Sept. 24, 1982: The bad memories of 444 days as a hostage in Iran were beginning to fade for Rocky Sickmann, who was visiting in Lawrence with his wife, Jill. Sickmann, a former Marine who served as a security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, had been released in January 1981 and currently was promoting his book, “Hostage,” based on a diary he had kept while in captivity. He was a native of Krakow, Mo.

A two-car, head-on collision in southeast Douglas County in the early morning led to the third Lawrence-area traffic fatality in three days. Details and identity of the person killed and the one injured in the latest accident were sketchy. Officials declined to identify until relatives had been notified.

A man drowned in a boat-launching accident at Clinton Lake but his identity had not been released pending notification of family members. It was the third drowning of the year at Clinton.