WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Crowd of commenters urges Lawrence City Commission to support a ceasefire in Israeli-Hamas conflict

Lawrence city commissioners heard about an hour’s worth of public comment on Tuesday urging the city to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas conflict that is producing large numbers of civilian casualties in the Middle East. Some commenters went so far as to say that a failure to support a resolution calling for a ceasefire would put the city on the side of genocide. During the ...

Baldwin school board candidates who received help from national PAC defeated; plus, other area election results

All three candidates who received significant support from a conservative national political action committee came up short in their bids to win seats on the Baldwin school board on Tuesday. Election results weren’t yet final, but late Tuesday, candidates Ken Snyder, Michael Kennedy and Buck Bradley all were several hundred votes behind their opponents, with just a few ballots left to be counted by the ...

Capitol Federal begins work on new bank along Sixth Street; plans filed for 100-plus storage units along turnpike

Let’s take a look at some news and notes from around town: — Motorists soon should notice large amounts of construction work at the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Folks Road. Capitol Federal Savings has started work on a new branch bank at the site. We reported in March that Capitol Federal had filed plans to build on the vacant lot. But work did not begin over the summer. Now it has, and Capitol ...

KU down to 4 finalists in search for new dean for engineering school

The University of Kansas has announced four finalists vying to become the next dean of the School of Engineering. KU leaders are nearing the end of a process to find a replacement for Dean Arvin Agah, whose five-year appointment as dean ends in December. Agah announced at the beginning of the year that he would not seek another term as dean, but instead would remain on the faculty and return to teaching and ...

Costs for KU stadium renovations expected to increase by $113M; project now totals $448 million

Story updated at 1:25 p.m. Nov. 1, 2023: Costs to renovate the University of Kansas’ football stadium and add a conference center to its north bowl are likely to be more than $100 million greater than what KU leaders expected just a year ago. Members of the Kansas Board of Regents have received word that KU now expects its first phase of renovations at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium to cost $448 ...

Opposition forming on solar farm project that would locate north of Lawrence in Kansas River valley

Another big, proposed renewable energy project in Douglas County appears likely to face big opposition. If you have driven around rural Douglas County at all in recent months, you’ve surely seen the yard signs opposing “industrial” solar projects and big wind energy farms. Neighbors from the eastern and southwestern parts of the county have teamed up to oppose talk of a solar farm near the county line of ...