WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

'Dyche Hall felt incomplete': After 5-year absence, stone grotesques being reinstalled on KU Natural History Museum building

Construction crews Thursday morning draped a black tarp over the 400-plus pound carved stone ape that was set to be hoisted by crane to the top of Dyche Hall on the University of Kansas campus. The ape was no dummy. It wanted its eyes covered for this. Everyone else, though, was eager to see the sight that had been five years in the making. The ape is one of eight grotesques — the architectural term for ...

No county was more opposed to abortion amendment than Douglas; a look at other elections stats, including Republicans who voted No

For today’s Town Talk, let’s do a news and notes election edition: — While the outcome was clear when we went to press Tuesday night, the total vote count was not for the proposed Kansas constitutional amendment that would have eliminated a constitutional right to an abortion in the state. The Kansas Secretary of State’s office posted complete totals on Wednesday. They are: No, 534,134 votes, or 59%; ...

Plans filed for a new Lawrence Starbucks on Sixth Street; taco chain to close on south Iowa Street

Plans have been filed for a new Starbucks drive-thru coffee shop on Sixth Street, as the competition for Lawrence’s coffee dollars appears to be heating up. A plan filed at City Hall shows Starbucks is interested in building about a 2,200-square-foot coffee shop with a drive-thru at the southwest corner of Sixth Street and Crestline Drive. If you are having a hard time picturing the location, I sure ...

Lawrence church that has been outspoken supporter of amendment to remove constitutional right to abortion hit by vandals

A Lawrence church who has been an outspoken supporter of the state constitutional amendment on abortion rights, was vandalized with “Vote No” messages Sunday night. Lawrence’s Victory Bible Church, 1942 Massachusetts Street, had two sides of its brick sanctuary building spray painted with large Vote No messages just ahead of the constitutional amendment vote. A No vote in the Aug. 2 election is a vote ...

News and notes including plans for vacant I-70 industrial lot, closing of city's lone gun range, and bankruptcy for Mac shop

Today, I have a tale of a hole in a roof, a gun and a MacBook computer. It sure sounds like a bad IT day, but don't let your imaginations run wild. Rather, it is news and notes from around town, featuring one business that is expanding and two that have closed. — Let’s start with the business that fixes holes in roofs and does all other types of roofing work in the Lawrence area. Lawrence-based Alpha ...

Lawrence home sales fell by biggest amount yet in 2022; housing prices certainly did not

Lawrence’s housing market is in a slowdown — in every way except one. Housing prices aren’t falling at all, according to the latest numbers from the Lawrence Board of Realtors. Lawrence homes sales in June fell 13.5% compared to June 2021 numbers. For the year, Lawrence home sales are now down 7.8%. At the halfway mark of 2022, home sales have now posted year-over-year declines in all six months of the ...