WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

County says homeless project near community shelter would be too 'out of sight, out of mind,' lists other reasons for opposing use of county-owned land

County officials oppose putting a new homeless project on county-owned land by the Lawrence Community Shelter, in part, because the site isn’t visible enough in the community and is too near the Douglas County Jail. A county spokeswoman on Wednesday said those were two of four strong reservations that the county expressed to city officials when they asked about putting a project that would provide 75 tiny ...

Douglas County Republican Party passes resolution asking local governments to revert taxes back to 2021 level, issue refunds

The top leaders of the Douglas County Republican Party have come together to unanimously ask the City of Lawrence, county commissioners and other local governments to immediately reduce taxes. New Douglas County GOP Chair Brent Hoffman said approximately 55 precinct committee men and women approved a resolution asking local governments to revert their local tax collections back to levels last seen in 2021. ...

County says it misspoke when it said it hadn't looked at county-owned property for homeless project; review was done and produced 'strong reservations'

In the course of one day, Douglas County officials have changed their tune on whether they think a proposed village project for the homeless would be appropriate on county-owned land behind the Lawrence Community Shelter. On Monday, a top county official said county staff had never researched whether use of the county-owned land would be feasible for the project, which is being pursued by city officials. But ...

Speculation grows that city is interested in locating homeless project along Haskell Avenue; county-owned site near shelter not in the running

There are indications that the city is interested in a site near 18th and Haskell to locate a unique “pallet home” project that would provide small shelters for about 75 individuals who are homeless. While city officials won’t confirm whether it is targeting the Haskell Avenue property, they did confirm one piece of property the city is not considering for the homeless project: a large piece of ...

A look at the new KCI airport, including how a Lawrence company makes a big first impression at the $1.5B project

Updated at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4, 2023 They may be a pair of 80-foot signs proclaiming “Kansas City,” but make no mistake, there’s a lot of Lawrence in them. Both the entrance and exit signs to the new $1.5 billion Kansas City International Airport were actually made in East Lawrence. “You can’t miss them,” Shelley Rosdahl, vice president with Lawrence-based Star Signs, said of the ...

City brings trailer for employees into North Lawrence homeless camp, but still not using restroom, shower trailers it owns

There is a new trailer at the city-operated North Lawrence campsite for the homeless, and it has created an old question about the level of services the city is providing the homeless there. The new trailer is heated and provides a space to get out of the elements, but the trailer isn’t designed as a place of respite for the residents of the camp. Instead, it is a portable office for city employees and Bert ...