WRITER: Austin Hornbostel

Douglas County Commission to meet at Judicial and Law Enforcement Center following water damage at courthouse

Water damage sustained last week at the Douglas County Courthouse has forced this week’s Douglas County Commission meeting to another location. This week, the County Commission meeting will take place next door at the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St. The first part of the meeting, a work session at 4 p.m., will take place in the Division 4 courtroom. The 5:30 p.m. business meeting will ...

Some residents get texts directing them to wrong polling place; voter groups say they were a 3rd-party vendor error

Some Douglas County voters may have recently received a text message directing them to the incorrect polling place, and Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab is warning voters to be cautious of following their instructions. The text messages appear to come from an organization called Voting Futures Trust, but others have been attributed to two more well-established national get out the vote ...

Blood drive coordinators encouraged by Lawrence's dedicated donor pool amid shortages, but there's room for growth

With blood shortages a much more frequent occurrence throughout the past year for LMH Health’s blood supplier, local blood drive coordinators are encouraged by the dedication of Lawrence’s donor pool — but they also say there’s room for growth. On four occasions in the past year, the Community Blood Center of Greater Kansas City has announced a shortage in its supply of donated blood. The Community ...

Addressing homelessness will take more than increasing shelter's capacity, commissioners told

A Douglas County leader says it’ll take more than just increasing capacity at the Lawrence Community Shelter to make a dent in homelessness in Lawrence, following recent calls from business owners and community members to boost capacity. Last Tuesday, a group of prominent downtown business owners signed a letter to the city and county urging, in part, that the local governments take over operations at the ...

New executive director to join Theatre Lawrence in March

Theatre Lawrence on Wednesday announced that a successor has been chosen to replace longtime executive director and founder Mary Doveton. Jamie Ulmer, who currently serves as the managing artistic director of Community Players in Beatrice, Nebraska, will assume the executive director role for the arts nonprofit on March 1, 2023. According to a press release from Theatre Lawrence, Ulmer will manage not just the ...

LMH Health CEO steps away from board of nonprofit in charge of new behavioral crisis center

The top executive at LMH Health is stepping back from involvement with the board of the local nonprofit in charge of the Treatment and Recovery Center of Douglas County. LMH Health President and CEO Russ Johnson told LMH Health board members as much during their monthly meeting Wednesday morning. Johnson had been acting as a proxy member of the Behavioral Health Partners board in place of Janette Kirkpatrick, ...