Grant School students feted with Humane Society party

Students at Grant School barked with approval Wednesday when pizzas arrived for their party.

The free feast was a reward from the Lawrence Humane Society because Grant students raised the most donations  $138  among the district’s elementary schools for the pennies for puppies program.

Grant, 1853 E. 1600 Road, is the district’s smallest elementary school, with about 40 students.

“We never dreamed little old Grant School would raise so much,” said Jan Dicker, a Grant teacher.

She said the charitable project was coordinated by Grant sixth-grader Kali Conrad, shown above, who went room-to-room promoting the event.

“She did a terrific job,” Dicker said.

Kansas University: C-SPAN to air segments from Hughes symposium

C-SPAN has announced its schedule for broadcasting segments of Kansas University’s Langston Hughes symposium, which was Feb. 7-10.

They will air at 2 p.m. March 31 as part of the cable network’s “American Writers II: The 20th Century” series.

The show will focus on Harlem Renaissance writers Zora Neale Hurston and Hughes, who spent much of his childhood in Lawrence.

C-SPAN also taped portions of actor Danny Glover’s Feb. 7 “An Evening with Langston” performance for later broadcast.

The 15-week “American Writers” series, which begins March 31, will examine 18 writers who chronicled or influenced the nation’s history. Shows air at 2 p.m. Sundays and are rebroadcast at 7 p.m. Fridays on C-SPAN, Sunflower Broadband Channel 53.

Donation: Couple’s pledge to bring $1.2 million to university

A Leawood couple has pledged more than $1.2 million to the Kansas University Endowment Association, KU officials announced Tuesday.

Joe Morris, who graduated from KU in business in 1961, and his wife, Susan Morris, have established a trust that will be transferred to the Endowment Association upon their deaths.

About one-half of the gift is unrestricted, one-third will go to athletics, and the rest will be split among the schools of business, architecture and journalism  the schools where their three sons received their degrees.

They also pledged $100,000 over the next four years to supplement head men’s basketball coach Roy Williams’ salary.

Joe Morris worked 35 years in banking and finance. He currently serves as chairman of the Capital Corp. LLC in Overland Park.

Susan Morris is a former real estate agent for J.D. Reece Realtors in Leawood.

Taxes: Appraisal forms due Friday

Time is running out for Douglas County residents to report their ownership of boats, trailers and other taxable personal property to county officials.

Signed and completed personal property assessment forms for 2002 must be turned in postmarked no later than Friday. Otherwise, owners face a fine equal to 5 percent of their taxes due for each month the form is late.

In January, county officials mailed out 8,800 forms to known owners of boats, jet skis, trailers, mobile homes, airplanes, large trucks, mopeds and business equipment. Only about 3,000 have been returned.

The information on the forms will be used to compile tax bills to be mailed in November.

Completed forms may be dropped off by 5 p.m. Friday at the Douglas County Appraiser’s Office, in the basement of the county courthouse, 1100 Mass.

Taxpayers who did not receive a form may pick one up at the appraiser’s office. For more information, contact the office at 832-5289.