WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

After 15 years of sitting vacant, there's interest in the downtown Borders building becoming storage units

Everybody, it seems, has an idea for the former, and now long-vacant, Borders bookstore building at Seventh and New Hampshire streets in downtown Lawrence. For years, it was considered the key to bringing a grocery store to downtown Lawrence. It wasn’t, and it didn’t. Another time, it was going to be a great location for Lawrence’s next large-scale corporate office user that wanted to be in the heart of ...

A look at the questions facing city leaders as they consider a $1B plan that seeks to capture Costco sales taxes

Lawrence’s newest $1 billion-plus development proposal includes plans for a life-sized board game and a nature trail that encourages you to walk in your bare feet. But, no, neither one of those elements is the most unique component of a recent development plan filed by a group led by Phil Bundy, a Wichita developer who now also operates in the Kansas City area. Instead, the most unique element is that ...

Kansas college students soon may be able to get a bachelor's degree with 25% fewer classes

You don’t need to be a math major to understand the appealing arithmetic of a new type of degree approved by the Kansas Board of Regents this week. You soon may be able to get a bachelor’s degree by taking 90 credit hours of classes instead of the standard 120 hours that is now required at the University of Kansas and the state’s other public universities. With tuition and required fees set to cost more ...

Retiring CEO of Kansas Board of Regents urges university athletic departments to be cautious about private equity firms

It wasn’t exactly Eisenhower’s farewell warning about the military industrial complex upon leaving the White House, but the retiring president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents did provide a word of caution on Wednesday. And, it did involve an arms race, of sorts — the kind found in college athletics. Blake Flanders, who is retiring at the end of the month as president and CEO of the state agency ...

Girod said latest controversy with Texas Tech is stark reminder of why college athletics needs federal help

As president of the Big 12 Conference, University of Kansas Chancellor Doug Girod has become accustomed to the continual uncertainty surrounding college athletics. But there was one longstanding norm that he didn’t think was at any risk of falling: Student-athletes who gamble on their own teams can no longer be eligible to play. But then, on June 8, that norm fell too when a local judge in Texas ruled that ...

Regents approve 5% tuition and fee increase for KU for upcoming school year

Most students at the University of Kansas should expect a 5% increase in the tuition and required fees they’ll pay to the university for the upcoming school year. The Kansas Board of Regents on Wednesday unanimously approved tuition increases for nearly every state university for the 2026-2027 school year. KU’s 5.0% increase in tuition and required fees for in-state, undergraduate students was the second ...