WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Lawrence to host statewide aviation tour next week; update on projects, pending name change at Lawrence airport

It won’t be your standard air show — no Blue Angels, for instance — but fans of airplanes may still find a slice of heaven in an event coming up later this month at Lawrence’s airport. Owners of about 40 aircraft from across the state will be flying into the city’s airport in North Lawrence on Sept. 23 as part of the Fly Kansas Air Tour, which is run by the state of Kansas and the Kansas Commission ...

Lawrence school board set to approve budget; it will also consider giving $1,500 bonuses to employees

A budget that reduces the local property tax rate and a program to provide about $5 million in employee bonuses over the next two years are both up for approval at Monday’s Lawrence school board meeting. Board members are expected to approve a 2021-2022 budget that will authorize about $201.4 million in net expenditures for the year, while reducing the school district property tax rate by 0.242 of a mill. ...

Regents expected to approve demolition of Oliver Hall next summer, $75M in new athletic projects for K-State

KU is expected to get state approval next week to tear down an old dormitory, while Kansas State is expected to win approval for millions in new athletic facilities, despite the uncertainty surrounding the Big 12 Conference. The Kansas Board of Regents will meet next week to approve several building and facility requests for state universities. Regents are expected to easily approve a request to demolish ...

Chancellor, Regents leader criticize KU student body president's 'death to America' Twitter post

Story updated at 5:08 p.m. Thursday: KU’s chancellor and the chair of the Kansas Board of Regents on Thursday both issued statements criticizing a social media post by KU’s student body president that advocated for “death to America.” But KU Student Body President Niya McAdoo expressed no regrets for her decision last week to retweet a social media message that said “happy friday everybody. death to ...

While KU touts big prize vaccination winner, group ups pressure for KU to increase COVID protocols

When University of Kansas student Santiago Patiño heard KU was giving away prizes to students who had been vaccinated, he was thinking fairly small when he uploaded his proof-of-vaccination form to enter the drawing. “I thought I might as well enter and get a gift card or something,” Patiño said Wednesday. He’s thinking bigger now after winning a $5,091 cash prize — the equivalent of one semester ...

Taking a look at how hot Lawrence's real estate market is compared to those around us

I’ve frequently had problems gauging how hot something is (which is why you never want to dine across from me when I’m taking my first spoonful of soup). The latest numbers from the Lawrence Board of Realtors indicate the local housing market is still very hot, but there’s also reason to question whether it is beginning to cool. So, this month I have some local numbers to report but also have statistics ...