WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Vaccine drive-thru sign

Health department begins new COVID color code system; it shows we are halfway to point where mask mandate to be considered

The color codes are back. Douglas County’s COVID status is in a code yellow — the second of three levels of severity — according to a new system announced by the local health department on Wednesday. More importantly to some, the county is about 25 new cases a day from the point where local health leaders would once again start pushing for a communitywide mask mandate. As it stands now, masks are ...

Girod: Still no mask mandate at KU; university in a 'good place right now' on Big 12 shakeup

The University of Kansas continues to hold pat on two of the biggest issues in its world right now — masks on campus and a reorganization of the Big 12 Conference. In a video message to the campus community, Chancellor Douglas Girod said Wednesday that KU has not yet seen information that has caused it to mandate masks be worn on campus. Instead, the university is sticking with its “strong ...

City commissioners hear financial results for 2020; they express hope that city's financial reporting is set to improve

Lawrence city commissioners closed the book on 2020 at their Tuesday evening meeting as they received the city’s financial audit for the year when the pandemic started to rear its head. Commissioners were told financial results for the period were solid — given the impact of the pandemic — but the city’s accounting practices received a red flag for a third year in a row from auditors. Auditors with ...

Lawrence Public Library wins grant to create diversity-based internship program

The Lawrence Public Library has received a nearly $100,000 grant to fund an internship program that will pay for master's degrees for people of color who want to work as librarians. “Historically, library professionals have been overwhelmingly white,” said Brad Allen, executive director of the Lawrence Public Library. “There are a lot of barriers to entering the profession, especially for marginalized ...

Remind yourself who is on Tuesday's City Commission ballot, plus see how much they've received in campaign donations

Four candidates vying for three seats on the Lawrence City Commission all have raised more than $5,000 during this primary campaign season, while the rest of the field has collected far less in contributions. Tuesday is the last chance for voters to cast a ballot in the Lawrence City Commission primary. Last week, candidates were required to file campaign finance reports listing how much they have raised in ...

Local sales tax collections are way up; how the city and the county are planning for them are way different

As one local government is poised to raise its property tax rate and another is set to pass a budget that requires dipping into $8 million of reserve and relief funds, here’s a piece of good news from a source that doesn’t always deliver that variety. The state of Kansas is reporting that both governments probably will get a lot more sales tax revenues this year than they once expected. The Kansas ...