WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

KU working to become a leader in training next generation of national intelligence officers

Picturing a recent University of Kansas graduate with a set of headphones on isn’t hard to do. After all, how many dorm rooms or campus benches or corners of the library are populated by students with headphones doing everything from playing an online video game to listening to music? But after graduation, life’s tunes have been known to change. Now picture that young KU graduate listening to Chinese — ...

Graduation Guide: Details to know if you are attending KU commencement on Sunday; ceremony delayed until 2:30 p.m.

It is time for Lawrence’s most famous walk down the hill — complete with a flipping of a tassel, and perhaps even some backflips from those who have been writing the tuition checks. The University of Kansas’ spring commencement is Sunday at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, and if you are planning to attend, there are a few details you may want to know as several thousand people will converge on the ...

New affordable housing project in eastern Lawrence plans to build homes as small as 500 square feet

A bigger home is a better home. That is a notion that has won the day many times in Lawrence, but it’s not doing much to help the community win its battle for affordable housing, Rebecca Buford, executive director of Tenants to Homeowners, said. “Some of what has to happen here is a change in mindset,” Buford said. Indeed, Buford’s Lawrence-based nonprofit has filed plans at City Hall for a new ...

Compton hopes to move headquarters into old Borders building in downtown Lawrence

My theory is the Ghost of Failed Predictions haunts the old Borders bookstore building at Seventh and New Hampshire streets. Perhaps not for much longer, though. After more than a decade of being mostly vacant, there’s word of a possible corporate headquarters locating in the downtown space. Lawrence businessman Doug Compton confirmed that he’s in discussions with the city of Lawrence about a project that ...

Kansas Supreme Court agrees to hear Holland's arguments that he's being gerrymandered out of state Senate seat

A longtime Democratic state legislator from Douglas County will get his day in front of the Kansas Supreme Court to argue that Republicans are trying to gerrymander him out of state politics. But state Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, said his case — which the state’s highest court agreed earlier this week to hear — goes deeper than his political fortunes. “The Republican GOP has it out for Douglas ...

City files plans to build new $400K spray park in North Lawrence; other spray park in eastern Lawrence to have delayed opening

Spray soon will be the hot new type of play in Lawrence. At least that is what Lawrence Parks & Recreation officials are betting. The department has filed plans to build a new $400,000 water spray feature within Lyons Park in North Lawrence, and the city’s first spray and play area is set to open in eastern Lawrence by midsummer, after experiencing some delays. If you are of an age where a spray ...