News and notes from around town:

• So long, Sunflower. Hello, Knology. The new owners of Lawrence’s Sunflower Broadband cable system are officially changing the name of the service today to Knology. The Georgia-based company, which bought Sunflower from the Journal-World’s parent company late last year, is changing signs and trucks and logos to simply read Knology. That’s the brand name the company uses in its 12 other markets across the country, and Knology CEO Rodger Johnson told me Tuesday morning that having that consistency is important for marketing purposes.

The name change may end up affecting thousands of e-mail addresses at some point in the future. Sunflower customers have created e-mail addresses with the @sunflower.com tag. A Knology spokeswoman said those sunflower.com addresses will continue to work for the time being, but that a switch over may be coming in the future. Keep an eye out for more information. Also check back later for more from our interview with Knology’s CEO.

UPDATE: Local Knology spokeswoman Maria Preston Cargill called me back with a little more information about the @sunflower.com issue. She said the company has not ruled out the option of allowing customers to keep the @sunflower.com tag for the longterm.

“We have not finalized any e-mail migration plan, so as of today, it is just going to be business as usual,” Preston Cargill said.

• A longtime leader in Lawrence’s real estate industry and a longtime power broker in all things business will share the stage at the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce’s upcoming annual meeting. John McGrew of Lawrence’s McGrew Real Estate will receive the chamber’s Citizen of the Years award at the annual meeting set for 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 28 at the Holiday Inn Lawrence.

Former Lawrence Chamber of Commerce president Gary Toebben also will be back for the event as the keynote speaker. Toebben was a dealmaker in Lawrence from 1981 to 1999 as president of the Lawrence Chamber. Toebben now is president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to McGrew, the chamber will honor three other community leaders:

• Sharon Spratt, CEO of Lawrence’s Cottonwood Inc. will be honored with the Buford M. Watson Jr. Public Service Award;

• Ranelle Fischer, a vice president at Lawrence’s Emprise Bank will receive the Wally Galluzzi Volunteer of the Year Award.

• Jane Bateman, president of Lawrence’s Jane Bateman: The Interiors Store, will be announced as the winner of the Athena award, which honors individuals who assist women in reaching their full leadership potential.

• One of Lawrence’s larger hotels is now operating under a new name. The former EconoLodge at 2222 W. Sixth St. is now a Howard Johnson. The hotel for years was a Ramada Inn. General Manager Randy Disoso said the switch took place in mid-November, and the hotel is undergoing an 18-month renovation. Disoso said the project will include refurbishing all 110 rooms in the facility. One part of the project that is complete is a revamping of the hotel’s restaurant and lounge. The hotel’s Fiddle Leaf Cafe is now serving a full breakfast menu daily from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The hotel’s sports bar, Duffy’s, also has begun serving food again with a pizza and hot wings menu.

• A pair of east Lawrence neighborhoods may want to mark their calendars for Wednesday evening. The city will host a pair of meetings to provide information about two complicated sewer line replacement projects for the 1100 block of Delaware and the 1500 block of New Hampshire. The meeting for the 1500 block of New Hampshire will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday in the cafeteria of Central Junior High, 1400 Mass. The meeting for the 1100 block of Delaware will follow from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

As we reported back in August of 2009, the projects are complicated because the city discovered that it did not have a proper easement for the 70-year old sewer lines. That has meant garages and other structures have been built atop the lines over the years. As you can imagine, that makes replacing a line more difficult. The city, though, says it has found a way to do the project without removing any structures built on top of the line.

• A sign that summer is surely on the way: Downtown Lawrence’s Spoons Yogurt has applied for a sidewalk seating area in front of its store at 732 Mass. City commissioners will consider the request at their Tuesday evening meeting. The outdoor seating area would narrow the amount of available sidewalk from about 13.5 feet to a little more than 7 feet. It will seat eight people.