Months of work by Douglas County staff to develop a major overhaul of the county's zoning regulations came to an end Wednesday as the Douglas County Commission authorized the proposed changes during its regular meeting. But Tonya Voigt, the county’s director of zoning, said staff will ...
The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider authorizing new zoning regulations, which the county staff has been pursuing in light of increased residential development in rural areas. But the commission will also consider extending its postponement on processing applications to ...
Douglas County has filed plans to demolish an unoccupied building on the southern edge of downtown. The City of Lawrence’s Historic Resources Commission will consider authorizing a certificate of appropriateness for the county to demolish the structure located at 1242 Massachusetts St. ...
TOPEKA — Kansas' elections chief is pushing to make the state's central voter registration database more secure by changing how counties tap into it, but some officials are nervous about what they see as a big project in a busy election year. Secretary of State Scott Schwab has told county ...
Local health officials helping Douglas County design a behavioral health crisis center are honing in on how it will look and operate. However, they noted there are still key decisions they will need to sort out, such as the facility’s staffing. A group of health professionals on Wednesday ...
A Douglas County farmer, entrepreneur and member of the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission has filed run for the county's top board. Karen Willey, 44, who currently serves on the planning commission as a county appointee, announced in a news release Friday that she has ...
With the temperatures falling close to zero degrees this week, Douglas County’s Public Works Department added a special ingredient to its winter road treatment mixture. On Wednesday, public works crews for the first time put beet juice into the usual mixture of salt, sand and brine to help ...
The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday added an extra condition before allowing a rural landowner to continue storing trucks on his property for his lawn care business. Dallien Holtkamp will need to provide a portable restroom on the site for the employees of the business, the ...
The man who is second in charge of Douglas County’s Register of Deeds Office has thrown his hat into the ring to become the office’s leader. Kent Brown, who is currently Douglas County’s deputy register of deeds, on Wednesday filed to run for the top register of deeds position in the ...
After Douglas County officials informed a rural resident that he was violating zoning and codes regulations by using his property for truck storage, the resident has applied for a conditional use permit to continue doing so. The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider approving a ...
The Douglas County Commission took its final action on the 2019 budget during its meeting on Wednesday by approving $2.7 million of year-end transfers. The commission began the year-end budgeting process in December when it approved an amended 2019 budget, which allowed the county to account ...
The Douglas County Commission will consider authorizing about $2.7 million worth of year-end budget transfers during its meeting on Wednesday. The proposed transfers are the final step of the year-end budgeting process for the county’s 2019 budget. The commission began the process in ...
After hearing more than 25 county residents voice their opposition to the project, the Douglas County Commission authorized a nearly $30 million expansion of the county jail during its meeting on Wednesday. All three commissioners — Patrick Kelly, Michelle Derusseau and Nancy Thellman — ...
The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider authorizing a nearly $30 million expansion of its jail — a project that has long been controversial. But how the commissioners will vote during the meeting is still up in the air. All three — Patrick Kelly, Michelle Derusseau and ...
“Check,” Derek Mecca’s challenger told him Thursday in the lobby of the Lawrence Public Library. Mecca moved his king one place to the left. His opponent nodded, a recognition of a move well-made. Minutes later, his challenger departed from him with a loss, but for Mecca, the real ...
A group that opposes the planned expansion of the Douglas County Jail is pursuing two studies that it believes will identify underlying issues contributing to overpopulation of the jail. Leaders of the faith-based activist group Justice Matters told the Journal-World recently that they wanted ...
After several Big Springs residents voiced opposition to proposed changes to the Douglas County zoning regulations, county planning staff recently offered a new district just for their community. Big Springs is an unincorporated community in northwest Douglas County, located along U.S. Highway ...
Douglas County may have the legal authority to use a sales tax approved by voters in 1994 to finance a nearly $30 million expansion of its jail, but that doesn't mean it's ethical, community activists argued on Wednesday. Joanna Harader, a member of the faith-based social activist group ...
The Douglas County Commission will learn during its next meeting how county staff proposes to pay for a nearly $30 million jail expansion. County Administrator Sarah Plinsky is expected to lay out the financial plans for the proposed $29.6 million expansion project during the commission’s ...
An outgoing member of the Douglas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council believes more needs to be done to address the issue of race in the local justice system. Crafting a comprehensive plan to address such issues would be a good place to start, said the Rev. Edith Guffey. “It ...