City commissioners take a spring break

Lawrence city commissioners will not meet Tuesday evening. Commissioners canceled the meeting to coincide with area schools that are on spring break.

Commissioners will next meet at 6:35 p.m. March 29 at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.

Utilities

‘Cold weather rule’ going out of effect

The Kansas Corporation Commission’s “cold weather rule” will go out of effect at the end of the month.

The rule, which prevents electric and natural gas utilities in the area from disconnecting service to customers if weather forecasts call for temperatures below 35 degrees within a 48-hour period, runs from Nov. 1 through March 31 each year.

The KCC adopted the rule to ensure that utility customers have access to heat during cold weather even when the customer has late payments on his or her account. The rule also provides guidelines for the customer to pay the amount owed.

Parks

AIDS Walk scheduled at Holcom Park

The Douglas County AIDS Project will sponsor the 2005 AIDS Walk on April 23.

The event, which will be based at the Holcom Park Recreation Center, 2700 W 27th St., will feature a 5K walk around the park.

The event will also include live performances by local musicians, a speech by a person living with the disease, games and crafts for children, and a barbecue. The organizers ask for a $5 donation for the barbecue.

Registration for the event opens at 9 a.m., with the first set of walkers heading out at 10 a.m. The final group of walkers will set out by 1 p.m.

For more information, contact DCAP at 843-0040.

Businessman endows music scholarship fund

Some talented Kansas University students will have an easier time practicing their craft, thanks to a new scholarship fund.

A Denver businessman has donated $30,000 and secure matching funds from his company to endow the L. Don Scheid Woodwinds Scholarship Fund for KU students. Steve Scheid said he established the fund to honor his father, who was a clarinet professor at KU. Don Scheid, who also served as associate dean of the School of Fine Arts, retired in 1990, and now lives with his wife, Marian, in Lawrence.

The new scholarship fund will be administered by the KU Endowment Association.

Bicyclists needed for fund-raiser

A nonprofit organization that provides free counseling for depression needs volunteers to ride bikes to raise money.

Life Support Rally riders can pedal 6, 12, 35 or 50 miles on April 30 to raise money for Lawrence’s Headquarters Counseling Center.

The counseling center’s services also include suicide intervention, support groups for teens and adults who’ve lost a loved one to suicide and school programs on children’s safety.

The center is a member of United Way of Douglas County.

Riders will start at Sunflower School and go toward Clinton Lake dam. They must pay a registration fee or collect a suggested $50 in pledges. Registration fees increase after April 23.

The event is sponsored by various groups, including Sunflower Broadband.

For more information, call the center at 841-2345 or visit www.lifesupportrally.org.

KU hospital receives chest pain accreditation

The University of Kansas Hospital’s Chest Pain Center has been given a accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers.

The three-year accreditation came after an extensive review of the center’s programs. It is the first time the center has received accreditation.

The center is scheduled to move with the emergency department when the new Center for Advanced Heart Care opens in 2006.

Douglas County ACLU to sponsor forum

The Douglas County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will be host to an informational forum on Tuesday, March 29, featuring a three person panel discussion on hot-button issues.

The forum, at 7 p.m. at the Lawrence Public Library, is titled “What does the ACLU do and do you have a problem with that?”

The panel will consist of Dick Kurtenbach, a regional ACLU executive director, Doug Bonney, a Kansas City area attorney and ACLU member, and Steve Lopes, the secretary and treasurer of the Douglas County ACLU.

A question and answer period will follow the panel presentations.