From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for April 10, 1989:

• A member of the Business Improvement District Advisory Board today urged the board to ask the Lawrence City Commission to disband the BID. Scott Shmalberg, vice chair of the advisory board, suggested that the board send a letter to the commission recommending the BID be dissolved at the earliest convenience. “Personally, I’ve lost my enthusiasm for the BID,” Shmalberg said of the district, which he said was not a benefit for the downtown. Since 1988, a mandatory fee had been charged downtown business owners through the BID. The fees were intended to pay for improvements and general promotions. The program had been hounded by controversy since its establishment, with its legality challenged and then upheld in Douglas County District Court. “After two years, we’ve finally gotten the money in,” Shmalberg said at an advisory board meeting. “But obviously we have not gotten unified support from the downtown community.”
• A light frost had touched Lawrence overnight as temperatures reached a low of 25 degrees. The frost was reported to have caused only light damage to flowers and plants but “it was just not cold enough to do much damage,” said Douglas County Extension Director Dennis Bejot.