Section B · Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Wednesday, September 8, 1999
EVERYTHING BUT ICE BEDS · DESKS · BOOK CASES CHEST OF DRAWERS unclaimed freight & damaged merchandise 936 Mass.
What?...oh, this, officer? It's a NEW kind of herbal cigarette. Perfectly legal. I bought it at the
PIZZA SHUTTLE LATE NIGHT"
SPECIAL
gas station."
Delivered After 9pm Two Pizzas One Topping On Each
$8.00
because some herbs aren't legal STUDENT SENATE
$8.00 no coupons accepted. offer expires 12-31-99.
1601 WEST 23RD · Southern Hills Center
842-1212
LUNCH · DINNER · LATE NIGHT
NOT VALID WITH OTHER OFFERS
WEDNESDAY: "Alternative Lifestyles Night"
High-Energy House Music
$1.00 WELLS
$1.50 DOMESTICS
THURSDAY: "College Night"
Top 40 Dance Music
$1.50 WELLS
$1.50 DOMESTICS
FRIDAY: "Hip-Hop Night"
Hip-Hop & Top 40 Dance
$1.75 DOMESTICS
$2.25 IMPORTS
SATURDAY: "Ladies Night"
No Cover, All Ladies
$1.75 WELLS
$1.75 CORONAS
$3.50 LONG ISLANDS
LAWRENCE'S PREMIER NIGHT CLUB! 729 NEW HAMPSHIRE·838-4623
ST. LOUIS — Heirs to the Walmart fortune found a big bargain—a price of $100 million to buy the St. Louis Blues and Kiel Center.
Wal-Mart heirs buy Blues, arena
The Associated Press
Bill and Nancy Laurie bought the NHL team and the 5-year-old
arena from Clark Enterprises, a group of 19 prominent local businessmen who were tired of pumping money into the enter prise. The team had been for sale for nearly a year.
"We've been searching
The sale awaits approval by the NHL Board of Governors and is expected to be completed by the end of September. No problems are anticipated, since the Lauries had been tentatively approved for a previous purchase.
We've been satisfied for the right professional sports program for a number of months," Bill Laurie said yesterday. "It's incredible that the opportunity was literally in our back yard."
"I think that's a slam dunk," said Jerry Ritter, Clark Enterprises chairman of the board.
The Blues are the third NHL team to change hands this year, following the Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins. Deals for two or three more are in the works.
The Lauries, who live in Columbia and raise quarter horses and appaloosas, had been prepared to spend a lot more money. In March, they unsuccessfully bid $400 million for the NHL's Colorado Avalanche, the NBA's Denver Nuggets, and their new home, the Pepsi Center.
The Denver deal fell through when shareholders of Ascent Entertainment Group, which owned the sports properties, filed suit, claiming the sale price was as much as $150 million too low. A settlement resulted in an auction.
As part of the deal, the Laurie take on $96 million in debt on Kie
Center.
Bill Laurie is much more familiar with basketball than hockey. He was a guard at Memphis State and is a front-row fixture at Missouri basketball games.
In fact, he knows next to nothing about hockey. He's never attended an NHL game and can't skate.
"At my age, it's not something I don't think I'm going to try anytime soon," the 47-year-old Laurie said. "Although I am new to the hockey world,
I enjoy all kinds of sports. Laurie wasn't ruling out pursuing an NBA franchise for the city.
"Let's go one thing at a time," he said. "I guess if an NBA possibility came along, we would take a look at it. But I can honestly tell you today our focus is on hockey."
The sale coincided with the opening of the Blues' training camp on Monday. Bill Laurie met with the team Tuesday.
"These kinds of discussions, quite honestly, don't come up as much as you might think," Laurie said. "Stan does his thing and I do mine."
Nancy Walton Laurie is the daughter of the late Bud Walton, who with his late brother Sam co-founded Wal-Mart. The Lauries own Crown Center Farms in Columbia.
The couple made the largest single donation to the University of Missouri in its history in 1996, offering $10 million toward the construction of a basketball arena. The donation was withdrawn a year later after the Lauries felt the university wasn't making enough progress toward construction.
Kiel Partners, a consortium of local businessmen that owns the Blues, announced Dec. 30 that it had hired an investment bank to explore the team's financial options. They included selling the Blues and Kiel Center, bringing an NBA team to the city or overhauling Kiel Center's capital structure.
Winning at
Rock and Roll Bowl is Easy
Parking the Grand Prize on Campus is Not
Today's hippest college game show and expo is visiting your campus. Put your pop culture knowledge to the test when you compete in Rock and Roll Bowl. You could win a lease on a new Ford Focus and check out the rest of the fun:
Free Stuff Boxing Ring Music Video Studio Video Games Fashion Shows Sit & Win Contests Fall TV & Movie Previews Ford will donate $500 to charity in the name of the student organization on your campus with the highest participation.
September 10 University of Kansas Kansas Union Plaza
(Rain Location: Kansas Ballroom)
11 am ~ 4 pm
No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.