A new Eudora entrepreneur is providing a venue that will make moot that eternal teenager lament of “there’s nothing to do.”

Lisa Reed is opening The Lighthouse in a downtown storefront at 626 Main. Reed, who has just started making alterations to the interior space in anticipation of an early June opening, said the business would provide an entertainment venue for older middle-school aged teens and those in high school. Her business model will include an as of yet undetermined admission charge for teens to enjoy the different activities offered, Reed said.

“There will be themes for different days of the week,” she said. “Friday night will be movies, and Saturday will be dance.”

The meaning behind The Lighthouse name is its planned interior lighting, Reed said. The space will be dark and illuminated with spring lighting and disco balls, she said.

Food will be available. It will be the kind kids make when their parents aren’t home, Reed said, listing nachos, chicken tenders and pizza rolls as among the foods offered. Soft drinks and water also will be available.

The widowed mother of two teenagers said she recently moved to Eudora from Ohio. It was a return to her roots, having grown up in Olathe, she said. She enjoys teens, but there are some behaviors she won’t allow at The Lighthouse.

“I’m really down on bullying,” she said. “I want this to be a safe place for kids to come in after school and hang out with friends. We will not tolerate any fighting, drugs or alcohol.”

The Baldwin City community development director position will be filled later this month after the City Hall position has been empty for 11 months.

Baldwin City Administrator Glenn Rodden said the city has hired Ed Courton for the position, which has been open since Collin Bielser left in July 2015 to become city administrator of Fairbury, Neb. Bielser had the title of assistant city administrator but his duties included those of community development director.

Courton said Wednesday he has been the city planner for Ottumwa, Iowa, for a year and a half. His goal is to start his duties in Baldwin City on May 31, he said.

His current position with the city of about 25,000 in southeast Iowa is the latest stop in a 19-year career in municipal planning, which followed his graduation in urban planning from Eastern Washington University, Courton said. He has worked in the past as the city planner for Peculiar, Mo., and Dickinson, N.D., which was experiencing growth from the nearby oil shell extraction boom when Courton was there from 2011 to 2014.

“We were basically creating a whole new city in some respects,” Courton said. “While I was there, we adopted a new comprehensive plan, a new strategic plan as well as many zoning codes. The first two years, it was routine to have six-hour planning commission meetings with 20 items on the agenda.”

Courton said that’s not the only time he has helped update a city’s comprehensive plan, a task Baldwin City is just now starting.

What made the Baldwin City job appealing was the location, Courton said. He and his wife, Pam, met in the Kansas City metropolitan area, have friends and family there and have wanted to move back to the region since moving to North Dakota, he said.

With the arrival of May, Douglas County residents can start outdoor gardening and lawn improvements with little chance of losing their new plantings to frost. Two events Saturday will help provide residents with plants to put in the ground.

The Baldwin City Tree Board will have about 100 free trees available from 8 am. to 11 a.m. Saturday at Joe Spurgeon Park in the 700 block of High Street. The Baldwin City Friends of the Library will have its annual plant sale from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday in front of the library, 800 Seventh St.

There are two opportunities Saturday for those looking to double up dining out with contributing to good causes. The Eudora Boy Scout fish fry will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at CPA Park, Ninth and Main streets. Fish will obviously be on the menu, but hot dogs will be available, as well.

The Palmyra Township Fire Department will have its annual whole hog dinner fundraiser from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Vinland Fairgrounds in Vinland.

The Baldwin City Community Senior Mix will meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Ives Chapel United Methodist Church, 1018 Miami St. Mary Gorton will present a program on her recent trip to Guatemala.

The Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce will have its May meeting at noon Wednesday at The Lodge, 502 Ames St. Presenting the program will be Allen Kinsley of Midland Railway and Bruce Eveland of the Kansas Dinner Belle Dinner Train.