News and notes from around town:

• Hmm, maybe the North Star is powered by neon. This North Star, anyway, will have a bit of a neon glow to it.

A former manager of the Bourgeois Pig is opening up Frank’s North Star Tavern at 508 Locust Street in North Lawrence.

“I’m hoping it will just be a pretty classic, friendly bar for people who want to skip the mass of people on Massachusetts Street,” said Frank Dorsey, who also has had managerial stints at Tellers, the old Cornucopia and has tended bar at places ranging from Rick’s Place to a pub in Cambridge, England.

The 2,000-square-foot bar is just down the street from the La Tropicana Mexican restaurant, and has served as a dance club in the past. Dorsey said he’s going to focus more on being a neighborhood bar rather than a dance venue. He’s going to add a lounge area in the front of the bar, complete with comfy couches. The back of the building will include a pool table and even some classic pinball games.

At the moment, Dorsey said he doesn’t plan to serve any food. But he said he knows of a couple of people in the area who are trying to get food truck businesses started, so he may invite them to set up shop in his parking lot on the weekends.

“It would be cool to have several of them down there,” Dorsey said.

Dorsey said he plans on having six beers on tap, and a large selection of bottled beer ranging from expensive Belgian beers to cheap PBR.

Dorsey , who is a North Lawrence resident, said he plans to have the bar open by May 4.

• Opening a bar in North Lawrence undoubtedly will be easier than building a multi-story hotel and apartment building at Ninth and New Hampshire streets.

The city’s Historic Resources Commission has rejected plans for the project after residents in the adjacent neighborhood have expressed concerns about the proposed building’s height. City commissioners at their Tuesday meeting are scheduled to hear an appeal of that rejection.

But when the city’s agenda was released Thursday evening, a key piece of the Ninth and New Hampshire puzzle was still missing. The city has commissioned a report from an outside consultant regarding the financial feasibility of the project. My understanding is that one of the components of that report will be whether the consultants believe the project must be as large as proposed in order for it to be financially feasible. I think for some commissioners, the findings of that report are going to be very important in whether they can support the project at its proposed size.

At the moment, I don’t have anybody whispering anything about this project into my ear. Right now, this is just me reading the tea leaves more than anything, but the fact this report still hasn’t been completed is telling. Perhaps it is a sign the developers are coming up with an alternative. We had reported on a rumor that Doug Compton — the lead developer on the project — was working to get Black Hills Energy to move its offices from the northeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire streets to office space that Compton owns elsewhere in town. Black Hills’ current location is across the street from the proposed hotel/apartment site, and importantly, it does not abut a residential neighborhood. Neither Black Hills nor Compton would confirm they were in discussions, but neither did much to quash the rumor either.

Again, I don’t know what — if anything — is in the works, but there have been several weeks of delays on this project that would have given parties time to talk. I do think the next few days will be an interesting time for this project.

UPDATE: My understanding is that an April 30 meeting of the Historic Resources Commission tentatively has been scheduled to review a new design for the proposed hotel/apartment project. The good folks at the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning office confirmed the meeting is in the works, but said a new design hasn’t yet been filed with the office. So, I don’t have any details about a new design, but when that changes, I’ll pass the info along.

• Ah, summer in Lawrence is nearing, which of course means closing downtown streets and drinking beer in the public right-of-way. City commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday are scheduled to approve several street closures and several alcohol permits that will allow street party type of festivities. Here’s a look:

— The downtown bar The Replay Lounge is taking a page from the Sandbar’s playbook and hosting a street party. The Replay is proposing to close 10th Street from Massachusetts eastward to the alley from noon to midnight on Saturday, May 12. The Replay folks are asking for a license to sell alcohol on the street during the event. I don’t have a lot of details about the event, but I assume it will include some live music.

— The Lawrence Arts Center and the Art Tougeau organization are seeking to close the 900 block of New Hampshire Street from noon Friday, May 25, until 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 26, for festivities related to the Arts Center’s Final Friday event and the Art Tougeau parade on the following day. The event will cause some disruption of entrance and exit areas for the city-owned parking garage in the 900 block. The city will require organizers of the event to have people in place to move barricades for people who need to enter or leave. The event also would allow for alcohol to be served in front of the arts center.

— Art Tougeau also is seeking to close 10th Street from Massachusetts to New Hampshire from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 26, to host an awards ceremony and party following its parade through downtown. The event is seeking a permit to serve alcohol on the street.

— The folks at Brits, the purveyor of many British food items at 929 Mass., have applied for a permit to close 10th Street from Massachusetts to New Hampshire streets from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 2, for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebration event. Hold onto your tiara, but this event is not requesting a permit to sell alcohol in the street. Perhaps the Queen objects to such behavior. (That would explain why I’ll never be a prince.) According to a city memo, it will include cars on display, vendors, acoustical music, games, face painting and other such activities. In case you are not an anglophile (that sounds like something you would have the right to remain silent about) the Diamond Jubilee is a major celebration in the United Kingdom to mark 60 years of the queen’s reign.

— Last but not least — actually it is first on the calendar — is Art in the Park. Organizers are asking for Massachusetts Street from North Park Street to South Park Street to be closed from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 6, for the annual Art in the Park art fair event. That event also is not seeking an alcohol permit. Organizers also have set the rain date for the event as May 13.