July is 10th anniversary of destructive 1993 flood

Ten years ago this week, portions of Kansas — including Douglas County — were declared federal disaster areas because of devastation from the 1993 flood.

The flood killed 50 people and left 54,000 people homeless throughout the Midwest. Total property damage estimates reached between $12 billion and $16 billion.

Lawrence officials at the time totaled damage to government property and businesses in the city at nearly $3 million. The flood put six blocks of North Lawrence, including Roger’s IGA on North Second Street, above, under about a foot of water for several days.

Joy Moser with Kansas Emergency Management said the agency had since installed solar-powered river gauges on the Kansas River that upload data to satellites, allowing river levels and trends to be quickly monitored. She also said the agency began buying land from homeowners on floodplains to put to other uses, such as parks.

Courts

Teller’s has new manager after alleged gun incident

A downtown restaurant manager charged with holding a waiter at gunpoint is out of a job.

As of last week, James I. Truscello no longer works as general manager of Teller’s, 746 Mass. Truscello faces one count of aggravated assault in connection with a Jan. 10 incident in which he allegedly held employee David J. Kessler at gunpoint in a basement room and threatened him because he suspected Kessler was overcharging customers on their bills.

Reached by telephone, Truscello said it wasn’t the proper time for him to comment on his job status or on the alleged incident.

Matt Hyde, the restaurant’s new general manger, said he couldn’t comment on why Truscello no longer works there or whether he was fired.

Truscello’s criminal case is pending, and Kessler is suing him, seeking more than $300,000 in damages.

Legislature

State lawmakers attend San Francisco meeting

Thirty-three Kansas lawmakers and legislative staff attended the five-day National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting in San Francisco, according to state officials.

The state paid the registration fees, which were $410 per person, for the conference on state issues, which concludes today.

Lawmakers will receive $79 per day during the conference and will be reimbursed up to $500 for expenses, including hotel, transportation and miscellaneous costs. Expenses above that amount must be paid personally, though officeholders can use campaign contributions to pay for costs related to attending the event.

Jeffrey Russell, director of the Division of Legislative Administrative Services, said the Legislature had appropriated $151,000 for itself for out-of-state travel, down from $160,000 last year.

Culture

Jacob, Emily top names for babies in Kansas

Jacob remained the most popular name in Kansas for new baby boys in 2002, for the eighth consecutive year. The most popular name for girls, Emily, was new.

The state Department of Health and Environment Thursday released its annual list of the 25 most popular names for new babies of each gender, based on information gathered from Kansas birth certificates.

The top 10 girls’ names were Emily, Kaitlyn, Haley, Madison, Abigail, Hannah, Emma, Alexis, Elizabeth and Kaylee.

The top 10 boys’ names were Jacob, Ethan, Zachary, Nicholas, Caleb, Andrew, Joshua, Michael, Caden and Matthew.

The list is available at www.kdhe.state.ks.us/.