The Student Loan Marketing Assn., commonly known as Sallie Mae, announced it was planning a $4.2 million office building in Lawrence. The 50,000-square-foot building was to be located on the northeast corner of the Sixth and Iowa intersection. The firm was already occupying 8,000 square feet of leased office space at 1919 Del. The company was planning to expand its current workforce of 70 to 125 by the fall of 1986, when the new building was expected to be finished, and then to 400 employees during the following two years.

The 2.5 million tons of sand and gravel that were being dredged out of the lower end of the Kansas River – from roughly Bonner Springs to Kansas City, Mo. – were said to be one factor contributing to the river’s banks eroding and the river bed deepening, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The corps was considering cutting back on dredging operations in the Kaw.

The Friends of the Lawrence Public Library had added up the totals from the first day of their annual book sale, and the figures showed more than $7,000 for the first day. The sale brought in an additional $10,000 over the next three days.