From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 17, 1989:

• Dry conditions in Douglas County were worrying Lawrence Fire Chief Jim McSwain. “We went down to assist Wakarusa Township on a grass fire Tuesday from about 3 to 10, and it was extremely dry,” McSwain said today. “Even trees four to five inches in diameter were burning at trunk level. That’s unusual, because usually when a fire gets into the tree line it slows down.” McSwain said he supported a seven-day emergency burning ban that had been set earlier in the week by Mike Amyx, Douglas County Commission chair.
• Two Lawrence residents, James Seaver and Betty Laird, were among 18 Kansans nominated this week for the 1989 Public Humanities Awards of the Kansas Committee for the Humanities. Seaver, professor of history at Kansas University, was known for his love of opera and for being a long-standing guiding force in KU’s Western Civilization program. Laird, a consultant to the Clinton Museum, had long been involved in researching local history and had co-authored a book on several early county settlements. Nominations for the awards had been submitted by members of the general public.
• In Washington, the Senate today confirmed Rep. Dick Cheney as defense secretary by a 92-0 vote, just one week after President Bush selected the six-term Wyoming congressmen to replace rejected nominee John Tower.