only so much you
can do,” Pruitt said.
Plows and sand trucks
continued to address remain-
ing problem areas on
Wednesday.
Two people died in storm-
related accidents around
the state Tuesday — an
84-year-old Moran man in
Topeka and a 56-year-old
Prairie Village man near El
Dorado.
One serious injury was
reported in Wichita. A 38-
year-old Wichita woman was
paralyzed from the chest
down after her Blazer skidded
off I-235 at 25th Street
North and flipped onto its
side.
Gage said the low number of
serious injuries likely means
people were wearing their seat
belts.
“Over the years, we have
seen so many rollovers that
have been really tragic,” she
said. “It appears that people
were aware enough of the
conditions at least to have
taken some precautions to
survive an accident if they
had one.”
Two KDOT trucks were hit
and damaged by other vehicles
in the storm, Hein said, and
Baughman said more than one
trooper was nearly struck by
vehicles while they were
working accidents.
Troopers began parking a
second patrol car near the first
marked unit on the scene to
provide some protection,
Baughman said, but traffic
was regularly ignoring the
flashing lights.
“People were just flat run-
ning into everything you could
find — guard rails, light
poles . . . there were people
sliding off ramps,” he said.
“There were wrecks sitting
in the middle of the roadway
and people driving right into
them.”
Tuesday ranks among the
worst examples of winter
weather driving he has seen in
his 21 years as a state trooper,
Baughman said.
“I hope that what they saw
yesterday means they’ll pass
the next test,” he said.
Contributing: Associated Press
Reach Stan Finger at 316-268-6437
or sfinger@wichitaeagle.com.

ALEX ABOUT THIS SERIES

From Page 1A
thought Bush had sent her
brother to his death.
Karen tried reason. “You
really should go.”
Gloria finally agreed. “I’ll
never get a chance to do
something like this ever
again.” But the “something”
she had in mind had nothing
to do with the novelty of
meeting a world leader.
Bob looked at her now.
“You can say anything you
want,” he said.
“But you have to be polite,”
Karen said. “You can’t say any-
thing mean.”
“Well,” Gloria said. “I guess I
can promise you that I don’t
want to say anything that will
put me in Guantanamo.”
Bob smiled.
Karen’s cell phone rang. It
was a woman from Boeing.
“She says there’s been a
change of plan, and that they
will take us to some airplane
to meet him instead,” Karen
Events described in
these stories were drawn
from interviews conducted
over an 18-month period
with the story subjects or
from documents provided
by the story subjects, or
were witnessed by the
reporter.
In most cases where
dialogue is used, the majori- thought. Then she saw Bush
ty of the subjects inter-
viewed agree on the words
that were spoken. The
exception is Sen. Pat
Roberts’ conversation with
President George W. Bush
on Air Force One. That sec-
tion was reconstructed
based on the recollections
of Roberts, a former journal-
ist.
TALK TO US
The Eagle wants to know
what you think about these
stories. Reach Roy Wenzl at
rwenzl@wichitaeagle.com or
316-268-6219.
to stop them, we have to stop
them over there and keep
them from coming over here,
Bush said. We need to be over
there because Iraq needs
to get a stable and democratic
form of government going
over there. The form of gov-
ernment they end up with is
very important to us.
Karen, who liked Bush, was
not impressed. It’s the same
stuff you hear on the news, she
watching Gloria with a look of
bemusement. The girl was
taking a blank sheet of paper
out of a pocket and folding it
into quarters. She took out a
pen.
So Gloria, Bush said in a
quiet tone. Tell me about your
brother.
“He was a troublemaker,”
Gloria said.
A silence followed; Bush
seemed to be caught off
guard. He smiled, chuckled,
and looked at Bob as Gloria
looked at Bush with a steady
gaze.
“Alex had had a few prob-
lems and had gotten into a lit-
tle trouble like a lot of guys
Bush leaned back, listening.
“Karen and I support you,
and we support what you are
doing in Iraqæ.æ.æ. although, I
should tell you, our daughter
Gloria does not.”
Bush looked at Gloria and
nodded. Well, OKæ.æ.æ. but she’s
entitled to her opinion, Bush
said.
He looked at Gloria and
started to say more, but Bob
interrupted. Bush sat back, lis-
tening.
“This is what I wanted to
say,” Bob said: “When my dad
came back from World War II,
he had been shot three times,
and he had had some psycho-
logical problems, but he was
honored when he came back
and he felt like the sacrifice he
had made had been worth
something. But then when my
brother came home from
Vietnam, it wasn’t like that at
all.
“When my son was killed,
.
SPECIAL HOLIDAY HOURS! SHOP TODAY 10 A.M. - 9:30 P.M.
he came back, and he was
honored at his funeral. But I
began to resign myself to the
idea that his life had meant
something to us and to his
buddies . . . but I felt like his
death meant nothing in the
war on terrorism.”
“But then after we went
to my son’s memorial service
at Fort Carson, and I met sev-
eral other wounded
soldiersæ.æ.æ. as if his death
wasn’t enough, there were
these guys out there, maimed
and hurt, and this upset me
nearly as much as Alex’s
death.
“So I decided to come talk
to you . . . and tell youæ.æ.æ.
that when you get down and
discouragedæ.æ.æ. when you get
down about this, I want you
to think of my son, and those
guys. And I want you to reach
down deep and discover and
do what needs to be done in
this war, so that those guys,
20 or 30 years from now,
will be able to look back and
think that everything they
had gone through and
sacrificed, that it was WORTH
it.”
Bob paused for a moment,
startled at how it had all come
out. He was lecturing the
president of the United
States.
Bush listened. Bob won-
dered: Have I gone too far?
“We support you,” Bob said.
“And we are here to encour-
age you.”
This surprised Bush.
Well, wait a minute, Bush
said. I should be encouraging
you, and here you are encour-
aging me.
He peered at Bob.
You don’t sound bitter, the
president said. Are you?
Coming Friday: Gloria asks
the president a few questions.

