WRITER: Chad Lawhorn

KU senate leaders extend voting on survey gauging whether university has confidence in chancellor

Faculty and staff leaders were expected on Wednesday to release the totals of an informal vote on whether KU community members have confidence in Chancellor Doug Girod amid rising labor tensions. No such vote results emerged on Wednesday. Instead, Faculty Senate President Misty Heggeness — one of two organizers of the vote — said a decision was made to keep the online voting open until next week. ...

KU and its faculty union set to resume negotiations as deadline nears on wage issues

KU management and the labor union representing its faculty members were scheduled to negotiate Thursday as the two parties near the date that KU has said it would seek to declare the negotiations at an impasse. An update posted by the United Academics of KU — which represents about 1,500 faculty members as it seeks a first-time labor contract with the university — said negotiations are expected to resume ...

Deal getting close for hotel to build at 11th and Mass; speculation has Graduate by Hilton brand coming to the site

A deal for a 110-room hotel on the northeast corner of 11th and Massachusetts streets is close to being finalized — and there is a juicy piece of speculation attached to it as well. Word in development circles is that a Graduate Hotel by Hilton has chosen the site, which would mean a true KU-themed hotel would be coming to the downtown district. Tony Krsnich, who owns the 11th and Massachusetts site that ...

KU's faculty and university senates call for a vote to determine if university community has confidence in chancellor

UPDATED 9:35 P.M. March 2 In the wake of stalled labor negotiations, faculty and staff leaders at the University of Kansas are asking employees to consider a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Douglas Girod and the university’s chief financial officer. In a joint email this week, the KU Faculty Senate President Misty Heggeness and KU University Senate President Poppy DeltaDawn are asking all employees to ...

Former police officer on the front lines of Jan. 6 tells large Lawrence crowd to protest, make noise and film it all

Among the misnomers of Jan. 6 is that there was a “fight” between police and members of the crowd who were intent on breaching the U.S. Capitol that day. Yes, there was violence, but it would be inaccurate to call the day’s frontline activity a fight. So says a police officer who was in the thick of it, and on Sunday also was in Lawrence to not only retell the events of Jan. 6, but urge a crowd of about ...

As Costco comes to town, Walmart files plans for convenience store, gas station at its south Iowa store

As Costco gets ready to build a major gas station as part of its development in northwest Lawrence, Walmart has filed plans to build a gas station of its own in southeast Lawrence. Walmart has filed plans with Lawrence City Hall to build a convenience store and fueling station in a portion of the parking lot that serves the Walmart store on south Iowa Street. The plans show the convenience store and fueling ...