Ben MacConnell understands the dangers of attaching opinions on a modern issue to someone who can’t speak for himself, but he believes Martin Luther King Jr. would be a strong proponent of criminal justice reform. "Given the billions of dollars we're spending on jails and prisons, and the ...
Douglas County commissioners once hoped for a $44 million plan to expand and modernize the local jail. On Wednesday, the interim county administrator cautiously produced a new estimate of $23 million for complete construction and furnishing of a pared-down version of the expansion, which has ...
Alexa has extended her reach far beyond reordering laundry detergent and turning off that living room light someone always seems to forget. Now she’s doing a public service. Kent Brown, Douglas County's deputy register of deeds, has set up an Amazon Echo Show at the county office. The ...
The Westwick Rugby Complex wants a permit to make some improvements to the site. However, it’s about 20 years overdue to meet the conditions of its first permit. Douglas County commissioners first approved a permit for the site, which is northwest of North 1200 and East 1150 roads, in 1994. ...
New Douglas County Commissioner Patrick Kelly, of Lawrence, was sworn into office at a ceremony Monday morning at the county courthouse. Kelly won a three-way Democratic primary in August 2018 with 53 percent of the vote, and he had no opponent in November’s general election. He represents ...
It’s a bit odd that Douglas County Commissioner Mike Gaughan is always running late, because his track record in office shows that he’s kept his focus on the future. Chronic tardiness was the impetus behind the gift that fellow commissioners affectionately gave Gaughan at his last meeting ...
Patrick Kelly will be sworn in as a Douglas County Commissioner at 10 a.m. Monday at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 Massachusetts St. He was elected in November to the first district seat, which includes Lawrence neighborhoods north of 19th Street and west of Massachusetts Street. The ...
In a somewhat unusual edition of Healthy Outlook, I wanted to give you a heads up about some changes for both the Journal-World as a whole and for the Health section. This past week, I started covering K-12 education and Douglas County government for the newspaper. I’ll still cover health, ...
Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday raised concerns with a proposed timeline to renegotiate funding of emergency services. The county and the city of Lawrence share funding of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, the Journal-World has reported. Under an agreement that hasn’t seen ...
Year-end housekeeping comprises most of the Douglas County Commission’s agenda for Wednesday’s meeting. The commission will consider creating an equipment reserve fund to hold the unspent balance of $670,000 out of the $1.5 million marked for behavioral health projects in fiscal year ...
There certainly will be plenty that's new in Douglas County government in 2019. A new commissioner will be seated this month, and the county will be searching for a new county administrator for the first time in more than 25 years. But when it comes to issues, expect two old ones to dominate ...
The Delaware Tribe has abandoned plans to develop as an agricultural heritage center a 92-acre site just northeast of Lawrence. Chester Brooks, chief of the Delaware Tribe, said the Delaware Tribal Council decided the proposed agricultural heritage center would not produce enough revenue to ...
Those interested in the preservation of historical and natural areas in Douglas County are invited to learn more about the county's annual Natural and Cultural Grant Program at two informational meetings in January. The meetings will be from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4, at Meeting Room C ...
The Douglas County Commission has canceled its weekly meetings for the Wednesday after Christmas and the Wednesday after New Year's Day. The commission is next scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. on Jan. 9. The commission usually meets at 4 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Douglas County Courthouse, 1100 ...
The Douglas County Commission agreed Wednesday to subsidize the hiring of three new psychiatrists for $350,000 — a move that one official said would allow about 1,100 more people to get the mental health treatment they need in 2019. The subsidy will allow Bert Nash Community Mental Health ...
The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider a proposal that would add three new psychiatrists to the county health system in 2019. The proposal would have the county subsidize the cost of hiring three new psychiatrists at a cost of $350,000, said Bob Tryanski, county director of ...
The transitional group home and apartments to be built in 2019 as part of Lawrence's newly approved behavioral health campus can’t open too soon. “The truth is when we cut the red ribbon at the opening, we will be full,” said Mathew Faulk, housing program supervisor for Bert Nash ...
Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug retired Friday. He held the position for 26 years. “I have loved this job,” he recently told the Journal-World. “I won’t say I’ve loved every minute of it, but I have loved this job for a very long time, and I love this community and county ...
After voters in May rejected a new sales tax to fund a $44 million expansion of the Douglas County Jail, county commissioners are again searching for a way to pay for an expansion to relieve inmate overcrowding. The latest proposal would involve using $2.9 million in cuts, fee increases and ...
Undersheriff Gary Bunting and Assistant County Administrator Sarah Plinsky presented on Wednesday the Douglas County Commission jail expansion options that would add from 84 to 154 beds to the facility. Bunting and Plinsky said the options, which were shared without cost estimates, realized ...