From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 8, 1990:

• Construction in Lawrence, which had been enjoying a three-year boom, had leveled off in 1989 after setting building permit records and changing the landscape of western Lawrence. During 1989, permits had been issued for a total of 106 units in new duplexes, triplexes, four-plexes, and apartment buildings. That was far below 1988, when the city’s chief building inspector Gene Shaughnessy’s office had written permits for construction of 598 units. One reason for the drop was the elimination in 1989 of some federal tax breaks for multifamily construction, Shaughnessy said. Proposals to limit Kansas University’s future enrollments had also probably kept multifamily construction down, he said.
• Lawrence city commissioners had been discussing the possibility of adding a replica trolley car to the downtown area ever since May 1988, when plans had been announced for the Lawrence Riverfront Plaza. A trolley, actually a bus designed to look like a trolley, would run have run between the riverfront factory outlet mall and the remainder of downtown. When the commission had adopted the 1990 city budget in August, it had included $150,000 in funding for the purchase and operation of a trolley, and commissioners and city staff had been studying their options since that time. A discussion of the latest trolley report was on the commission’s agenda for their regular meeting this week.