A Baldwin City mother’s challenge to Douglas County’s mask mandate for children has failed in court. Douglas County Judge Kay Huff recently ruled against Marie Taylor’s petition against the county’s health order, which argued that the order's 90-day mandate was too long and must be reconsidered every 30 days. The petition was filed under the state’s new law, Senate Bill 40, which allows residents to ...
Story updated at 7:41 p.m. Wednesday: The Douglas County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday that it is dismissing two high-profile cases: one a long-running murder case and the other a rape case that garnered national attention. In two separate news releases Wednesday, District Attorney Suzanne Valdez said that she had moved to formally dismiss the first-degree murder case against Rontarus ...
Two Lawrence teens will have a two-week trial next year on attempted murder charges stemming from a North Lawrence shooting in May. Judge Kay Huff on Tuesday scheduled Alejandro Martinez-Diaz and Ontareo X. Jackson, both 18, to stand trial on two counts of first-degree attempted murder on March 14. Additionally, Huff scheduled Roxanna S. Todd, who is charged with felony obstruction of apprehension for allegedly ...
As the Lawrence school board on Monday heard several cost-cutting proposals to help balance the district’s budget next year, board members also expressed a possible need to cut further than the bare minimum required. The school district is facing at least a $3.3 million shortfall in its budget for the 2022-23 school year because of a decrease in state funding that is expected to come from recent enrollment ...
The two criminal incidents involving a Native American art exhibit on the University of Kansas campus felt like targeted attacks. For the Native American community, the vandalism and theft of multiple panels in the “Native Hosts” art exhibit by Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds outside of the Spencer Museum of Art — KU's Common Work of Art honoring the Indigenous tribes of the land now known as Kansas — ...
The Lawrence school board will soon hear the school district’s many options to help balance its budget, including proposals to close an elementary school and eliminate several staff positions at schools. During a special meeting on Monday, district administration will present a long list of possible budget-cutting opportunities to help the district respond to a $3.3 million shortfall expected in next school ...