From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 30, 1971:

• Lawrence voters were to be asked on April 6 to vote their approval to a sales tax hike. Citizens were facing the chance to approve a half-cent sales tax and an increase in the city’s budget to expand the city police and fire department staffs. Lawrence voters had been asked four times since 1967 to raise taxes for city improvements. On two of those occasions, the city had received a resounding no; in one election it had been approved, and in the fourth it had been a split decision.
• The awarding of a long-awaited construction contract for the new city library was scheduled for this week. Bids had been received but no decision had been made, as the project architects wished to confer with city officials. The apparent low bidder so far was B. A. Green Construction of Lawrence, with a bid of $1,158,780.
• The Union Pacific Railroad announced that it would halt all passenger service effective May 1, the date that the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, “Railpax” (later renamed Amtrak), would assume responsibility for intercity passenger service.