WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

Lawrence ends three-year streak of declining home sales, but 2024 selling prices were highest in the region

Lawrence in 2024 ended its three-year streak of declining homes sales and bested area communities in almost every measurable category. The one category it didn’t, though, is the one you measure with your pocketbook. Lawrence finished the year with the highest median selling price of homes, topping the metro areas of Kansas City, Wichita, Manhattan and Topeka, new numbers from across the state show. At ...

KU ranks three online graduate programs in top 10 nationally; MBA program climbs to No. 7

Three online graduate programs have received national top 10 rankings in a U.S. News & World Report released Monday. KU’s online master’s in special education, its online MBA program, and its online master’s in education administration programs all were ranked in the top 10 in the publication’s 2025 Best Online Programs edition. KU’s special education master’s ranked only behind the ...

Universities nearing rollout of required literacy classes for elementary teachers across the state

Elementary schools across the state are about to get a large wave of new students — the teachers themselves. More than 15,000 Kansas elementary school educators — everybody from teachers to counselors to principals — must get certified in new methods to teach reading to elementary students. The stakes are high for teachers to get the new training: If they don’t complete the training — or pass a ...

Panasonic plant has 400 employees now, with 1,000 planned by summer; state leaders gather to celebrate project

Panasonic’s $4 billion electric vehicle battery plant in De Soto currently has 400 employees and will have 1,000 by the summer and 2,000 by early next year, the governor and other state leaders were told on Friday. With a host of area leaders looking on at a celebratory event in the partially completed lobby of the 4.8 million-square-foot Panasonic building, Panasonic’s top Kansas executive said the ...

Governor's recommended budget shows funding decreases for KU, other universities

The University of Kansas may have a more than $100 million task in front of it as lawmakers begin their work at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka. KU technically is staring at a $155 million reduction in funding next year, unless KU leaders can convince both the governor and lawmakers to make some budget additions during the legislative session. Alternatively, students may be on the lookout for a significant ...

KU creates new office to expand research in national defense, partnerships with Department of Defense

UPDATED 1:35 P.M. JAN. 15 As the University of Kansas aims to do more work with the U.S. Department of Defense, it is creating an entirely new office to boost the effort. KU leaders on Wednesday announced the creation of the Office of National Defense Initiatives and added a new assistant vice chancellor position to its management ranks to oversee the project. Mike Denning, who has served as KU’s director ...