Several Lawrence students are making their arguments this weekend that they deserve to be recognized as the best debaters in the state. Debate teams from both Lawrence High School and Free State High School are competing in the 6A state tournament Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Both schools sent a full slate of teams — one team each to compete in the four-speaker tournament and four teams each to compete in ...
Two new Douglas County officials on Wednesday quickly stepped into leadership roles just days after they were sworn into office. Commissioners Shannon Portillo and Shannon Reid were unanimously elected as chair and vice chair of the County Commission during its regular meeting. Both were appearing during their first meeting after they filled the seats on the commission on Monday. Portillo takes over the chair ...
The Douglas County Commission will meet for a brief agenda on Wednesday as two new commissioners take their seats. The commission will consider electing new leadership for 2021 and consider approving some items on a consent agenda, including authorizing the Public Works Department to solicit bids for bridge and culvert projects and the purchase of chemicals to control road dust. The consent agenda allows the ...
Douglas County's new law enforcement leaders shared their to-do list with other local criminal justice officials on Tuesday, and they're envisioning new diversion programs for defendants, making better use of space in the county jail and a variety of other criminal justice reforms. District Attorney Suzanne Valdez and Sheriff Jay Armbrister were both sworn in on Monday after being elected in November. Both had ...
Despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Douglas County’s new drug court program was able to find its footing in 2020 and began helping a handful of people who are working toward becoming drug free. Douglas County District Court Judge Kay Huff, who presides over the program, told the Journal-World recently she was worried the stress of the pandemic would lead to the participants relapsing. ...
The Lawrence school board has started brainstorming some ways to help decrease teachers' workload at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing educators to adapt to teaching remotely and running hybrid classes. Leah Wisdom, the district’s director of equity, instruction and student services, told the board at its meeting on Monday that the pandemic had made the teaching profession more difficult. She said ...