IN 1977

District court judge James Paddock denied a request to move the murder trial of James R. Gardner from Douglas County. The judge said he was not convinced that newspaper coverage about the Feb. 6 slaying of Margaret M. Maxey and subsequent developments prevented Gardner from receiving a fair trial on first-degree murder charges.

Lewis Kitchen’s proposal for a 120-unit apartment building for the elderly failed to win planning commission approval but was to get a later hearing before the city commission.

IN 1962

Rex Howard, a 49-year-old trucker from Nevada, Mo., was crushed to death when the semi-trailer rig he was driving plunged over the north embankment of the underpass at Sixth and Iowa streets.

Six southwest Douglas County school districts voted 139-37 to consolidate into a single unit with a central location. The six schools were Colyer, Central, Exceline, Union, Willow and Globe. County superintendent Earl Wilson said a May 11 meeting was set to elect a five-person school board for the new district.

IN 1902

On April 30, 1902, the Lawrence Journal noted reaction to the naming of Frank Strong as KU’s Chancellor. Ed Howe, an Atchison newspaper editor, objected to Strong allowing himself to be pulled around town by white robe-clad college students in a carriage. The Journal observed, “Mr. Howe characterizes the proceedings as ‘undignified’ and says Dr. Strong has no ‘spirit’ or he wouldn’t have stood for it.”