Old Home Town – 25 years ago

Gov. John Carlin conceded he didn’t have the votes lined up yet to assure passage of the oil and gas severance tax he favored but said that situation might change over the weekend, before the Monday vote in the Senate, which had been the major hurdle.

The “good old days” of gasoline under $1 had vanished quickly and the prices were back in the $1.02 range. At one time, some stations here had been selling gas for

92 cents a gallon.

Local officials said they had no major environmental concerns following a recent fire at the FMC plant in North Lawrence. The phosphorous pentasulfide did not pose a severe threat to anyone under the conditions it was being handled, officials said. The cost to FMC for the fire had been about $100,000 but most of that loss had been to warehouse equipment, where the blaze had been confined. Fire Chief Jim McSwain said there was no reason for people to fear living in the area even though some had been evacuated for a short time due to dark smoke.

Kendra Martin, an eighth-grade Baldwin City student, won the Douglas County Spelling Bee title by correctly spelling “corduroy.”