40 years ago: Former resident concerned about air pollution in Lawrence

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Sept. 23, 1973:

  • A former resident of Lawrence wrote a letter to the editor this week objecting to the “pall of smoke and chemical fog” seen hanging over the city. John M. Trembly, currently of Overland Park, said he had lived in Lawrence with his family from 1937 to 1943, when they “were always in love with your city and thought of making it our retirement home.” The sight of the plume of smog caused him to observe the irony that “in a city where so much intellect and scientific brain are concentrated, so much pollution would be permitted. Such a condition can hardly be conducive to the health of our future leadership…. Don’t you think something should be done about this situation?”
  • In Baldwin, restoration of the foundation of Baker University’s Old Castle Hall, the oldest college hall in Kansas, had been completed and work was under way to complete interior repairs in time for the Maple Leaf Festival net month. Concrete and steel piers had been placed beneath the 115-year-old building to reinforce the settling foundation.
  • Kansas University organizers had disappointing news for music fans today. The KU Board of Class Officers announced that they had been unable to schedule Bette Midler for a planned Oct. 22 concert.