WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

KU to qualify for $35 million in additional ARPA funds, but doesn't yet know how it wants to spend the federal money

It is not an exaggeration to say that University of Kansas leaders have 35 million things to think about this summer. And, for the first time in a long time, those things are dollars. The Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday acknowledged that KU has qualified for at least $35 million in one-time money — and perhaps tens of millions more — in federal stimulus dollars related to the pandemic recovery. ...

Another Massachusetts Street storefront set to be occupied by business that focuses on cannabis products, accessories

Updated 9:12 a.m. June 15, 2022 Maybe you already think downtown Lawrence has a wild side to it, but it appears it soon will have a much more visible one — complete with its own awning, sign and a not-so-subtle love of cannabis. Plans have been filed at Lawrence City Hall to convert a Massachusetts Street storefront into a Wild Side Smoke Shop. Plans call for the business to locate at 738 Massachusetts St., ...

KU's pending demolition list grows, including one building on Jayhawk Boulevard; Regents plan to look at demolition policy

The University of Kansas plans to demolish about 250,000 square feet of buildings — including one near the entrance of Jayhawk Boulevard — in the next three years, new state documents show. KU has begun the process of winning approval from the Kansas Board of Regents to tear down Smith Hall — the 1967 building that houses KU’s Religious Studies Department — along Jayhawk Boulevard, across from the ...

Worker shortage leads to temporary closure of one of Lawrence's Dairy Queen locations; coffee shop also unexpectedly closed

I’m always on the lookout for a summer Blizzard in Lawrence. No, not the snowstorms. The frozen treat from Dairy Queen. (There is a lot less shovel work, unless you get the extra, extra large.) Now, I have half as many locations to find one. A labor shortage has temporarily shut down one of the city’s two Dairy Queens. The Dairy Queen at 1835 Massachusetts St. recently closed, and its owner/operator told ...

A pair of building demolitions begin at KU, and historic preservationists decry one of the projects

A pair of demolitions — one high profile and another much less so — are beginning on the University of Kansas campus. Motorists in recent days have noticed preliminary demolition work underway at Oliver Hall, the vacant dormitory building at 19th Street and Naismith Drive. By the end of the month, they’ll likely notice an even more dramatic sight — a backhoe equipped with a special 100-foot boom that ...

Central Bank of the Midwest signs nearly $4M deal to become official bank of KU, plans to open branch in Kansas Union

A Missouri-based bank has reached a nearly $4 million deal to become the official bank of the University of Kansas. Central Bank of the Midwest, which has multiple locations in Lawrence and throughout the Kansas City metro region, will become KU’s “community banking partner” on Aug. 1, KU announced on Tuesday. The deal — valued at $3.9 million for KU and its affiliates over seven years — will ...