From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 5, 1985:

• Members of the Holcom Recreation Center Foundation, officially kicking off their fund drive with a press conference, announced that they were hoping to raise at least $500,000 in cash and pledges by Feb. 14 to match the $500,000 bond issue which had been approved by Lawrence voters in April. Plans called for a 17,465-square-foot complex to be built on three acres in Holcom Park. Construction costs were estimated at $966,225.
• The annual reading of “The Nutcracker” was scheduled at the Lawrence Public Library. Al Lata was to appear in costume as Godfather Drosselmeyer.
• An editorial took a stand against movies and TV programs featuring “impudent, fast-quipping youngsters depicted as being wise far beyond their years” with “dumb and incompetent” parents who were shown as “bungling, insensitive, [and] out of touch.” The writer mourned the loss of “forgotten concepts” such as self-determination and personal responsibility in these movies and shows aimed at the younger demographics.