Firefighters respond to heavy smoke and reports of fire at Jeffersons, 8th and Massachusetts streets, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015.

After a long eight months, Jefferson’s restaurant is hiring this week before its grand reopening on Aug. 31.

A fire on Jan. 15 shut down the local favorite at 743 Massachusetts St. Since the thick, black smoke cleared that day, the only folks to work inside Jefferson’s have been fire inspectors and construction workers.

Firefighters respond to heavy smoke and reports of fire at Jeffersons, 8th and Massachusetts streets, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015.

But that’ll soon change, as Jefferson’s has been hosting open interviews since Wednesday. The restaurant interviewed walk-in candidates Wednesday through Friday of last week, as well as yesterday and today at Mass Street Pub, 728 Massachusetts St. (Jefferson’s is still undergoing some construction work.)

If you’re looking for a job, there’s still time. Jefferson’s is looking for “hosts, runners, servers, promotions and kitchen staff,” according to a Facebook post. They’ll be interviewing candidates today until 5 p.m. at Mass Street Pub.
__________________

Speaking of rebuilding, Pet World has recalled 11 of its employees to work and all of its managers are working full-time once again following a Memorial Day fire that devastated the business.

Though the fire on May 26 killed an undisclosed number of animals, injured dozens more and closed the doors of the building that the business had called home for many years, Pet World opened a temporary business in a nearby space called Pet World Express in June.

photo by: Nick Krug

Pet World campers gather up before heading out to the Pet World Nature Preserve on Thursday, June 25, 2015 at Pet World Express, a temporary store located in The Malls Shopping Center, 711 W. 23rd Street.

Co-owner Sherry Emerson told customers on her blog Monday that because of the community’s support the rebuilding process has come along at an “impressive rate.”

Emerson became quite an advocate for changing city fire codes, which don’t currently require monitored fire alarms or fire sprinklers for animal-boarding businesses. The original Pet World did not have either, though it was in compliance with city code. Emerson has said that the fire may have had a different outcome if those were in place.

So for the temporary location, Emerson insisted on a new fire system, complete with a monitored smoke detection alarm. Sprinklers aren’t available in the temporary location, but Emerson said she promises to have them once the business returns to its main building.

Now that it’s got the monitored alarm system, Emerson said Pet World is “finally starting to feel more comfortable having live animals in the store.” After the fire, many of the animal survivors were sent to foster homes, but on Monday Pet World began requesting that all rescued animals be returned to the business.

“Every day we have more and more pets in stock, starting with the fire survivors,” Emerson said.

As for the main building, Emerson said Monday that the final step of the cleaning process is underway and Pet World should have an estimated timeline of when it can reopen the old location by the end of the week.
_____________

As you can tell, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical personnel have had quite a year so far. So if you’d like to show your gratitude, you can show up to one of the five upcoming Open House and Centennial Celebration events and thank the emergency workers in person.

The LDCFM is celebrating 100 years as a municipal fire department this year. To celebrate, it is hosting open houses next month for residents to tour all five fire stations in Lawrence.

Attendees will have the chance to meet firefighters, see fire equipment and trucks, watch demonstrations and learn safety information. If you’d like to go to one of the five “birthday parties,” you can show up to any of the following:

Sept. 5 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Station No. 3, 3708 West Sixth St.

Sept. 12 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Station No. 1, 746 Kentucky St.

Sept. 19 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Station No. 4, 2121 Wakarusa Drive.

Sept. 26 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Station No. 5, 1911 Stewart Ave.

Oct. 3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Station No. 2, 2128 Harper St.

To RSVP on Facebook, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/1453417084966980/.
______________

It might seem a little early to start thinking about Christmas, but the people behind the Lawrence Police Department’s Blue Santa program are preparing for a charity benefit to raise money for the program on Saturday.

The LPD’s Blue Santa program provides Christmas food and presents to local families in need each winter. Since its start in 2011, the Blue Santa program has helped hundreds of families in need. And in order to do so, fundraising has to start early.

On Saturday, the program will host a benefit auction from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Marriot SpringHill Suites, 1 Riverfront Plaza. There’s some great stuff available, too. After a quick scroll through the dozens and dozens of auction items, I found a few big-ticket items – like a Royals VIP package, Disney World tickets and free Jefferson’s wings for a year – that I’d pay a pretty penny for.

View Map

For a full list of auction items available, visit http://lkpdbluesanta.wix.com/shoppin#!auction-item-list/avjog.

Entrance to the event is a $10 suggested donation. And don’t get there late; auction tables begin closing at 8:30 p.m.
___________

And now for our regular roundup of police calls. As always, I’ll remind you that this is a list of noteworthy calls I pulled from the Lawrence Police Department call log. Not all calls yielded police reports, and many may have gone unsubstantiated. The list is meant to give you an idea of what kinds of calls police are responding to within a given time period.

This list is a collection of calls that police responded to between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning:

Violence

• Disturbance (verbal or physical arguments): 4

• Domestic disturbance: 3

• Domestic battery: 1

• Criminal threat: 2

• Assault: 1

• Battery: 1

Traffic

• Noninjury accident: 7

• Injury accident: 1

Person crimes

• Sex crime: 1

• Harassment: 1

Medical

• Medical: 2

• Suicide attempt: 1

• Alcohol poisoning: 1

Miscellaneous

• Suspicious activity: 2

• Vicious animal: 1

• Noise or Nuisance: 2

Welfare

• Child welfare check: 3

• Adult welfare check: 7

• Animal welfare check: 4

• Missing adult: 1

• Runaway: 2

Drugs

Drug activity: 1

Property crimes

• Stolen vehicle: 2

• Shoplifting: 3

• Theft: 8

• Criminal damage: 2

• Trespassing: 3