A rural landowner wants to turn a former motel property into a facility for agricultural equipment sales and repairs, and a septic company wants to continue using a property near the North Lawrence neighborhood for truck storage. The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider the two rural land use requests, one that planning staff recommended for approval and another that planning staff recommended ...
Before Lawrence city leaders consider taking over certain sidewalk maintenance responsibilities, they have a couple of questions for city staff, including how the city might fund a maintenance program and what kinds of legal issues it might face if it tried to enact one. At its meeting Tuesday, the City Commission received a report about the potential costs of taking over sidewalk maintenance after property ...
Public education leaders say two bills that state legislators are considering could harm the state's school funding at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is already punching holes in school districts' budgets. One of the bills is a tax reform plan that could lower the state's revenue by more than a billion dollars over three years, according to the Associated Press. The other one would greatly expand a program ...
A 43-year-old Eudora man was charged with aggravated battery and aggravated burglary on Friday for allegedly breaking into a home and attacking a man. Curtis J. Johnson, who is in the custody of the Douglas County Jail, was formally charged at his first appearance in Douglas County District Court on Friday afternoon. Both charges are level four felonies. Jenn Hethcoat, a spokeswoman for the Douglas County ...
Douglas County’s school virus guidance has been downgraded to its lowest tier as cases for COVID-19 continue to fall. Lawrence Douglas County Public Health announced Thursday its recommendation to schools would drop to the green tier, which recommend schools use fully in-person classes. The color-coded guidance is meant to help county school districts navigate reopening schools and conducting activities as ...
The Douglas County Commission took its final action on the 2020 budget during its meeting on Wednesday by approving about $1.85 million of year-end transfers. The year-end transfers are a standard budgeting process for the county, moving revenue dollars in the county’s general fund -- its largest and broadest fund -- to other funds with more specific purposes like equipment and project reserve accounts. The ...