From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 30, 1990:

Following up on the previous day’s story on the possible closing of the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant near DeSoto, a Journal-World article today described how Lt. Col. Richard M. Hart Jr. had found out the previous week that the plant was on a list of facilities targeted for closure. On Monday, Hart, commander of the plant, had passed the word on to Hercules Powder Co. officials, who operated the ammunition plant under contract with the Army. “I think when you work in the defense industry, you’ve got to understand that the desires and the needs of the government are what determine all of our jobs,” Hart said at a press conference. “Because of the changing situation of the world, and converting to a smaller, more flexible Army, yes, we’re subject to changes in the number of people we employ. The people out there, I’m sure, realized that when they came to work here nobody guaranteed the job was indefinite.” Hart emphasized that the plant was not scheduled for a complete shut-down, but that about half the existing 740-plus jobs were to be cut.