said, puzzled.
“What airplane, I wonder?”
Gloria grinned.
“Air Force One,” she said.
„ „ „
The van took them around a
corner, and Bob caught his
breath again. There was
Air Force One, “looking huge
and blue and magnificent,”
a
that age do,” Bob said. “He got
Hilt looked. “No,” he said. into the military for the same
A Secret Service agent said reasons a lot of other guys do.
the president had arrived out- But then in the Army Alex had
side. He told Hilt, politely, to begun to grow and mature,
get out. had been promoted to
And then it was time. sergeant in only three years in
„ „ „

Bush bounded up the air-

as Bob said later, gleaming
plane’s steps and came into
the army, and at the age of
only 21.”
Bush nodded. He turned to
Gloria again.
What are you, 16, right?
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his office quickly, as though “Eighteen,” she corrected

in the clear midday sunlight.
They pulled up to the nose.
Bob’s pulse beat faster. They
got out, and five black-jacket- them about the head cold.
ed Secret Service agents told
them in crisp, polite tones
that they had to run wands
over them, checking for
weapons. Karen, worried,
told them she was carrying
metal.
“It’s my son’s dog tags,” she
said. The agents allowed
them.
They turned to the steps.
“My God,” Bob thought.
“This is really going to hap-
pen.”
What happened next
seemed surreal. Air Force
One’s chief steward gave them desk, “Laura’s chair,” the stew-
a tour of the plane, including
the president’s private office;
they all got to sit in Bush’s
desk chair.
Air Force officers on board,
seeing Hilt’s Army uniform,
looked him up and down and
asked “Are you lost?” Hilt
opened a drawer in Bush’s
desk, and found a humidor
with a half-smoked presiden-
tial cigar.
“Is it Cuban?” Bob asked.
still bounding. Bob was star-
tled to see that Bush looked
exhausted; Bush did not tell
Bob, a longtime salesman,
noticed Bush shook hands
straight up and down. Some
men rudely turn the other
man’s hand palm-up. Not
Bush.
“Mr. President, I’m Bob
Funcheon.”
Bush let go of Bob’s hand,
shook Karen’s and kissed her
on the cheek; then shook
hands with Gloria and kissed
her on the cheek. He
motioned them to the couch;
he sat down not at the desk
but in the chair in front of the
ard had called it. Bush’s left
knee was inches from Gloria’s
knees as she sat facing him.
Bush leaned forward, elbows
on knees; Gloria thought that
if she did the same, the two
of them would touch fore-
heads.
I’m sorry for the loss of your for days.
son, Bush said. And this is
the reason I sent him over
there:
I sent him because we have
3 DAYS ONLY!
him.
Where do you go to school?
“I’m enrolling in Kansas
State University.”
Good school, Bush said.
“I also got accepted into
American University in THURSDAY – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 – 13
Washington,” Gloria said, an
edge to her voice. “But I’m
going to KSU.”
Bush glanced at her parents,
and appeared to sense (cor-
rectly) that American
University was where Gloria
had wanted to go, and that
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for K-State.
Nah, Bush said. Kansas State
is a better school.
Everyone smiled.
DIAMONDS • GEMSTONES
What do you want to major
in? CULTURED PEARLS
“History.”
Really! I majored in history
too. (Bush received a degree 14K GOLD • SELECT WATCHES
in history at Yale in 1968.)
He smiled.
Bob interrupted, and began
reciting what he’d rehearsed
“Mr. President, we came to
see you here because there are
a couple of things I wanted to
say to you.”

