From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for March 20, 1989:

• A brief rainfall of .16 inch this morning wasn’t enough to shorten the recently-imposed burn ban in Douglas County. In fact, county commissioners voted today to add a seven-day extension to the existing ban imposed the previous week. However, in its motion to approve the extension, the commission authorized Commission Chair Mike Amyx to lift the ban if rainfall were to continue. In spite of the ban, five grass fires had been reported over the weekend. A rural Wellsville man had started a small brush fire which had “got away and out of control,” according to the sheriff’s department. Two acres had also burned Saturday afternoon after the exhaust on a riding mower had ignited dry grass. Sheriff deputies had responded to complaints of a man burning off a brome field about a mile west of Eudora, and two grass fires south of Lawrence had also been reported.
• Lawrence drivers could soon look forward to a smoother ride over the railroad tracks on the north end of downtown. Workers from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway had scheduled April 3 for the start of an estimated six-week project to improve the railroad spur crossing Sixth, Vermont, and Massachusetts streets. The improvements were to include track replacement and the installation of a rubberized material to make the crossings smoother for vehicles.