From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for August 13, 1989:

• Telephone workers in five Midwestern states went on strike early today, with regional telephone companies serving 18 other states holding negotiations in an effort to avert walkouts, but progress was being reported in negotiations with Southwestern Bell. A SWB spokesman said the company had presented the Communications Workers of America union a new proposal about 15 minutes before the strike deadline, which would have affected 41,000 union employees in five states, including Kansas. If a strike did occur, SWB was planning to divert some Lawrence service requests to its Mission business office, where management personnel were ready to fill the strikers’ positions.
• Recycling was catching on in Lawrence homes and businesses. “It’s a great time in Lawrence for recycling,” said Patricia Martin, who had begun work a month earlier as the city’s part-time recycling coordinator. “People are interested; they’re motivated. There’s a real opportunity to continue to grow in it.”