18-year-olds in Lawrence were enjoying a last night out before a new Kansas law was to go into effect on July 1. Anyone who had not reached their 19th birthday by that date would not be allowed to drink again until they turned 21. Some of the young revelers said that they would miss the “social scene” more than the actual drinking. Tom Smith, part owner of the Pladium at Ninth and Mississippi, said he believed that there was a market for a new kind of club “where you can drink Cokes, serve hamburgers, and dance.”

In addition to raising the drinking age, the new laws would increase the penalties for drunken driving, including automatically suspending a driver’s license after the first offense.

The Children’s Hour, based in a former nursing home at 345 Florida, was facing possible closing due to financial difficulties. The program, begun in 1964, provided an afternoon day care/preschool program for the children of low- to middle-income families.