From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 14, 1974:

• A change in emergency room procedures at Lawrence Memorial Hospital was expected shortly. Hospital administrator Donald Lenz said today he would discuss with his staff the proposed change to shorten the wait for emergency-room patients to see a doctor. The length of time before a doctor came to the hospital during the overnight hours had been criticized by a Douglas County commissioner during the commission’s recent discussion of a new ambulance. Leonard Barber, ambulance service operator, had told commissioners that during the night there was usually a five- to 10-minute wait before the doctor’s arrival at the emergency room.
• In Topeka today, a joint session of the Kansas Legislature honored quarterback John Hadl as a distinguished Kansan. About 30 Lawrence residents were on hand for the brief ceremony. Hadl, an All American during his Kansas University football career, had been the 1971 National Football League Man of the Year. This season he had led the Los Angeles Rams to their best season ever. Hadl said he expected to retire to Kansas after leaving pro football. “I’ve always loved the state of Kansas,” he said. “I want to come back and live in Lawrence and bring my family back to…. I think it will be four years from now. Life has been good to me and it’s due to a lot of people in this area.”
• A long-anticipated thaw was warming the Lawrence area today after more than two weeks of one of the harshest bouts of cold weather in Kansas history. After 15 days of sub-freezing temperatures, the mercury was expected to rise to near 50 this week. During the period from Dec. 30 to Jan. 13, the average temperature had been 8.9 degrees. The cold snap had included five days of below-zero temperatures, with the lowest point occurring overnight Saturday when the mercury had dipped to minus 12.