Around our towns

More than 8,000 books will be for sale Thursday through Saturday at the 40th annual used book fair at Independence Center, sponsored by the Independence branch of the American Association of University Women.

Organizers expect to have about 6,000 hardback and large softbound books, plus 2,500 standard-sized paperback books. The standard paperbacks will sell for 50 cents each. Proceeds will finance scholarships for women.

Sale hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day. Independence Center is at 18813 East 39th St S., near Interstate 70 and Missouri 291.

Raytown is is launching an online initiative called Engage Raytown! to give citizens another way to have a say on the future of their city.

Residents can go to

raytownmo.mindmixer.com

www.raytown.mo.us

. Other portals are the city’s Facebook page, Twitter account and soon, a smart phone app.

“We know that our residents lead busy lives and just don’t have the time or energy to come out to a meeting or to be engaged with the city on a regular basis,” City Administrator Mahesh Sharma said in a news release. “This tool allows access to decision makers when you want to interact and on your schedule.”

The city is beginning discussion on several topics: crime, the Super Splash aquatic center, the most important aspects of Raytown’s character and how residents currently get information about the city.

New questions and surveys will be posted regularly.

Blue Springs City Theatre’s children’s production “The Jungle Book!” opens Friday and will run the next two weekends at the Blue Springs Civic Center.

Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and March 14-15, and 2 p.m. Sunday and March 15-16.

The civic center is on the Blue Springs High School campus, 2000 N.W. Ashton Drive.

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.bluespringscitytheatre.com.

Independence officials say the city removed more than 400 illegal signs last year as part of a program to rid the city of signs illegally placed on utility poles or alongside roads.

Since the program began in 2012, the city has taken enforcement action against more than 110 businesses or individuals for repeat violations.

A hotline has been set up to report signs that are in the city right-of-way or attached to a utility pole or box. The city asks people who see illegal signs to call 816-325-7422 and leave a message with an approximate address or intersection location.

The city says residents and property owners can help by removing illegal temporary signs from right-of-way in front of their property, generally extending 11 feet from the street.

Residents also should check out regulations before placing a sign in their yard. To find out what the rules are, call the community development department at 816-325-7425.

Starting Thursday afternoon, 15 members of the Kansas City Blues Rugby Club will ascend to the roof of the former Park Lane Hospital in east Kansas City and stay there until $25,000 is raised for River of Refuge, a nonprofit that helps the working poor who live in motels.

The group is close to opening a transitional living center at the former hospital, 5155 Raytown Road. The money is being raised through

www.rooftopblues.com

.

Blue Springs is losing Deputy City Administrator Todd Pelham to Lenexa, where he will be assistant city manager. Friday will be his last day in Blue Springs.

Pelham began working for Blue Springs as an assistant city administrator in 2006 and was promoted to deputy city administrator of development in 2011, the city said in a news release.

City leaders credit him for playing key roles in developing a downtown master plan, leading a city-visioning effort called “Renew the Blue,” streamlining the approval process for new development and shepherding successful ballot measures to fund infrastructure and public safety.

On Saturday, author Tom Rafiner will discuss how our part of Missouri came to be known as the “burnt district” during the Civil War. The short answer is that in retaliation for Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, federal authorities issued Order No. 11, which depopulated several counties along the state line. Homes, farms and vegetation were set afire.

Rafiner will discuss his new book, “Cinders and Silence: A Chronicle of Missouri’s Burnt District, 1854-1870” at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Westport Branch of the Kansas City Public Library, 118 Westport Road.

Admission is free. A reception follows at the Harris-Kearney House, 40th and Baltimore streets.

At its Spring Classic Concert on Saturday, the Lee’s Summit Symphony will accept non-perishable food donations as part of Orchestras Feeding America, a project where more than 250 orchestras from across the country collect food for the needy.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m at Lee’s Summit High School, 400 S.E. Blue Parkway. Tickets can be bought at

www.lssymphony.org

or at the Lee’s Summit Hy-Vee stores.

An apartment development for older adults has opened at 19401 E. 40th St. in Independence.

Gardens at Jackson Creek has one-bedroom apartments with rents starting at $1,025, and two-bedroom units with rents starting at $1,250.

This story was originally published March 4, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Around our towns."