As part of the celebration of the 55th anniversary of its chartering, the Lawrence Sertoma Club donated a new gazebo sitting at the top of a grassy knoll in the southeast corner of Central Park. Gene Shaughnessy, a Sertoma spokesman, said, “This is something we felt would help complete the landscaping and upgrading that the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department is doing in the park. “

New federal guidelines meant that about 600 low-income housing units operated by the Lawrence Housing Authority would be able to serve “only the poorest of the poor,” a change worrying LHA director Dave Murrell. “In the business, we call it ‘warehousing the poor’ and that’s our main objection to the new law. You dump all the poorest of the poor in one spot and it becomes a problem. Further there are others who do not fit into such a category who also deserve such housing.”

While national get-tough policies were causing overcrowding in many jails and prisons, there was no problem of overcrowding in Douglas County, according to undersheriff Dallas Murphy. At the current time, only 29 of the 55 available slots in the local jail were occupied and the local crime rate had been running below normal.