WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Four longtime leaders chosen for 2024 induction into Lawrence Business Hall of Fame

Bob Schumm started his restaurant business on the steps of Lawrence fraternity and sorority houses. Deanell Tacha had a legal career that took her one step away from a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Mike McGrew has sold thousands of front steps and every other part of Lawrence and Douglas County homes. But Peggy Johnson might lay claim to the sweetest career step. Her doughnuts and coffee at Jennings ...

Inflation could add $50M to $60M to county's judicial center plans, if proposed timeline holds

If you are one of those people who nearly cracked over the rising price of eggs the last couple of years, you may want to get out your bubble-wrap suit. Douglas County commissioners — and by extension county taxpayers — may soon find out there is an even more painful form of inflation. Building-construction inflation adds up in a hurry, and Douglas County leaders may experience $50 million to $60 million ...

Electric rates for Lawrence households to increase about $4.60 per month following deal between Evergy, KCC

Electric rates are going up next month in Lawrence, after state regulators and Evergy reached a deal on Tuesday. That’s fitting because 2023 has been a year that knows how to push through a price increase. (The best way to save money at a grocery store in 2023 was to use the express lane. It gave the store less time to raise its prices.) But maybe the year is getting more mellow as it winds down. Evergy’s ...

New state geologist thinks Kansas may have the secret beneath its soil for clean-burning fuel of the future

There was a time not long ago that Jay Kalbas, Kansas’ new state geologist, had about 30 billion reasons to be excited about his job. As a master of the subsurface, Kalbas was leading teams of geologists and scientists who were helping to find game-changing amounts of oil beneath the ocean floor. He was doing it for ExxonMobil, the largest oil company in the world. It was being done in a place that ...

KU to name one of its engineering institutes after a 'wonderful' company; founders have given hundreds of millions to universities

Forget the saying “a tough nut to crack.” Evidently, the real problem with nuts is what to do with all the darn shells once you have cracked them. Indeed, there was a California company that had 25 acres of pistachio shells and no good idea of what to do with them. Pistachio shells don’t biodegrade very well, and it didn’t seem like it would be environmentally responsible to just dump them in a ...

KU proposes 5% rate increase for room and board next school year; leaders studying idea of building new dorm

University of Kansas students living and dining on the KU campus should expect about a 5% increase in prices next year. While that price increase will be meaningful — it will push the price of KU’s average housing and dining plan to about $11,000 per year — future plans for KU dormitory living may be even more dramatic. KU's chief financial officer, Jeff DeWitt, told the Kansas Board of Regents this ...