WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

City, department leaders excited about 'leading from the front' with addition of new hybrid electric fire engine

New Lawrence fire chief Joe Hardy admits that initially he wasn’t too charged up about the idea of an electric hybrid fire engine being added to the city’s fleet of firefighting equipment. But Friday, Hardy and dozens of other fire department officials and community members were plenty excited about the city’s new electric hybrid fire engine being put into service. “This fire truck is the first of its ...

KU Common Work of Art, Common Book explore themes of connection on Earth

A pair of landscape paintings meant to highlight themes of how nature and the universe are interconnected have been chosen as the KU Common Work of Art for the upcoming school year. Both landscape panels were created by Kay WalkingStick, a former art professor at Cornell University and a member of the Cherokee Nation who often uses her art to convey both natural and abstract scenes side-by-side to examine life ...

Voters turn out big when there's a question on the ballot, so why don't the feds or state allow more of them?

Here’s a thought exercise for you: Imagine there was a national election where voters would decide whether there should be a national sales tax of X% to fund a single payer healthcare system for all Americans. Do you think a lot of people would show up to vote in that election? “It sure seems like people would come out and vote on that,” Chris Koliba, founder and director of KU’s Center for Democratic ...

Minsky's Pizza closes lone Lawrence location; a look at the large number of vacancies in downtown

No matter how you slice it, a notable change has struck downtown Lawrence — there are no more slices of pizza at 934 Massachusetts Street. The popular Kansas City chain Minsky’s Pizza has closed its downtown Lawrence location, which also was its only location in Lawrence. The closing happened earlier this week, and it marks the end of a 14-year run for the Lawrence establishment. But that’s just the half ...

KU's Girod helped Trump administration craft letter calling on universities to adopt set of principles

UPDATED 6:25 P.M. AUG. 3 KU Chancellor Doug Girod has helped the Trump administration craft a letter asking U.S. universities to broaden their ideological spectrum and put “Americans, and American interests” first. Girod was among four university chancellors and presidents who helped U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon craft a letter sent Monday asking U.S. universities to publicly commit to seven ...

For Lawrence to truly grow to the west, it will take at least $85M in new infrastructure; the coming Costco store might help pay the bill

The oft-quoted, old saying from more than 150 years ago is: “Go West, young man.” I suspect there is a less-quoted, second part to that saying: “Bring your wallet.” Both phrases have meaning in modern day Lawrence, as there has been much talk at Lawrence City Hall about expanding the city limits west of the South Lawrence Trafficway in an effort to open up hundreds of new acres for housing that ...