From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Feb. 27, 1974:

• Rising propane prices, unemployment, and a recent change in Social Security laws had resulted in the near doubling of the emergency case load at Penn House in the past month. According to a worker with the agency, emergency cases had increased from 10-15 a day to 20-30 a day. Several rural residents had applied for assistance after propane price had nearly tripled over the winter. A new change in Social Security benefits had resulted in some elderly residents losing their medical cards, and the $20 increase in benefits could not meet their medical bills, which ran up to $60 a month.
• The cost of mailing a letter was scheduled to increase this week as part of a new postal rate schedule. The nation’s basic first-class stamp, then costing 8 cents and featuring former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was to be replaced by a 10-cent stamp featuring the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
• A bill to impose a speed limit of 55 miles per hour on Kansas highways passed the House this week and headed for the desk of Gov. Robert Docking. Many House members were said to be less than enthusiastic about the bill, but a majority did not want to jeopardize the federal highway funds allocated to Kansas by not meeting the deadline, just two days away. Several other legislators believed the measure should be passed so Kansas would be “doing its part” in battling the energy crisis.