From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 4, 1989:

• The Lawrence City Commission was readying to reactivate a citizens’ task force to evaluate illegal drug use and abuse in the area. Drug abuse had been a major topic at the recent National League of Cities Conference in Atlanta, which had been attended by three Lawrence city commissioners and Acting City Manager Mike Wildgen. Commissioners were intending to continue the discussion at their meeting this week. “I walked away feeling our city is fortunate in comparison with the major cities and their drug problems,” said Commissioner Shirley Martin-Smith of the Atlanta meeting. “But we can’t walk away from the problem…. We can’t just bury our heads in the sand and pretend like we’re not subject to this problem.”
• A photograph of a bald eagle perched on a tree on the Kansas River appeared on today’s front page. The huge bird, intent on catching fish from the river, appeared unruffled by the activity at the nearby Riverfront Plaza shopping center construction site.