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

Between 150 and 170 professional and amateur golfers were expected to compete in the Kansas Open golf tournament next week at Alvamar Country Club. For the second year in a row, proceeds from the annual event were to benefit Cottonwood Inc., a local residential and job-training facility for people with developmental disabilities. “The people who get involved with this find out just what a special group of people the people from Cottonwood are,” said tournament spokesman John Tacha. “They work in our community, go to church in our community. They’re just super. It really makes people open their hearts and their pocketbooks.” This year’s major corporate sponsor of the tournament was Quaker Oats, which had donated $10,000. Eighteen other sponsors had donated $2,000 each to become hole sponsors, while others had donated at various other levels.

Lawrence director of utilities Roger Coffee reminded residents in two Lawrence areas that the engineering firm Black & Veatch was to be conducting smoke tests on the sanitary sewer system on the morning of July 18. “There’s a possibility that some smoke could get back up into things, but we don’t anticipate any problems,” Coffey said.

Gov. Mike Hayden this week declared southwest Douglas County a disaster area after severe flooding in late June had caused at least $1.2 million in damage. Heavy rains late June 29 and early June 30 had damaged homes, personal property, roads, bridges, and crops. Douglas County commissioners had already declared a local disaster, but the governor’s order was necessary for business owners to become eligible for federal recovery aid.

Thunderstorms packing tornadoes and 92-mph wind gusts had slammed Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, on the previous night. At least 64 people had been injured in the storms, which had damaged more than 100 homes, flipped railroad cars, and snapped trees up to 48 inches in diameter.