WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Kansas GOP, in rush to identify KU instructor who made viral comments about political violence, names the wrong professor

For much of Wednesday, the identity of a University of Kansas instructor whose video comments about violence and the political process had gone viral was officially unknown. KU officials had not released the identity of the instructor in any of their statements to media outlets around the country. But around 3 p.m., the chair of the Kansas Republican Party sought to change that. The Kansas GOP sent out a press ...

Thanks to Panasonic plant, De Soto approves largest property tax rate decrease in city's history; why that may matter in Lawrence

Here in Lawrence and Douglas County, we’ve been waiting on the impact from Panasonic’s new $4 billion, 4,000-job electric vehicle battery plant that is under construction in nearby De Soto. Parts of Lawrence are just a 20-minute drive from the massive plant, and most of Eudora is less than half that distance. But, thus far, neither community has seen much in terms of direct impact from Panasonic. Housing ...

Minigolf makes its return to Lawrence with downtown's Sinkers Lounge; new tabletop golf is also part of venture

When it comes to minigolf in Lawrence, there’s nothing small about interest levels. “If you read any Lawrence Facebook group, about every 30 days there is a question why Lawrence doesn’t have minigolf,” Lawrence entertainment entrepreneur Matt Baysinger told me. But there is a consistent answer for why Lawrence hasn’t had a minigolf course for decades: There is nothing simple about minigolf in ...

Lawrence bank deposits have grown at the fastest rate of any metro in Kansas; a look at the county's largest banks

There is money moving to Lawrence, a new report finds. I can make a neighborhood suggestion: My wallet. But no, it is moving to bank accounts, and the latest report from the FDIC — the entity that insures bank deposits — shows Lawrence is gaining bank deposits at a greater rate than most. This year’s report — which measured deposits for the year ending June 30 — shows the Lawrence metro area has ...

Small, Lawrence-based credit union becomes part of larger Envista Credit Union

One of Lawrence’s larger credit unions has taken over the operations of one of the community’s smaller credit unions. Envista Federal Credit Union has recently begun serving the members of the Wakarusa Valley Credit Union. If you are not familiar with Wakarusa Valley Credit Union, it had just one location in Lawrence and it wasn’t very prominent. It had its sole branch in the small office complex at 2721 ...

Former U.S. defense secretary tells Lawrence crowd America needs to rethink China and learn some WWII history

Among the hot debates in the U.S. presidential campaign, there is this nuanced one regarding China: Should we crush them or should we pulverize them? A former U.S. Secretary of Defense told a Lawrence crowd Thursday night that American leaders of both parties need to entertain new lines of thought about China. “The way I describe China, I wouldn’t say it is an enemy. It is a competitor,” Chuck Hagel, a ...