25 years ago: Man hospitalized after entering burning building

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 18, 1989:

  • An unidentified man was being treated at Lawrence Memorial Hospital this morning after having run into a burning house to see if anyone was trapped inside. Lawrence Fire Chief Jim McSwain said he did not know the injured man’s name, and an LMH representative would not release any information this morning. A witness to the fire said that he and a few others had entered the house, where it was “like midnight” because of the thick smoke, and that he had quickly run back outside. The unidentified man had followed him out later “coughing pretty bad,” the witness said.
  • Area farmers were expecting a better wheat crop this year than many other parts of the state. Agricultural officials in Douglas, Jefferson, and Leavenworth counties this week said the wheat appeared generally in much better condition than that in western and central Kansas. “We’re one of the few places in the state that does look good, I guess,” said Leavenworth County Extension Director Sy Nyhart. State Agriculture Secretary Sam Brownback had toured parts of Leavenworth County about a week ago and had said the wheat looked better there than any he’d seen in Kansas. Statewide, wheat specialists were terming the crop the worst they’d seen in 25 years, with the wheat generally stunted and suffering from severe drought stress in most areas of Kansas.
  • In Washington, it was reported that the National Security Agency had ordered the construction of its own computer chip manufacturing plant. A Pentagon spokesperson said that “in September 1988 National Semiconductor Corp. received an $85 million contract to construct and operate a microelectronics facility for the U.S. government over a period of 45 months.” A Defense Department official, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified, confirmed that the plant was to be built at the NSA’s headquarters at Fort Meade, Maryland.