Area briefs

Fort Leavenworth may see modest increase

Fort Leavenworth — Fort Leavenworth was among four major Kansas military installations spared from possible closure under Pentagon recommendations, and the post may see a modest increase in troop strength.

The list of base realignments and closures, or BRAC, was delivered Friday to members of Congress. It is part of plans by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to save money and make the military leaner to meet post-Cold War needs.

Fort Leavenworth would add 211 soldiers and eight civilian workers if the Midwestern Joint Regional Corrections Facility is established there. Fort Leavenworth is home to the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, and the new facility — estimated to cost $65 million — would consolidate military correctional facilities from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; Fort Knox, Ky.; and Fort Sill, Okla.

The Pentagon’s list now goes to the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which will prepare its own final list by Sept. 8. It will take five votes on the nine-member commission to take a base off Rumsfeld’s list, and seven of nine members to add a new base.

President Bush and Congress must then accept or reject the list in its entirety by Nov. 7.

Recognition

Volunteer honored for work with seniors

The Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging announced Friday that Lawrence resident Estel M. Fyne, who turns 80 this month, would receive the 2005 Donna J. Kidd award for significant contribution to the seniors in the community.

Fyne has delivered Meals on Wheels on a weekly basis in Lawrence for 10 years. She will received her award at a reception from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. May 26 in the Lawrence Memorial Hospital atrium, 325 Maine.

The award was named after Kidd, the director of the Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging from 1976 to 1997, and is given to help commemorate Older Americans Month.

Lawrence residents injured in car accident

McLouth — Two Lawrence residents were injured Sunday evening when their car crashed into a guardrail east of McLouth, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The driver, Janice A. Flory, 40, and David M. Wingert, 49, were transported to University of Kansas Hospital, Kansas City, Kan. No information was available on their conditions late Sunday night.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol report, the 2003 Toyota Corolla the victims were traveling in was westbound on Kansas Highway 16 east of McLouth. The car drifted onto the shoulder, then re-entered the highway. It then went onto the shoulder on the other side of the highway, struck the guardrail, flipped and came to a rest on the driver’s side, the report said.