WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

What would a war with China look like? It was the question of the day at a KU conference

A retired general and a retired admiral told a Lawrence crowd Thursday that the U.S. military is superior to its counterpart in China. But, before you salute and wave the flag, also know this: They said it may not matter. “A sergeant in the U.S. Army does what a colonel in the Chinese army does, and does it better,” said Robert Brown, a retired U.S. Army general who commanded 140,000 American troops as the ...

KU Endowment preparing to alter scholarships to comply with Trump DEI rules; millions of dollars likely to be restructured

Story updated at 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, April 30: The KU Endowment Association is restructuring potentially millions of dollars in scholarships to meet new Trump administration requirements related to diversity, equity and inclusion, the Journal-World has learned. The restructuring — which the association has begun to communicate through letters to select donors — means, for example, that a scholarship fund ...

Former U.S. defense secretary tells Lawrence crowd views on battles ranging from higher education to China conflict

Robert Gates — the former U.S. Secretary of Defense — was in Lawrence Wednesday to speak at a conference examining the prospect of war with China, which he says is very preventable, by the way. But to a capacity crowd at the Dole Institute of Politics, Gates caught the attention of the crowd with talk of a different front line that creates plenty of skirmishes in Lawrence and other college towns like it. ...

Lawrence retail sales fall for the month, but city is still outpacing most other retail markets in the state

Whether it was an impact from tariffs or a tournament, retail sales in Lawrence took a tumble in March, according to the latest report from the state. The state’s April sales tax report — which primarily measures sales that occurred in March — shows taxable sales in Lawrence dropped by 5.5% compared to the same period a year ago. That was a much greater decline than the state as a whole experienced, with ...

Obama may say otherwise, but university leaders say it's naive to think endowment funds will rescue schools

In a better-to-laugh-than-cry sort of way, University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod often jokes during his updates of higher education that they’ll likely be out-of-date before he’s done talking. After all, you could argue that nothing is in greater supply in today’s world of higher education than new threats. The commodity that may be in second place, though, also is notable: Unsolicited advice. ...

Governor signs bill to cut affordable housing tax credit; developer predicts 80% reduction in future projects

Kansas will see about 80% fewer affordable housing projects in the coming year, a top Lawrence builder predicted after Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill that limits tax credits for the developments. “What I can tell you is we are (expletive,)" Tony Krsnich, developer of multiple affordable housing projects in East Lawrence and downtown, told the Journal-World shortly after Kelly announced on Friday that she had ...