25 years ago: Kansas license plate design to undergo improvement

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 16, 1988:

  • Citing ongoing public dissatisfaction with current license plate design, Kansas Revenue Secretary Ed Rolfs today announced a plan to “improve” state tags. “From day one, Kansans have been unhappy with these license plates,” Rolfs said. “People don’t like the difficult-to-read Kansas on the plate and they don’t like being unable to read the county designator.” The current plates were white with blue lettering, with Kansas spelled out at the top in ornate lettering, a gold shock of wheat in the center of the plate, and a small two-letter county code in the corner. The new tags, to be available in January, featured county designations that were four times larger, as well as a more legible “Kansas” at the top.
  • Health officials at Kansas University today announced a plan to vaccinate as many as 4,000 students in an effort to slow the mumps epidemic that had been affecting Lawrence for two months. “Our estimate is that 20 percent of the students are not immunized,” said Dr. Charles Yockey, medical direct at KU’s Watkins Memorial Health Center. “We can expect to see mumps in this community and on this campus throughout May at least.”