Staff

Karrey Britt (Assistant assignment director )

Karrey Britt is assistant assignment director at the News Center. She helps ensure news in Northeast Kansas is covered by making photo and story assignments and covering events and issues herself. When she is not writing or assigning stories, she might be copy editing or designing pages.

She began working at the Lawrence Journal-World in 1996 after working for a couple of years at the Junction City Daily Union. Although she and her husband live in a city full of Jayhawk fans, they still root for their alma mater - Kansas State University.

Recent stories

Doctors can’t afford new Medicare patients
Reimbursement rates aren’t keeping pace with rising costs, doctors say
July 10, 2008
Some Lawrence physicians are fed up with the lack of Medicare reimbursements and are cutting off new patients to help make ends meet. Dr. Matthew Buxton, of Free State Dermatology in Lawrence, is one of them. Since Jan. 1, he hasn’t been accepting new Medicare patients. “It just got to the point where I couldn’t continue to increase the number of patients I was seeing at that level of reimbursement,” he said.
KU rejects proposal for beer sales in union
July 7, 2008
The taps will remain off at Kansas University’s Jaybowl. Students were hoping a new proposal — packed with safety measures — would allow those 21 and older to enjoy a 3.2-percent beer while bowling on the first level of the Kansas Union.
Communication camp helps youngsters learn self-expression
July 7, 2008
Children with communication challenges participate in the eighth annual Sertoma-Schiefelbusch Communication Camp at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds.
Playhouse helps county’s neglected children
July 5, 2008
A miniature cottage is going to have a huge effect on children’s lives. Not only will it bring smiles to the faces of the lucky ones who get to play in it, but it will raise funds to help those who are abused and neglected. The playhouse is part of the 17th annual fundraiser for Douglas County CASA, which provides trained volunteers to work one-on-one with children who have been removed from their homes.
Uninsured Lawrence family determined to rebuild childhood home after fire
With eight children, road to recovery will be tough
July 4, 2008
Three weeks after a devastating fire, 33-year-old Shannan McCawley is determined to rebuild the east Lawrence home where she and her seven children grew up. Shannan said her late mother, Shirley McCawley, is her motivation. “It is so important for us to keep it and get it rebuilt because it was our mom’s,” Shannan said. “She fought hard for the house. My kids, my sister’s kids, the whole neighborhood — everybody has been in this house, grew up in this house. My mom never turned anybody away.”
VNA opens county’s first hospice home
June 25, 2008
There’s no place like home. That’s especially true when facing the end of life. To offer an alternative to a nursing home or hospital, a Lawrence nonprofit agency has opened Douglas County’s first hospice home, called the Care Cottage.
Disabilities disappear at MDA summer camp
For one special week, focus is on fun
June 17, 2008
At age 15, Lucas Mehl can’t walk. He uses an electric wheelchair and depends on others to help him shower, dress and use the bathroom. Lucas has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the most common childhood form of the disease, and isn’t expected to live past his early 20s.
Too young to take the wheel?
Parents, officials mull raising age limit
June 11, 2008
Baring a tin grin, Nick Haley, 15, adjusted the mirror and grabbed the wheel with both hands. He slowly pressed down on the gas pedal, but the car wasn’t moving. Oops, he forgot to shift the car into drive. Welcome to another summer of driver’s education classes at Free State High School. As these teenagers — about 250 of them — prepare to hit the road, there’s debate nationally and locally about exactly when and how they should learn to drive.
New farmers’ markets take root
Fresh produce to be available closer to home
June 6, 2008
Lecompton and Perry, bedroom communities nestled between Lawrence and Topeka, are about to get their own farmers’ markets. The approximately 1,500 residents who live in the towns, which are separated by the Kansas River, won’t have to drive to the city to buy fresh produce.
Pasture ID aims to help the cows come home
Program designed to quickly inform deputies in event of loose animals, suspicious activity
June 4, 2008
A new program aims to save Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies time and, ultimately, taxpayers money. The Pasture ID program was announced Tuesday by Douglas County Sheriff Ken McGovern and Loren Baldwin, a member of the Douglas County Farm Bureau’s board. The program uses black-and-white metal signs that ranchers can obtain from the farm bureau and post on pastures.

Full story list