WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Plans brewing for big, new building at Lawrence Regional Airport to house aircraft maintenance business; plans filed to upgrade airport terminal

Story updated at 3:36 p.m. Thursday: Development plans are in the works that could make the Lawrence Regional Airport a national destination for jets and other aircraft that need significant maintenance work. Lawrence businessman Doug Compton has confirmed to me that he has plans to build an 80,000-square-foot aircraft hangar on the grounds of the city-owned airport. The hangar would house a new partnership ...

In the latest sign KU is getting serious with West Campus development, university closes Park and Ride lot

There are new signs that KU is getting more serious about developing West Campus into a research and business park surrounded by homes and shops. These latest signs read: No Parking. The University of Kansas has closed its Park and Ride facility located on West Campus in order to prepare for possible construction related to the growing idea of KU Innovation Park. KU will continue to offer motorists a chance to ...

The Oread hotel near KU campus has been sold to a Denver-based company and will become a Hilton hotel property

A Denver-based hospitality company has bought Lawrence’s The Oread, and will rebrand the hotel on the edge of the University of Kansas campus as a Hilton hotel. Mission Hill Hospitality announced Monday that it has completed a deal to purchase The Oread, and will change the name of the property to the Oread Hotel, Tapestry Collection by Hilton. “This acquisition presented a unique opportunity to expand ...

'People want to be part of a winning enterprise'; Girod predicts largest freshman class in a decade on heels of KU National Championship

The University of Kansas is expecting its largest freshman class in at least a decade, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod told the Journal-World. KU started fall classes on Monday, and will have official enrollment totals by mid-September. Girod expects the freshman totals to be strong, but he stopped short of saying overall enrollment at KU’s Lawrence campus would increase. KU’s Lawrence campus enrollment ...

More than 40 years and $3 billion later, Dale Seuferling looks back at KU Endowment career as he enters retirement

It would still be several weeks before a game of southern California musical chairs would set the college football world on edge. In other words, USC and UCLA had not yet surprised the sports world by bolting to the Big Ten Conference and leaving their longtime Pac-12 home in disarray. Nonetheless, as Dale Seuferling sat in his office at KU Endowment and answered questions about his pending retirement as ...

A dispute over what voters were told in 1994 may stop county residents from getting property tax relief today

There’s such a thing as an urban myth, and perhaps, there’s a Douglas County myth too. The urban one is likely to make its appearance around a campfire, a water cooler or even a bar. The Douglas County variety tends to show up around tax time. As Douglas County property owners face their largest property tax increase in recent memory — many tax bills will be at least 10% higher than a year ago — ...