BEATINGS be released because they pose

From Page 1A
The woman was not as seri-
ously injured as her boyfriend.
At the 17-year-olds’ deten-
tion hearings in juvenile court
Wednesday, District Judge
Kimberly Vines cited the seri-
ousness of the charges and
ordered that they remain in
juvenile detention pending a
future hearing.
The Eagle is not naming the
students because they have
not been charged as adults.
They appeared in court
separately, wearing handcuffs
and escorted by a security
officer.
Paschal, the prosecutor,
argued that the two should not
a danger to themselves and
others and could flee. He said
they are accused of a “home
invasion that was carried out
in a willful, premeditated and
very violent manner.”
One defendant’s attorney,
Ronald Sickmann, said his
client did not pose a risk and
has never been in trouble.
Sickmann handed Vines letters
vouching for the 17-year-old.
The letters, which the judge
did not share in detail, includ-
ed comments from a coach, a
North High administrator, a
pastor and the defendant’s
mother.
Sickmann asked that his
client be released on house
arrest or under bond.
When Vines asked the young
man whether he had some-
thing to say, he responded in a
soft voice, “I feel like I’m a
pretty good kid. I really don’t
feel comfortable here.”
He appeared to be on the
verge of tears as his parents
hugged him before an officer
led him away.
The other defendant’s attor-
ney, Laurie Kahrs, also argued 60+20% OFF CLEARANCE FINE JEWELRY
that he should be released,
saying he had “absolutely no NO INTEREST FOR 12 MONTHS ON FINE JEWELRY PURCHASES OF $499 OR MORE
criminal history,” that he regu- When you use your Dillard’s Card and request the Club Option Plan. Minimum payments required.
larly attends North High, Under the Club Option Plan, there will be no Finance Charge on your qualifying purchases for 12 months if every
where he is an athlete, works a month you pay at least (1) your Club Option Interest Free payment equal to the greater of (i) $40, (ii) the Club Option
Plan balance times 1/12th, rounded to the next highest dollar, or (iii) your previous month's Club Option Interest Free
part-time job and attends a payment; plus (2) any payment due on any other plans or balances and any past due amounts. Otherwise, standard
church. terms apply. For the Dillard's Credit Card, as of November1,2008, the variable standard APR is 22.15% and the
The two 17-year-olds now variable delinquency APR is 25.99%. For Dillard's American Express, the APR is assigned to each account when opened
face a hearing to decide and as of November 1, 2008, the variable APRs are: 14.99%, 16.99%, 18.99% or 20.99%; the variable delinquency
APR is 25.99%. The minimum finance charge for both cards is $1.00. Subject to credit approval.
whether they will be tried as
adults.
Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 For Your Convenience We Accept Your Dillard’s, Visa, MasterCard, American Express,
or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com. Discover, Carte Blanche, Or Diner’s Club Card.