From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 23, 1986:

This was not a good year for the average pumpkin. For optimal pumpkin health, temperatures should have remained warm and conditions dry for about ten days of ripening. However, early fall rains had caused some pumpkins to rot in the field. Mike Garrett, owner of Mike’s Paradise Pumpkin Patch near Linwood, said that out of his 30 acres of pumpkins, about seven acres had been ruined by the 15 days of September rains. He had managed, however, to harvest 225,000 pounds of pumpkins, 22,000 pounds of which would be sold from his roadside stand, with the remainder to be sold to Safeway stores. In the fall of 1986, most pumpkins had a retail price of ten cents a pound.

An old problem of mold in Watson Library was finally getting some attention. Repairs were getting under way on the roof of Kansas University’s main library, which had been leaking since 1982. Workers were pictured removing the tiles and replacing a tarpaper liner, the first steps in the $90,000 project.