WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Home sales bounce back in July after big drop in June; total sales now up nearly 4% for the year

Even a small drop in mortgage interest rates helped fuel an increase in Lawrence home sales in July, according to the latest report from the Lawrence Board of Realtors. That may be a sign that the local home market may have a strong second half of the year, as mortgage rates have fallen even further recently and as national real estate observers expect lower rates still as the year winds down. Lawrence home ...

Lawrence projects received more than $4M in tax breaks in 2023; a look at who received the most

The great thing about property taxes is they give you options to complain. One day you can complain that you are paying too much of them. Another day, you can complain someone else is paying too little of them. The complaint of too much happens when you get your tax bill. Even if your property tax rate didn’t go up, many years your tax bill has because home values have been rising. As for the complaint ...

The city's 2023 financial scorecard is in: $22M in grants and a 400% increase in social service spending since 2019

Reading a government’s financial audit can be a bit like reading Tolstoy: It is thick, dense and sometimes leaves you wanting vodka. But, it also can provide a good look at the big picture. The City of Lawrence’s financial audit for 2023 is complete, and city commissioners will get a briefing of the document — which is the city’s official scorecard for its finances — at their Tuesday meeting. I ...

Work underway to create $3M to $5M venture capital fund for local startup businesses; group also holding 'Launchpad' event in October

About once a decade, I seem to write about an idea to create a locally based venture capital fund. Usually, some promising young company has just left the community to grow somewhere else. The question turns to: Why wouldn’t they stay in Lawrence? The answer often is money. They need money to expand, and there are no venture capital funds in Lawrence. But there are a lot on the coasts, and thus those ...

KU boosts wages of nearly 190 employees who were earning less than a living wage; update on plan to close $27M wage gap on campus

Getting a degree from a university can be a good strategy to earn a living wage, and then some. But if you're working at a university, well, a living wage can be a little more hit or miss. At least that has been the experience at the University of Kansas, but officials now have come up with a plan to provide raises to the approximately 190 KU employees who were found to be earning less than a living wage. ...

From ice cream to pizza, new westside retail center seeking neighborhood shops; new Latin restaurant coming; taco spot closes

News and notes from around town: — It almost wouldn’t be fair to the wallets of Lawrence parents to put an ice cream shop virtually within sight distance of four schools. But that indeed may be one plan for a developing commercial center in west Lawrence. Construction work is well underway on Stone Hawk Square, a new retail center near Clinton Parkway and Inverness Drive. If you are having a hard time ...