IN 1977 – About 100,000 channel catfish were being stocked in Clinton Lake after the dam-closing ceremony. The normal pool of 7,000 surface acres of water was not expected until 1981 at the earliest. By then, officials said, the catfish population in the lake could be “substantial.”

The first two spans of the four-span new Kansas River bridge in the downtown area would not be completed by the Dec. 15 deadline, but officials said they were hoping to have the spans in operation by the end of the year. The contractor said at least 10 to 14 more working days would be needed to get the first part of the bridge ready for use. Officials and citizens were growingly impatient about the delays and excuses.

The morning low was a numbing minus 4 degrees, and the daytime high did not rise beyond 20. Motor vehicles in many instances failed to respond to start-up attempts, and many either walked to work or school or called for rides. Taxi services were swamped, and many were late for work or school because of the sudden drop in temperatures and the resulting inconveniences.

IN 1962 – With the final deadline only two days off, the Lawrence United Fund total was still $2,500 short of its modest goal of $68,000. This was the disappointing status despite a three-time extension of the original deadline to meet the quota.

Leading the way among top local 4-H and FFA honorees for the past year of work included Stanley Husted, Kathleen Harris, Dorothy Robertson, Linda Hoover, Dorothy Spencer and Jane Sutton.

IN 1902 – From the Lawrence Daily World of Dec. 4, 1902: “If there was any subject neglected in the president’s message (Theodore Roosevelt) to Congress, that subject was too small to be noticed. The document is the most complete and comprehensive ever written. . . . About the best thing so-called self-made men do is to marry the right kinds of wives in early life. It is a rule that is seldom broken that the men who win are the men who have the right kinds of wives.”