WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

News and notes including details on this weekend's home show, and planned opening of wing restaurant

News and notes from around town: ••• Perhaps you know the feeling: On Valentine’s Day chocolate and flowers sometimes suffice, while other years a piece of jewelry might be in order. Then there are those years where circumstances suggest — is that the right word — that something a bit more extravagant is in order. A complete kitchen makeover? A bath remodel? A new swimming pool? If that is your ...

Bill to limit how DEI is taught in universities pulled from hearing schedule, but may still come back

A bill that would further tighten how universities could teach diversity, equity and inclusion topics in the classroom was scheduled to get a key vote in the Kansas House on Wednesday, but the hearing never materialized. On Thursday, an assistant with the House Education Committee told the Journal-World a hearing on HB 2428 — often known as the Freedom from Indoctrination Act — did not get either a ...

Girod says KU concerned about multiple legislative proposals, including tuition freeze, changes to tenure

Tuition may be frozen and tenure may be broken. Those are two of the bigger issues that leaders at the University of Kansas and the state’s other universities are watching as the Kansas Legislature enters a critical period for new laws that would impact higher education. One proposal that is working its way through the Kansas House would cut about $18 million from the operating and student aid budgets of ...

KU students who get their health insurance through university-run program set to see premium increases

University of Kansas students who get their health insurance through a special program overseen by the Kansas Board of Regents are expected to see their premiums rise slightly next school year. The Board of Regents at its meeting on Wednesday is being asked to approve premium increases of a little more than 3% for the program, which provides health insurance to eligible graduate students, international ...

Local holiday sales show slight growth in 2025; new state report looks at how well Lawrence attracts out-of-town shoppers

While it doesn’t get nearly as much attention as its cousin “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” the song “Have a Nearly Average Christmas” would fairly well describe the Lawrence holiday season. At least, that’s what the latest retail sales numbers from the Kansas Department of Revenue suggest. The latest sales tax report from the state — which generally includes the big holiday shopping season of ...

Lawrence Costco project moving ahead, as retailer files for building permit; now speculation begins about what businesses will follow

Costco has filed for a nearly $22 million building permit at Lawrence City Hall, the latest sign that its plans to build a store near Rock Chalk Park in northwest Lawrence remain on track. The building permit, which was filed with the city one week ago, also may get us closer to a starter’s gun-type of moment for the vacant commercial property near Sixth Street and George Williams Way that surrounds the site ...