From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 21, 1973:

• A pickup truck had caught fire after striking a bridge railing and overturning in an overnight accident southwest of Lawrence. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Department reported that the driver, age 14, had fallen asleep at the wheel, but few other details were available. The driver and the 12-year-old passenger had been checked at Lawrence Memorial Hospital but not admitted. A mule and three “coon dogs” were reported to have been killed in the wreck, which had occurred on a township road 7 1/2 miles southwest of Lawrence.
• The new road between Iowa and Louisiana streets was finished and would open this week. County Public Works Director Dean Sanderson said this week that the final seal on 31st Street was being applied and the link would be open as soon as the seal had time to harden. The county had hoped to open the road two weeks earlier, but sealing operations had been stalled due to wet weather. The road had been under construction for almost a year; the segment between Louisiana and Haskell had been completed earlier.