I tried to think this out (Why Lawrence) and came up with two things.
1. Military posts. You have the following:
-Ft. Leonard Wood 300 miles away. (Army engineering)
-Ft. Riley 100 miles away. (Home of the Big Red 1 INF)
-McConnell Air Force Base 161 miles (KC-135 Stratotankers)
-Fort Leavenworth 50 (U.S. Army Combined Arms Center)
University of Kansas (In Lawrence) Maybe the doers were kicked out?
Univ. of Kansas Medical Center is probably the largest in the area and would be able to assist victims? (It's a stretch.)

The other? Well it could be as insignificant as there were scenes for the show shot in Lawrence. Just thier way of saying thanks and making all of us crazy trying t figure it out.
http://www.nifp.org/?q=node/148

Does anyone know the make, model & year of Jake's car? I am enthralled with the show, but have been wondering about the car since he first drove out of town, and now taking it to rogue river. I have forgotten my hotrods from the old days. Thanks.

With requard to Hawkins, you all remember when he went out in the nuke suit and got the drum, right? In that same scene he had that one case pop open and all those M-16/AR-15's were inside. He is definatly a Fed, just not sure yet whos side he's on. A terrorist would have less expensive weapons, but a mole/spy would have access to the more expensive firearms.

Here is my theory on Hawkins:

I too believe that he is some kind of agent or military operative. I believe the training that took him away from his family was a kind of backup plan if a WMD attack happened in the U.S.

I'm guessing that the bomb that was discovered in NYC caused the gov't to activate it's agents to go to default locations, non likely targeted ones, to await further instructions, in the meantime the gov't would try to locate the remaining bombs. If they failed they would have operatives at strategic locations, perhaps to assess casualties and be a connection for the remaing gov't to communicate.

This is why Hawkins seemed pissed why one of the men went in to save family members and left them a man down.

Who knows what is in the drum. It could be a red herring left there to keep the viewers thinking that he is a bad guy. Who knows.

my only concern with the show is the town's complete lack of concern for their situation.

They aren't protecting the town ... they aren't stockpiling food (or rationing it) ... they aren't stockpiling gas, etc ...

sorta like Lost ... the survivors seem to care very little about their situation or who the others are and what they want (in the case of Jack / Sawyer / Kate)

We have to rally around this series. Bones took a chunk of viewers away from Jericho.

Havent we had enough crime shows or CSIs or variations thereof?

Do we want another reality show or game show??

If we want to see this story play out, we must do what we can to get people to watch Jericho or watch it AND DVR it. Or watch live and TIVO Jericho.

Gene - Its October/November ... If you farm in Kansas instead of southern California and you own enough canning lids and jars, you filled all your jars during the summer and have none left to spare.

Anyhow, who cans pumpkin? Thats the sort of crop you store in a cool, dark, dry place like a storm cellar. Even pumpkins with painted-on faces can be stored. Why do you think that pumpkin pie originally started as a Thanksgiving dish? Because this was a fruit -- like Acorn and Hubbard squash -- that could be stored for the cold months.

If you want to reference Alas Babylon, recall that canning wasn't a big option there either (even for a guy with advanced notice) AND that the person who traded for a vast collection of worthless items provided a key ingredient in catching the bad guys.

Thats the sort of foil you need for story telling -- someone with a bad survival plan to contrast with your hero's good survival plan ... if your hero has a plan ... oh, never mind ....

Actually, the missile complexes were located in the general region around Lawrence Kansas, but are so spread out that a 20kt nuke would not do any damage unless it was a direct silo hit. Targeting the town of Lawrence, Kansas would not have any real effect on the silos or control bunkers. Also, the population of Topeka is about 50k more than Lawrence and it is the seat of state government (adds to the chaos factor). It would be a more inviting target to terrorists both in polital effects and in deaths per kiloton. Jake C could be right in thinking that, good or bad, Hawkins' basement nuke was meant for Topeka.

Toby OB has a good point though. Sgt. Bilko was probably on the top of the terrorists target list. But I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko's scams.

I was trying to think of what book the series reminds me of--it's Alas, Babylon. Thanks, Gene.

Yeah it is getting a little cheesy but Im still hangin in...once again can we get someone else to write this summary/op-ed piece? Bob doesnt even mention about the barrell or that it seems like it was a terrorist attack; a huge piece of info!...guess hes too busy writing letters to save Studio 60.