WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Regents to consider policy requiring professors to be dismissed after two consecutive poor annual reviews

Tenured professors at KU and other public universities in Kansas may soon be facing a system of two strikes and you're out, under a proposal up for approval this week by the Kansas Board of Regents. At Wednesday’s meeting, Regents will consider a new statewide policy that says any faculty member — including those who have tenure protection — “will be dismissed” if they receive two consecutive ...

City commissioner creates plan to eliminate planned entrance fees at city recreation centers

New City Commissioner Mike Courtney — the top vote-winner in last month’s elections — said he’s confident a new fundraising foundation would allow the city to avoid implementing new user fees for city recreation centers Now, he’ll work to convince his fellow commissioners of it at next week’s meeting. “My overall pitch to the commission will be that we have talked about fees, but we haven’t ...

City Commission set to reconsider whether to charge entrance fees at recreation centers

After Lawrence City Commission candidates got an earful on the campaign trail about pending fees to enter the city’s recreation centers, the commission is going to reconsider the fee issue at its Tuesday meeting. Voters in November elected two newcomers to the commission — Mike Courtney and Kristine Polian — who both expressed opposition to the city’s plans to begin charging entrance fees to the ...

KU chancellor, leader of local chamber among the newest class to be inducted into Lawrence Business Hall of Fame

From a provider of good times to a teacher of the good book, the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame has selected its newest inductees. The class includes Kevin O’Malley, president of Lawrence-based O’Malley Beverage — one of the larger beer and liquor wholesalers in the region — and Father Mick Mulvany, who was the longtime leader of Lawrence’s Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Also included in the group ...

Lawrence police chief tells community group about recruiting challenges; perception that city dislikes police is hurting

At one point, Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart liked his odds. His department had 10 police officer vacancies, but 100 people had applied to fill the positions. From that 100, Lockhart’s team selected 20 applicants to be considered for the Lawrence Police Department’s multi-month academy that trains new law enforcement officers. In other words, there was good reason to believe that when the academy ...

Retiring Emporia State president donating the last four years of his salary back to the university

As Emporia State’s president gets ready to retire from his position later this month, he’s giving the university a gift — the last four years of his salary, more or less. The university announced Wednesday that outgoing President Ken Hush has made a pledge to the university that is equal to the compensation he earned serving as ESU’s president for the last four years. Hush — an Emporia native and ...