Our Past: Dec. 23

Dec. 23, 1980

Lisa Houston, 13, was collecting money for her Parsons Sun paper route while her twin sister, Lori, was collecting on the other side of the street. When Lisa rang the doorbell at the Claude Robison residence at 718 S. 13th, she heard a voice inside calling for Lori, who usually covered that side of the street. When Lisa went around to the side door to investigate, she found Mrs. Robison, 77, lying on the floor next to the door and Robison, 79, on the floor in the living room. Mrs. Robison said they had been lying on the floor for 12 hours. Both used wheelchairs, and neither was able to get up without help. Lisa called police, but before they could get there, the Robisons’ son showed up and helped them up. Although she cut short the Robisons’ ordeal by only a short time, Lisa’s efforts were appreciated.

Dec. 23, 1990

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks was planning to use a mechanical decoy, “Robo Deer II.” It and its motorized brother, “Robo Deer,” and stationary cousins had troubled hunters in the 18 Southeast Kansas counties for four years. Decoy deer were set up in areas marked “hunting with written permission only” and in other fields. Hunters who took shots at the deer from the roadway or from their vehicles were caught, as wildlife officials were nearby to observe violations. From Nov. 17 to Dec. 9, “Robo Deer” resulted in 92 citations for Southeast Kansas hunters.

Dec. 23, 2000

Cold weather was bringing more problems than just slick roads and freezing temperatures. It also brought frozen pipes at homes and water main breaks in town. Parsons had had five water mains break since Dec. 8. Earlier in the week, a main broke on Southern and crews spent five hours repairing the break — starting at 10 p.m. Most local plumbers could not be reached for comment about frozen pipes because they were out working, and one who did answer his phone said he was too busy to talk.