Eighth-graders due to graduate with the Lawrence High School Class of 1988 were advised to knuckle down so they could meet a new set of graduation requirements set by the school board. The requirements were to stiffen the bid for an LHS diploma.

Meanwhile, efforts continued to provide better vo-tech training for local public school students with closer ties to Haskell Institute and its facilities and expertise in the field.

In all categories except burglary, crime in Lawrence had increased in the first 10 months of 1983, according to police chief Richard Stanwix in his latest report.

Judge Mike Elwell in district court sentenced Bryan Keith Bell, 23, to 15 years to life in prison on charges of aggravated robbery and second-degree murder. He had killed Frank Seurer Sr., 43, the past August, stabbing him to death in Seurer’s local cafe, then stealing $400.