WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

KU seeking to add $135M in debt to help with cancer center, student housing projects

KU is seeking approval to add $135 million in debt for projects as far away as a cancer center in Kansas City and as near as an apartment complex on the edge of the Lawrence campus. The Kansas Board of Regents at its Wednesday meeting will consider approval of a resolution authorizing new debt for the University of Kansas. The largest chunk of the new debt will be to help construct a $330 million cancer ...

KU to give raises to employees next week, but faculty members not included due to union negotiations

Most University of Kansas employees — but not professors — have a new date to circle on their calendars: Jan. 26. That’s when they’ll find out how big of a raise they are receiving. KU Chancellor Douglas Girod and other university administrators on Monday announced that the University of Kansas has a plan to give $15 million in wage increases to employees on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses. ...

Area legislators gather ahead of next week's session with concerns of balancing money, human services

When the Kansas Legislature convenes next week, the topics largely will fall into one of two big buckets — money or people. A Lawrence chamber of commerce crowd of more than a hundred heard from Douglas County’s longest-serving legislator that she continues to worry that the people issues are losing out too often in Topeka. “We have an obligation to take care of our brothers and sisters, and we can’t ...

Haskell Indian Nations University still suffering from hiring freeze, interim president tells business leaders

Valentine’s Day in 2025 was a heartsick day at federal agencies across the country as job cuts and hiring freezes began to take hold following an executive order by President Donald Trump. Parts of the order were blocked by federal courts, and national headlines have faded on the topic of federal workforce reductions. On the campus of Lawrence’s Haskell Indian Nations University, though, the hiring freeze ...

North Lawrence mower, ATV, tractor dealership seeking to double its space; Dillons planning for west Lawrence store remodel

News and notes from around town: Small engines don’t always confine themselves to creating small problems, and sometimes they need something more than a small space to fix them. Those two facts have a North Lawrence business looking to double the size of its space. Heinen Outdoor Power Equipment, 1795 E 1500 Road, has filed plans with the county to build a 5,700-square-foot addition onto its existing ...

Lawrence single family home construction hits new low in 2025; activity falls by more than 35% from a year ago

There used to be a time before the 2008 recession where Lawrence would build 360 new single family homes a year. Now, the city is back to a point where that number is again accurate — if you drop the 0. Lawrence builders started just 36 new single family homes in 2025, according to City of Lawrence building permit data. That is a new low for Lawrence, but setting a new low-water mark has become nearly ...