From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for April 4, 1986:

“There has been an ugly rumor going around that the Big Jayhawk can’t fly.” The rumor was confirmed when Kansas University spirit squad coordinator Elaine Brady stated that mascot Big Jay did not appear at hte NCAA basketball tournament because of his size. “We can’t fly him. He gets smashed and dented…. We have not taken Big Jay any place unless we’ve had a van,” said Brady. “There was hardly enough room for the little Jay” on the band bus, she added. Also, according to Big Eight and NCAA rules, schools were allowed to bring only one mascot.

The recent abnormally warn temperatures were doing more than luring out early tulips and redbuds. A number of Lawrence businesses that sold fishing licenses reported having run out of them. “Saturday and Sunday were just really great,” said one business owner. “I even went out and bought one myself, and I haven’t been out for a year or two.” Since Friday, the manager of Lunker Bait & Tackle said that his store had sold at least 60 licenses a day.