Republican incumbent Ronald Reagan and Democrat challenger Walter Mondale were preparing for a presidential debate in Louisville, Ky.

The city commission approved the final plat of the controversial Naismith West Subdivision. It came on a 4-0-1 vote with Nancy Shontz abstaining. She wanted more study of the issue.

In what one Kansas University professor called a “face-saving” decision, Kansas Atty. Gen. Robert Stephan cleared the way for KU to hire attorneys to represent eight KU professors named in a multi-million lawsuit brought by two former students. Stephan earlier had said the university could not back the defense. It was expected the suit would be thrown out of court.

Local construction’s pace did not constitute a boom in the past quarter but had been steady and solid, according toe county zoning administrator Wayne Kellum. There had been a decrease in commercial construction but other categories had done reasonably well.

Morris Kay, regional director of the Environmental Protection Agency, said a new center to be established by Kansas University would be a “significant” effort to help eradicate the health threat posed by asbestos. He said an EPA grant for the work was a major gain for the region.