WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Calling it the 'tip of the iceberg,' state leaders celebrate Panasonic battery plant groundbreaking; hiring likely to begin in 2023

It took at least half of a song-and-dance routine for Kansas to convince Panasonic to locate its $4 billion, 4,000-job electric vehicle battery plant in the state. Kansas officials revealed that detail while offering a host of thank-yous and a few announcements on Wednesday at a groundbreaking ceremony for the massive plant, which is now officially under construction on about 300 acres of property in nearby De ...

Longtime Academy Cars dealership sells, changes name; a more detailed look at where Panasonic will build its $4B battery plant

“Loveee-ly Lawrence, Kansas” is undergoing a scenery change in used car dealers. After approximately 40 years in business, Lawrence’s Academy Cars — the one with the tag line “in lovee-ly Lawrence, Kansas” — has sold to a family-owned dealership group with operations in Iowa and Nebraska. Academy Cars, 1527 W. Sixth Street, officially became Clemons AutoMax on Tuesday. Academy has been one of ...

Lawrence's Orscheln Farm & Home store to become a Bomgaars location after federal regulators step in on larger Tractor Supply merger

You know you are not exactly in the Wall Street fast lane if the big merger you have been wondering about involves tractors instead of tweets. While the fellows in the Teslas have been wondering about the future of Twitter, those of us who drive something with a granny gear have wondered if Lawrence may be set to lose one of its two farm and ranch supply stores. If you recall, the national chain Tractor Supply ...

Residents concerned LPD has 'hands-off' policy with homeless; police chief says that's not policy but he's concerned about rising tensions, talk of firearms

First, it was a man shouting a whole lot of expletives running from his vehicle parked near the Kansas River in downtown Lawrence. Next, it was the man sticking his head through the rolled-down car window of a woman who had stopped to have a conversation with another woman in the area. And finally, it was the spittle. Spittle spewed by one angry man. That was Sarah Hill-Nelson’s workday commute about ...

Red Lyon Tavern plans to expand downtown Lawrence space; latest project to take advantage of new city regulations

Soccer is played with your feet, but in my experience, it is watched with your hands — often with a cold, sudsy beverage in them. One of Lawrence’s most popular soccer bars has filed plans to expand, in part, to make sure it has plenty of room for soccer fans and other patrons. The Red Lyon Tavern, 944 Massachusetts St., has filed plans with City Hall to expand into the space adjacent to the tavern, which ...

Downtown Lawrence Inc. to no longer host Santa rescue, holiday lighting ceremony, but Central Rotary Club agrees to take over

There’s been a Santa Claus rumor floating around the community that is hotter than even the one about a nose so shiny you would even say it glows. There was speculation that the longtime downtown tradition of rescuing Santa from the top of Weaver’s Department Store was ending. Indeed, there was a time that was a possibility, as the nonprofit entity Downtown Lawrence Inc. decided it no longer wanted to ...