From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for April 4, 1987:

• In Topeka this week, the Kansas Senate rejected a bill that would have restored capital punishment in Kansas. The bill, which would have authorized death sentences for persons convicted of premeditated murder, failed on an 18-22 vote after a debate of more than 2 1/2 hours. Sen. Wint Winter Jr., R-Lawrence, had voted against the bill, while Sen. Jim Allen, R-Ottawa, had voted for it.
• Democratic former senator Gary Hart was making a two-day visit to his hometown of Ottawa, Kansas. Hart, who had lost his party’s nomination to former vice president Walter Mondale in 1984, was expected to announce April 13 that he would seek the nomination once again. Hart was back in Ottawa for the first time since attending a high-school reunion in 1984. In speaking to students this week, he attributed his perspective to his small-town upbringing. “This town has values, and I hope I’ve kept those values — the value of hard work, the value of community and the value of people pulling together.”