WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Early signs suggest fall enrollment will be flat at KU; hiring restrictions loosened on campus

Signs of a big post-pandemic bounce-back in enrollment haven’t yet materialized at the University of Kansas, but early numbers are good enough that KU leaders are easing some spending restrictions. In a message to the university community this week, three KU leaders said that fall 2021 enrollment on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses of KU is “trending flat compared to fall 2020.” KU saw fall enrollment ...

Lawrence resident and new Regent says universities can't cut their way to greatness, Kansas must invest in learning

It may be no surprise that the newest member of the Kansas Board of Regents — coming from the state’s largest university community — doesn’t think the state’s university system needs to get any smaller. Wint Winter Jr., a longtime Lawrence resident, banker and attorney, is set to begin his first duties with the Board of Regents on Friday as he participates in a meeting reviewing the search committee ...

Developer files plans for new single-family neighborhood in eastern Lawrence; DCCCA files plans near Kasold Curve

If I had been an apartment dweller in the past decade, I’m pretty sure I would have adopted the philosophy that it is easier to move to a new apartment than clean the one I’m in. New apartments were that abundant in Lawrence. It is hardly news that apartment construction boomed in Lawrence. It often was the subject of derisive comments by people who feared the town was going to be overrun by apartments. ...

Golf course along K-10 files second set of plans to add indoor driving range after project was thwarted in May

Sometimes in golf, it takes a second hack to get the ball out of the rough and onto the green. (Never mind that sometimes a chainsaw is needed to find the ball in the first place.) A small golf course between Lawrence and Eudora is taking the equivalent of a second hack at winning county planning approval for an expansion project. Twin Oaks Golf — the driving range and par 3 course along Kansas Highway 10 ...

Olympic sprinters, food truck owners to open downtown Lawrence barbecue restaurant

Two Olympic sprinters — one former and one current — are opening a barbecue restaurant in downtown Lawrence. That makes it tempting to say there must be something in the sauce, but I know from experience that the only thing barbecue sauce quickens is the need for more Wet Wipes. (Or perhaps a walk-through at one of those auto car washes, if I tackle a full slab of ribs.) The sauce, though, at Gold Medal ...

Vaccine passports are prohibited at KU, but university leaders are creating a system to encourage students to show they are vaccinated

There won’t be any vaccine passports at the University of Kansas when it reopens this fall, but there will be a system some might think of as a vaccine fast pass. KU is encouraging students to voluntarily submit documentation showing they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and some of those students will be able to use those vaccine documents to avoid having to wear masks. KU’s student housing ...