Lawrence briefs

Easter egg hunts await on land or underwater

Lawrence children can hunt for Easter eggs on land and underwater this weekend.

Children ages 3 to 8 will be allowed to hunt for plastic eggs from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the South Park gazebo, near 12th and Massachusetts streets. The eggs can be exchanged for candy prizes. The cost is $4.

The Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center, 4706 Overland Drive, will conduct its first-ever underwater “EGGstravaganza” from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Children 12 and younger can search the pool and pool decks for eggs filled with prizes. There will be games and activities throughout the center. The cost to participate is $2.

The events are sponsored by Lawrence Parks and Recreation, in cooperation with Hy-Vee. For more information about South Park hunt, call Duane Peterson, special events supervisor, at 832-7940. For more about the underwater hunt, call Jimmy Gibbs, aquatics supervisor, at 832-7990.

KU tuition committee reaches consensus

A campuswide committee on Thursday reached consensus on a proposed tuition increase and how the money it raises should be spent.

The committee, which has been meeting since January, said tuition should increase $43 million over the next five years, or about $1,900 per student starting in 2006. Tuition and fees currently are $2,884 per year.

The panel previously had approved an increase of $50 million, or about $2,200 per student, the same amount KU officials say their funding lags behind state-selected peers. Members decided Thursday that faculty salaries  which had been included in the $50 million deficit  should be the funding responsibility of the Legislature.

Committee members also prioritized how additional tuition money should be spent. High-priority items included stipends for graduate teaching and research assistants, additional faculty positions and online enrollment. Medium-priority items included technology and additional support staff.

The report, once voted upon, will go to University Council for consideration.

ABC cites Flanigan’s for sales to minors

A Lawrence bar has promised Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control it will do more to prevent minors from being served alcohol.

ABC and Jack Flanigan’s Bar & Grill, 804 W. 24th St., recently reached a settlement for violations involving minors possessing or consuming liquor on the premises.

On Feb. 19 Flanigan’s paid an $8,000 fine and served a four-day suspension. The penalties resulted from the bar’s seventh violation over minors purchasing alcohol, ABC officials said. Licenses are normally revoked after nine violations.

Flanigan’s owner, Dannie Thompson, said he suggested a list of remedies his business could take to address the problem.

Patrons under the legal drinking age of 21 entering Flanigan’s had received a special mark on their hands. Flanigan’s will now replace the mark with a larger one, using indelible ink, Thompson said.

Another step will be to replace towel dispensers in rest rooms with electric hand dryers to help prevent young patrons from rubbing off the marks, he said.