Of all the days to misplace my three-foot long trumpet . . . here goes anyway. Hear ye, hear ye: The King lives. The King lives. The King lives. Let us rejoice with Whoppers, fries, and copious amounts of breakfast sandwiches in defiance of the witch doctors known as cardiologists. (This would have sounded much better with the trumpet.)

Regardless, I’m obviously referring to the Burger King at 1107 W. Sixth St. If you remember, it has been closed since a fire significantly damaged it on Aug. 12. The delay in reopening the facility has caused some to worry that the days of Burger King at that location may be over. No need to worry about that, says Lance Zach, regional manager for the Burger King franchise. Zach said he hopes to have the store open in about six to eight weeks.

“It is a popular location in Lawrence,” Zach said. “We’re anxious to get rolling on it.”

Zach said delays with insurance payments related to the fire have been the big holdup in getting the restaurant remodeled and reopened. But Zach said those issues appear now to be settled. He said officials have determined that an electrical connection in a can light in the dining room caused the fire.

Zach said some construction work had taken place on the site earlier, but that was just to gut the building. He said the remodeling plans have now been filed with the city and are awaiting a building permit. Plans call for a new look on the inside and the outside. Zach said the exterior will look more like the relatively new Burger King in the Bauer Farms development near Sixth and Wakarusa. The inside also will have a more modern look, and will feature a countertop area where people can plug in their computers and other electronic devices.

Zach said the location receives a good amount of university-related business, and area customers have been pretty vocal in their support for reopening. I know I have gotten numerous calls inquiring about the store’s future.

“You think you get calls,” Zach told me. “I probably get that question three or four times a day when I’m in Lawrence.”

Zach said the store is currently interviewing for new staff members, and expects to begin training new employees at the other two Lawrence locations in the next couple of weeks. He said the store will hire about 25 employees, including seven managerial positions. People can apply at work4BK.com

Now, the trumpet. What the . . . how did it get in my neighbor’s Dumpster?

In other news and notes from around town:

• I’m not sure that there will be trumpets involved, but the most recent list of land transactions in Douglas County has an interesting buyer on it. Country Jam USA Inc. has purchased about 3 acres of property at 1129 East 1264 Road — which is south of Lawrence, just south and west of the County Route 458 and U.S. Highway 59 intersection.

I don’t think the company is in the business of making good strawberry jam, for instance, although that would be a fantastic development (despite the fact my wife won’t let the kids and I eat anything sticky in the house anymore). Instead, our friend Mr. Google tells us that there is a Country Jam USA that is in the business of hosting outdoor music concerts. It looks like it currently has sites in Grand Junction, Colo. and Eau Claire, Wisc. Whether this is the same company that bought the Douglas County property, I can’t say for sure, but it seems like a reasonable bet.

I wouldn’t be too quick to jump to any conclusions about what the company has in mind in Lawrence. For one, there’s been nothing filed at the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning office for the address. In other words, no special permits have been sought to have a concert on the site. For another, the property is in a rural subdivision with several homes nearby. I would think Willie Nelson would have a better chance of landing a Gillette razor sponsorship than a concert company being allowed to host an event in a rural neighborhood. And finally, the site is only 3 acres and it has a house. So, it is possible that an owner of Country Jam USA simply wants to have a house in rural Douglas County. I called the company yesterday, but haven’t received a call back.

But, the property transfer list is published in the newspaper, and I figured the name might catch the eye of some other folks as well, so I wanted to tell you what I knew about it. I’ll let you know if I hear more.

• Get ready for some noise at Lawrence City Hall. Commissioners are scheduled on March 25 to vote on the latest proposal for an expanded rental licensing and inspection program that would basically cover every rental unit in the city.

As we have reported, Commissioner Jeremy Farmer has come up with a new proposal that seeks to limit the types of violations that could be used to deny a landlord a rental license. He’s talked in broad terms about how the rental licensing program should be limited to issues that are of an immediate threat to health and safety. But he also has said city inspectors should have the ability to cite landlords for other types of violations, if the inspectors note them while conducting the rental licensing inspection. The big difference would be those other types of violations — think unpainted siding, for example — couldn’t be used to deny a landlord a rental license. A rental license will become very important under this new system. Without a license, a landlord can’t offer the unit for rent.

Now we have the list of specific violations Farmer has in mind. There are 27 violations that could cause a landlord to not receive a rental license. Here’s a list of the 27 violations. (They’re the ones at the top.) They include items such as: missing windows; exterior doors without locks; badly leaking roofs; issues of structural integrity; missing handrails; missing or nonworking smoke detectors; improper venting of furnaces, water heaters and dryers; a host of electrical issues; over occupancy of tenants; and several others.

Farmer, however, also has provided a list of 42 other violations, as an example of what inspectors may be looking for over and above the city’s rental licensing program. If units are found to have these violations, they won’t be used against the landlord license application, but the landlord could face a fine or other enforcement action if the violations aren’t corrected. You can see that list here. (Scroll to the end.)

I hope to have more on the details of Farmer’s proposal later today.

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