Dedication to honor female Habitat volunteers

A ceremony this weekend will honor Kansas women who helped with the Lawrence Habitat for Humanity “Women Building a Legacy” project.

The dedication, scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday at 1809 Atherton Court, will include appearances by Mayor Sue Hack, state Sen. Sandy Praeger, state Rep. Barbara Ballard and the Kansas University women’s basketball team.

An open house will follow until 11 a.m.

New homeowner Onechanh Rattanavongsy and her children also will be on hand to celebrate the end of the project that began on Mother’s Day.

About 300 women volunteered on the build, including groups from Douglas County Bank, Commerce Bank, the Douglas County Health Department and Treanor Architects.

County foundation offers fund-raising incentive

The Douglas County Community Foundation is offering a fund-raising incentive for area charities.

The incentive comes in the form of challenge grants, which will provide an extra 10 percent to qualified organizations that raise money for a new or existing endowment to support their missions and programs.

With these grants, the foundation hopes to raise the level of giving in the community and encourage long-term financial planning that promotes stability and a sense of permanence.

Interested organizations should send the foundation a letter of intent by Sept. 30. A formal application outlining fund-raising plans is required by Dec. 2.

For more information, contact Sara Corless, executive director of the foundation, at 843-8727.

Driver runs over fire hydrant

Baldwin  A truck driver who apparently had a hankering for Sonic food drove over a city fire hydrant Tuesday evening.

The accident occurred about 8 p.m. in a strip mall parking lot east of Sonic on Fourth Street and U.S. Highway 56, Baldwin Police Sgt. Colleen Larson said.

A man driving a semi tractor-trailer parked in the lot, intending to walk to Sonic to grab a bite to eat, witnesses said. As he walked across the street, he noticed rushing water and the fire hydrant tipped on its side, witnesses said. He then jumped into his truck and left.

Police hadn’t located the truck Wednesday.

Baldwin public works said the hydrant, valued at $1,500, was destroyed and that 10,000 to 12,000 gallons of water escaped. Public works crews had completed repairs by 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Sonic had to be shut down early, and Santa Fe market, the strip mall, and six homes in the area were without water until 1:30 a.m.

Investigators blame fire on leaky oil tank

McLouth  Authorities said they believed a leaky oil tank caused a Tuesday evening explosion and fire that burned until Wednesday morning.

Investigators said a heater beneath one of the three tanks that caught fire ignited oil that escaped through a small leak in the bottom of the tank, Jefferson County Undersheriff Jeff Herrig said. The heaters are used to keep the thick crude oil fluid enough to move through pipelines.

The explosion occurred about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday about four miles north of McLouth on Union Road just north of Kansas Highway 92.

Emergency personnel found three 200-barrel oil tanks on fire at the property, owned by Herb Edmonds of McLouth. The tanks, owned by Pace Oil of Tulsa, Okla., contained approximately 28,000 gallons of crude oil.

No one was injured in the explosion.

Firefighters remained on the scene until just before 9 a.m. Wednesday, waiting for the fire to burn itself out, Herrig said.