WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

The county created a policy to limit how large its rainy day funds can grow, but the policy exempted more than $30M of sales tax money

A year ago, Douglas County leaders said the county needed a policy about how large its piles of unused cash — rainy day funds, so to speak — could grow. Lots of governments have policies that call for them to keep funds equal to three months worth of expenses — and no more — to cover downturns or unexpected events. But as a review by the Journal-World found last year, the county had no such policy, ...

'We are being chased!': Couple tell about recent incident when man from camp allegedly threatened them with an ax on levee trail

It was 6:45 a.m. last Saturday, and Steve and April Evans were 15 minutes into their walk on North Lawrence’s Kansas River levee trail. That’s when April yelled: “We are being chased!” Her husband, Steve, had walked many steps ahead of her to gain a better sight line of the city-sanctioned homeless camp that sits below the levee near Johnny’s Tavern. Steve had his camera because he needed to take ...

Drainage district says city located its homeless camp on district property without permission; district concerned about liability

A local drainage district is accusing the City of Lawrence of locating its sanctioned homeless camp on drainage district property without receiving permission from the district. The accusations have created questions about whether the city will have to alter operations at the camp, which is located by the Kansas River levee in North Lawrence, near Johnny’s Tavern. The Kaw Drainage District notified the ...

After narrow rejection by City Commission, west Lawrence townhome project has tweaked design in hopes of winning approval

After getting denied by city commissioners in September, a plan for a townhome development near the estate-style homes of Fall Creek Farms in west Lawrence has re-emerged. A new set of plans for Fall Creek Villas has been filed at City Hall, and the local developer this time thinks he has the formula for winning city approval. In a sense, the new formula involves accepting that there are many twists and ...

Son of a former Kansas City Royals player brings baseball, softball training facility to Lawrence

When it comes to cages, give me a circus cage with a lion in it over a batting cage with a pitching machine that throws curveballs. (It is more humiliating to get eaten alive with a bat in your hands.) Lawrence has a new baseball and softball training business that indeed features such high-tech pitching machines, and its owner confirmed to me that hitting that curveball can be a little tough on the ego. ...

As the greens turn brown, west Lawrence neighbors organizing to protest closure of nine golf holes at Jayhawk Club

I know many of you are already aware of the main risk of living along a golf course: Errant shots. (Followed by me standing in your living room asking for advice on how to play the ball off the Berber.) But there is a lesser-known risk too — the golf course disappears. Residents along a portion of the Jayhawk Club — the private golf facility in west Lawrence — are learning that risk currently. One day ...