Douglas County and its employees may soon see a cost increase in the county health care plan. The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider approving a one-year renewal of its employee health care plan with Trustmark that would begin on June 1 and last until May 31, 2021. Of three options presented to the commissioners, county staff recommends the approval of “option 1,” which includes an ...
Despite school closures because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence continues to provide after-school programs and regular meals to local youth. Some students appear to be taking advantage of the ongoing virtual programming on a regular basis. Alissa Bauer, a spokeswoman for the club, said a daily average of 50 students from kindergarten to high school attend the club’s virtual ...
Rural Douglas County residents living within a proposed consolidated fire district could see a slight decrease or no change to their taxes for fire protection if the consolidation is completed later this year. However, that may rely on the leaders of the involved townships keeping their side of the bargain, which includes decreasing the township residents’ property taxes to account for the fire department ...
The Douglas County District Court on Wednesday set a deadline for a local activist group to respond to the county government’s motion to dismiss the group's lawsuit that aims to halt the county’s plans to expand its jail. Attorneys for Douglas County and Justice Matters, which has long opposed the jail expansion, met for the first hearing in the case on Wednesday through an online video conference. After ...
The Douglas County Commission has approved $43,500 in funding for a new meal service for Lawrence students that was launched earlier this week. On Tuesday, the Lawrence school district announced that several restaurants had stepped up to launch the new meal program, which replaced a former program operated by the school district that was halted last week. The meal service — which began Wednesday and is ...
The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday could begin the second part of a two-phase plan to consolidate several rural fire departments. The commissioners will consider giving initial approval to a resolution outlining the merger of the recently created Fire District No. 6 with the county’s Fire District No. 1, which serves the Lecompton Township, and Fire District No. 4, which serves the northern part of ...