City selling mulch through Saturday

The Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department will conduct a mulch sale today through Saturday.

Lewis Roberts, of Lawrence, sifts through mulch Tuesday at the sale site.

The sale will be at 1420 E. 11th St. The cost of the mulch will be $5 per pickup truck load. The price will be higher for larger trucks.

The sale will be from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. today and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The department is eliminating mulch it has generated in the past year. It doesn’t purchase mulch during the year. Instead, it recycles trees that are cut down throughout the city. The trees are then run through a chipper and used as mulch.

Spreading mulch helps the growth of newly planted trees and gardens. Mulch helps reduce the amount of water lost through evaporation, prevents excess runoff, restricts weed growth and replaces valuable nutrients into the soil.

Community service

Volunteers sought for Kansas River cleanup

Three groups are seeking volunteers for a cleanup of the Kansas River from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Participants will meet at the levee on Elm Street from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. for check-in. An orientation will begin at 9 a.m., followed by collection of trash and sorting of recyclables. Parking will be available in the lot at Locust and North Second streets.

Trash bags and bottled water will be provided to all participants. Participants are asked to wear sturdy clothing, work boots and leather gloves and bring sunscreen. For more information, call Shawn Toliver at (913) 709-8155.

The Kansas Whitewater Assn., the Wakarusa Group of the Kansas Sierra Club and Bowersock Mills & Power Co. is sponsoring the event as part of National River Cleanup Week.

People

Former KU professor leaving U.S. attorney job

A former Kansas University law professor serving as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia has announced his plans to step down.

Roscoe Howard, who worked at KU from 1994 to 2001, on June 1 will become a partner in the Washington office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, a California law firm, according to a Washington Post report.

Howard’s caseload has included the post-Sept. 11 anthrax investigations and assisting with interviews of 5,000 young men of Middle Eastern descent after the terrorist attacks.

At KU, he taught classes on criminal procedure and white-collar crime.

Gasoline prices

Pump Patrol seeks deals

The Journal-World has found Lawrence gasoline prices as low as $1.94 at Fast Lane Conoco, 1414 W. Sixth St., and Phillips 66, 1415 W. Sixth St.

If you find a lower price, call the Pump Patrol at 832-7154.