The Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the state’s largest business organization, gave its endorsement to the controversial issue of a statewide lottery. KU political science professor Allan Cigler said that the endorsement might give the final push for the issue to appear on the Kansas Legislature’s agenda the following year.

Although Douglas County was the home of KU, Haskell, and Baker University, state law also required the county (as well as other counties in the state) to provide “out-district aid” to community colleges that provided education to Douglas County students. For the 1986 budget year, the aid totaled $106,386.

In the interests of preventing on-the-job back injuries, Lawrence Memorial Hospital sponsored a “back school” for the employees of the Gustin-Bacon division of Aeroquip, which manufactured spring breaks for heavy-duty trucks. The employees attended sessions on spinal anatomy, proper lifting and sitting, and improving body posture and body mechanics while performing work on the job or at home.