Manhattan resident named state agency director
Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, both R-Kan., have announced that Bill R. Fuller, Manhattan, will be named state executive director of the Farm Service Agency in Kansas.
Fuller, associate director of public affairs for Kansas Farm Bureau, was nominated for the post by the two senators. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to make the formal announcement Monday.
Fuller, a 1960 graduate of Kansas State University, was an instructor at Miltonvale Rural High School between 1960 and 1968, and then owned and operated a family farm in Cloud and Ottawa counties from 1968 until 1984.
He served three terms in the Kansas House of Representatives, where he chaired the House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock, from 1978 to 1984, and then became assistant director of the Kansas Farm Bureau's public affairs division and was named associate director in 1994.
Health board to begin budget discussions
The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Board, 200 Maine, will start preliminary discussions of its 2002 budget at its meeting today, and will also discuss last year's annual report.
Before the meeting begins at 5:30 p.m., the board will honor Mark Marks, a retiring board member.
Ottawa joins appeal against utility company
Following in Baldwin's footsteps, the city of Ottawa approved filing a court appeal against a Kansas City, Kan., utility company.
The Ottawa City Commission authorized the appeal following an executive session Monday, said City Manager Scott Lambers. Baldwin and Ottawa both have the same attorney, Bob Bezek, who lives in Baldwin. The five other cities Osawatomie, Fredonia, Mulvane, Neodesha and Winfield who were initially involved in the lawsuit against the Board of Public Utilities of Kansas City, Kan., also are expected to join the appeal.
The cities will be filing the suit along with the Kansas Municipal Energy Assn., with whom they have a contract for utility services. KMEA has a contract with BPU. The group is appealing a ruling made last month by a Franklin County District Court judge who said the cities lacked enough evidence to make a case against the BPU and dismissed the case.
Ottawa museum displaying Earhart exhibit
Old Depot Museum, Ottawa, will play host to a traveling exhibit honoring Amelia Earhart for the next three weeks.
"Amelia Earhart: Taking Flight in Kansas" uses photographs, documents and newspaper articles to explore the pilot's life from childhood to her disappearance on July 2, 1937. A 55-minute video on Earhart from the PBS show "The American Experience" also will be shown as part of the exhibit, which runs through April 4.
The exhibit was produced by the Kansas State Historical Society and is part of the Kansas Interpretive Traveling Exhibits Service.
Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. There is a $3 admission fee for adults, $1 for students.
For more information, call the museum at (785) 242-1250.
Deputies respond to gunshot report
Douglas County Sheriff's officers were on the scene of a shooting incident late Tuesday night at a house in the 1900 section of East 175 Road.
At least one gunshot was thought to have been fired but no one was thought to have been hit or injured in the incident, according to preliminary reports.
Officers responded to the scene about 9 p.m. and later were talking with a possible suspect who had come out of the house. No other information was available.
Roof catches fire at future police building
Firefighters from Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical extinguished a fire about 3 p.m. Tuesday on the roof of a building at 4820 W. 15th St.
A construction crew had been working on the roof earlier in the day using a torch, Battalion Chief Dan Morrow said. Material that had been smoldering caused the fire, he said. The workers had been gone about an hour when the fire broke out.
Part of the building is being renovated for use by the Lawrence Police Department. Police Chief Ron Olin said he did not think there was any damage to that area.
A laboratory that Fire & Medical officials said belonged to Oread Inc. was located in another part of the building. Damage may have been caused inside by smoke or water, Morrow said. Damage to the roof was listed at $3,000.
Cosmosphere accepting camp registrations
The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson is now accepting registrations for its 2001 Investigate Space summer camp program for students in first through third grades.
The weeklong camp is designed to stimulate early interest in science, math and technology. Students will focus on what is involved in traveling, living and working in space through hands-on activities and interactive projects.
Dates for the 2001 Investigate Space camps are: June 4 through June 8, June 11 through June 15, June 25 through June 29 and July 16 through July 20. There are morning and afternoon sessions each week.
For more information about the summer camp, contact Beth Southern at (800) 397-0330, ext. 323, or beths@cosmo.org.
Publishing company backs phone book recycling
McLeodUSA Publishing Co., which released telephone directories in the area earlier this month, is urging area residents to recycle their old phone books.
According to the company, area recycling centers that accept old directories are as follows:
l Wal-Mart Recycling Center, 3300 Iowa, Lawrence.
l 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, Tonganoxie Recycling Center, Leavenworth Fairgrounds, Highway 16, Tonganoxie.
l 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Franklin County Recycling Center, 2038 S. Main, Ottawa.
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