Just another explosive day at work

"Special Agent" Hogan hard at work. This picture was taken in December 2006, before my surgery, for a photostory I made for the "outgoing" personnel. Had I been killed in the bomb blast perhaps the paper could have used this picture.
A picture of my office taken last summer. The plant has since died and I was able to snag two leather chairs which were part of some seized property. I am very proud of my leather chairs. Please note the ever present Pepsi .Another view of my office on the fourth floor of Memorial Hall. Please note the following pictures which look like Memorial Hall is only three stories tall. I work in the "attic" which does not have any windows, only skylights.
I have the corner office in the attic on the left side of the building, next to the State Capital. If I had a window I would have a great view.
Another view of Memorial Hall I took last summer.
I am standing in front of the Curtis Building.

Police inspect suspicious piece of sculpture placed in front of

the fountain at the Curtis Building. Note the firefighters standing with their

hands in their pockets. Chuck used to do a lot of this type of work.

(Picture from the Topeka Capital Journal).

Bomb robot sprays foam on sculpture.

(Picture from the Topeka Capital Journal).

Picture I took from the third floor of Memorial Hall which is directly across

the street from the Curtis building.

Picture of the sculpture I took as it is being inspected by the police bomb squad robot.
Another picture I took from the third floor of Memorial Hall during the "bomb" scare.

When walking into work on Tuesday, I noticed a "sculpture" had been placed in front of the fountain at the Curtis building. The sculpture was made out of old metal parts welded together. To me, it looked like a maestro conducting the water fountain. Later that morning, an announcement was made over the intercom that our building was being locked down and everyone was to stay away from all windows. Of course, we were grateful for the announcement so we would know to go look out the windows. I took a couple of pictures which are posted below. I have included some other work pictures to show the location of my building to the "bomb' and of my personal office. I asked one of our security personnel, who are part of the Highway Patrol, if he thought it was really a bomb. He said, "I doubt it. People have been over there touching it all morning".

Suspicious 'work of art' nonhazardous
Statue disrupted traffic as police investigated
By Phil Anderson
The Capital-Journal
Published Wednesday, May 23, 2007

An unusual piece of art on Tuesday generated more concern than admiration and brought a police bomb squad to the Curtis State Office Building, 1000 S.W. Jackson.
After an investigation that lasted much of the morning, the object was deemed not to be dangerous and was removed from its location outside the building by local law enforcement officers.

Anthony S. Bush / The Capital-Journal

Traffic around the Curtis building was blocked for about 90 minutes during the investigation.
The 4-foot-tall sculpture that caused the disruption looked like a replica of an Indian with wires sticking out of it, said E.H. Pippin, of the Kansas Highway Patrol.
It is being kept in storage as law enforcement officials continue their investigation, which includes the review of video surveillance tapes of the Capitol Area Complex.
"We still do not know who brought the work of art to the Curtis State Office Building," Lt. John Eichkorn, spokesman for the Kansas Highway Patrol, said Tuesday evening. "We are continuing to look into why it was here and who brought it here."
Until it was ruled not to be hazardous late Tuesday morning, law enforcement treated the object as if it could be an explosive.
"When we didn't know what it was," Eichkorn said, "we had to treat it as something that could hurt someone because of the unusual nature of the artwork and its location."
Eichkorn said artwork can't be displayed on state property without prior permission. No such permission had been granted for the artwork that was found outside the Curtis building.
Eichkorn said workers arriving at the Curtis building at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday reported seeing the suspicious sculpture.
Capitol Police officers responded to the scene at about 8:30 a.m. and checked on the statue, which was found near a water fountain outside the building near S.W. 10th and Jackson.
The Topeka Police Department's bomb squad was summoned.
Police officers, with dogs trained to detect bombs, approached the sculpture. Officers decided it was a job for the bomb squad's robot and technical experts, said police Lt. Mike Haugen.
The robot moved in as experts examined the sculpture through cameras on the robot.
As a further precaution, police blocked off traffic around the Curtis building beginning at about 9:45 a.m.
By 11:15 a.m., police were allowing traffic along S.W. 10th on the north side of the building.
Joe Blubaugh, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, which has offices in the Curtis building, said state employees didn't have to evacuate but were told to stay away from the windows.
"We got the all clear by e-mail at about 11:30 a.m.," Blubaugh said.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Capitol Police at (785) 296-3420.
Capital-Journal staff writer Michael Hooper contributed to this report.
Phil Anderson can be reached at (785) 295-1195 or phil.anderson@cjonline.com.