After more than two years of discussion concerning a birthing room at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, the board of trustees decided for a fourth time to defer any action until more information could be obtained. Dr. Henry Buck, chairman of the LMH department of obstetrics and gynecology, said there was a need for more information about the safety of such a facility.

Latest state census figures listed Lawrence with a population of 52,003 and Douglas County with 66,949, both of which were contested by local officials who felt they should be at least 2,000 to 3,000 higher. Emphasis was placed on the loss of great amounts of state and federal funding based on headcounts. Many other communities were just as upset with the census findings and said the federal totals were far more accurate and realistic.

A study of local groundwater found it free of the kinds of contaminants that had posed health risks in other communities. The study was done by Eric Vogel and supervised by Ernest Angino, professor of geology and civil engineering at Kansas University.