City, developers await ruling on Wal-Mart

Two weeks after a hearing in the case, a judge still hasn’t decided whether a lawsuit against the city will be allowed to proceed.

6Wak Land Investments LLC is suing the city because officials would not issue building permits for a restaurant and Wal-Mart store at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive. At a July 17 hearing, Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone heard the city’s motion to dismiss the case and said he would rule within a week.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, no ruling had been made.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 12, when Malone will hear arguments on 6Wak’s restraining order that prohibits the city from rezoning the land while the case is in process.

Lawrence students join Phi Beta Kappa

Several graduates of Lawrence high schools have been initiated into Phi Beta Kappa at Kansas University.

Phi Beta Kappa is the nation’s oldest honor society, established in 1776. To qualify for initiation, students must have at least a 3.65 grade-point average and at least 105 credit hours.

The Lawrence students, all seniors, who were accepted were Carolyn Anderson, Geoffrey Atkeisson, Michael Bateman, Regan Buck and Dustin Chase, all graduates of Lawrence High School; and Erin Joler and Kristen Kautsch, both graduates of Free State High School.

Haskell Retirees Assn. plans luncheon today

The Haskell Retirees Assn. will conduct a luncheon meeting at 11:30 a.m. today at Don’s Steak House, 2176 E. 23rd St.

The meeting is open to all retired workers from Haskell Indian Nations University. No reservations are needed.

Locals elected to board for lung association

Terry Sutcliffe, president of Lawrence Bank, was elected president-elect of the board of directors of the American Lung Association of Kansas for the next year.

Douglas Gaston, vice president with USBank, Lawrence, was re-elected as treasurer.

Other board members from Lawrence are Hank Booth, Leah Hemenway, Gladys Sanders and Ronald Weiner.

For more information about American Lung Assn., call (800) LUNG-USA.

Douglas County agency receives federal grant

Women’s Transitional Care Services of Douglas County will receive nearly $64,000 from the Federal Family Violence Prevention Services grant program to aid victims of domestic violence.

The grant is part of a $1 million initiative that will give awards to 23 Kansas programs working to prevent domestic violence and provide immediate assistance to victims.

Utility use normal so far for July

A heat wave last week brought four days in which temperatures rose higher than 100 degrees. As the heat went up, so did demand for utilities. But officials say that is to be expected this time of the year.

Karla Olsen with Westar Energy said the highest day of energy use in north-central and northeast Kansas was July 18. The high that day was 108 degrees, and 2,445 megawatts of power were used. A megawatt, she said, can power 200 homes for an hour. She said the record amount of power used was Aug. 28, 2002, when the area demanded 2,488 megawatts.

The city of Lawrence distributed about 22 million to 23 million gallons of water a day last week, according to the city’s utility department. As temperatures cooled Tuesday, usage dropped to 20 million gallons. The department has capacity for 31.5 million gallons daily; when demand reaches about 28.5 million gallons, the city starts asking large consumers such as Kansas University to begin conserving.