Injuries from fire kill Ottawa victim

Ottawa — A woman injured when her mobile home caught fire last week has died, Ottawa fire officials said Tuesday.

Cheryl Montgomery and her husband, J.R. Montgomery, were taken to University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., after a fire started in their mobile home at 8:15 a.m. Friday.

J.R. Montgomery was in serious condition in the hospital burn center Tuesday.

Fire investigators blamed the fire on an electrical short or overload in the living room. The fire caused an estimated $15,000 in damage to the home and its contents, and $500 in damage to a nearby vehicle.

No holiday traffic deaths a first since 1992

Topeka — There were no traffic fatalities on Kansas roads during the July 4 holiday weekend, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Lt. John Eichkorn, a spokesman for the department, said a traffic fatality during the holiday could be reported later if a person involved in an accident during the counting period later died.

The counting period ran from 6 p.m. Friday to midnight Monday.

Eichkorn said the last time there were no traffic fatalities in Kansas for a holiday period was during Christmas in 1992.

Board to mull raising fees for building use

Lawrence public schools could gain $25,000 by increasing building usage fees based on a proposal from Rick Gammill, director of special operations, transportation and safety for the district.

The school board will consider the proposal at noon today during a meeting at 110 McDonald Drive.

Based on the proposal, civic and community service groups would pay $80 for three hours of use of a secondary school and $67 for three hours at an elementary school. Both costs would be $5 more than current fees.

The district would charge businesses $175 for the first three hours at a secondary school. That is $13 more than is now charged. A business would have to pay $100 for the first three hours at an elementary school, a $7 increase from current rates.

If approved, building usage fees wouldn’t increase for the city of Lawrence.

Open government work by lawmaker is cited

State Rep. Jene Vickrey, a Republican from Louisburg, has won the 2004 Friend of Open Government Award from the Kansas Sunshine Coalition for Open Government.

“Jene Vickrey went to bat for open government in a year when there were a number of other issues vying for attention,” said Doug Anstaett, executive director of the Kansas Press Assn.

Vickrey, a member of the Legislature since 1993, is chairman of the House Committee on Local Government.

The Sunshine Coalition is a nonprofit organization that tries to increase public awareness of the importance of open government in Kansas.

City’s natural disasters in focus on ‘River City’

Historian Steve Jansen joins host Greg Hurd on “River City Weekly” in an encore highlighting three natural disasters to strike Lawrence in the 20th century.

First, Jansen discusses the flood that ravaged Lawrence in 1903 and then the 1911 tornado that struck the city’s downtown area.

Then three eyewitnesses to the 1951 flood, Maggie Carttar, Bob Snow and Cliff McDonald, recount their experiences.

“River City Weekly,” with host Greg Hurd, premieres on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays with replays at 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays, 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m. Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Mondays, and 10 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays.