When Jade Vargas was evicted from her apartment and went to the local homeless shelter for a place to stay, she said she was turned away. So instead, she’s been sleeping in the stairwell of a parking garage in downtown Lawrence. “I’ve been trying every day to get in and every day they just tell me, no, there’s no room, they aren’t taking anybody new,” Vargas said. Vargas is one of a growing ...
City leaders will soon consider a new growth plan that prioritizes infill development and that some say will make Lawrence housing more expensive. As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider the new comprehensive plan, Plan 2040, which lays out policies that will shape how the city grows for the next 20 years. Plan 2040 prioritizes development within the city’s boundaries and ...
The Lawrence City Commission has unanimously chosen to adopt the firefighters union's proposal for an employee contract instead of the plan proposed by the city. The union’s proposed contract maintains longevity pay for all firefighters, removes a cap on sick pay, and maintains the level of workers’ compensation in the current contract. Both proposals included 2.5%-5% merit increases, a 5% increase to ...
After mediated negotiations failed to resolve disagreements between the city and the firefighters union regarding a new employment contract, the Lawrence City Commission will now have the final say. Representatives of the city and the union, the International Association of Firefighters Local 1596, began meeting with a mediator from the United States Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on Aug. 1, but ...
Lawrence city commissioners have finalized the city’s 2020 budget, which holds the property tax rate flat and increases utility rates, parking rates and commissioner pay. Commissioners gave preliminary approval on the budget last week, and they made no further changes at their meeting on Tuesday. However, before the budget was finalized, Commissioner Matthew Herbert did propose that the commission postpone ...
City leaders indicated Tuesday that they are interested in pursuing a proposal to charge people for disposable grocery and shopping bags in an effort to reduce waste and help the environment. As part of a study session, the Lawrence City Commission discussed the Sustainability Advisory Board’s recommendation that the city develop an ordinance that would have grocery stores and other retailers charge a 16-cent ...