As Douglas County planning and zoning officials received feedback on proposed changes to the county’s zoning codes, they found little pushback from rural residents regarding the updates. “Most of our feedback has been in favor (of the changes),” said Tonya Voigt, director of zoning for the county. “I think some people would want even more done.” Voigt and Mary Miller, a city and county planner, said ...
There’s no better way to begin the holidays than hearing the clip-clopping of horses in downtown Lawrence. That’s according to the organizers of the local Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade, which returns this year to celebrate the holiday season for the 27th year in a row. "We think it's a neat element for the city," said Marty Kennedy, a longtime organizer for the parade. The annual parade will include all ...
Parents of Pinckney Elementary School recently took their support for former principal Kristi Hill to the polls. During the Lawrence school board election in early November, 26 write-in votes were cast with Hill's name, according to election data provided by the Douglas County Clerk’s Office. No other write-in candidate received more than two votes. Aimee Poirier, president of the school’s PTO, said a ...
Douglas County staffers want to spend time studying alternatives for a portion of the county's jail expansion project in hope of decreasing the population of inmates. But county commissioners on Wednesday said they would only allow them to do so if they did it with urgency. Commissioner Nancy Thellman said the study would need to be done quickly so it would not delay the already years-long project. The county ...
The Douglas County Commission may formally ask for state funding to help support the construction of a planned behavioral health crisis center. During its meeting on Wednesday, the commission will consider sending a letter to Gov. Laura Kelly to request $750,000 of state funding for the planned crisis center, which is expected to be built as part of the Treatment and Recovery Campus of Douglas County. The ...
The Lawrence school board will wait at least another two weeks before making a decision on pushing back start times for its high schools next school year. After a discussion on the topic during its meeting Monday, the board came to a general consensus to consider an option to change the start times at Lawrence and Free State high schools from 8:05 a.m. to 9 a.m. for the 2020-2021 school year. The board directed ...