WRITER: Matt Resnick

Douglas County leaders approve new pay scale for public safety personnel; they hope it will help keep pace with other area agencies

Updated at 2:55 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16 Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved a restructured pay scale for the sheriff's office and the county's Criminal Justice Services in an effort to improve recruitment and retention and keep pace with other agencies. The new pay scale approved at Wednesday's commission meeting is tentatively set to be implemented in mid-December, with an ...

Lawrence school board member hired by state education group for government relations role

Veteran Lawrence school board member Shannon Kimball has accepted a position with the Kansas Association of School Boards as a government relations specialist. Lawrence school board President Kelly Jones announced Kimball's hiring during Monday night's board meeting. Kimball told the Journal-World after the meeting that she would start her role with the Topeka-based not-for-profit organization on Jan. 3 and ...

Douglas County leaders to consider approving new pay scale for public safety personnel

Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday will consider approving a newly structured pay scale for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and Criminal Justice Services staff. As part of the county's 2024 budget deliberations in July, commissioners approved an approximately $737,000 pay package for raises at the sheriff’s office, most of which was earmarked for entry-level corrections officer and deputy ...

Lawrence school board signs off on property tax rebate for affordable senior housing project

The Lawrence school board on Monday joined other local governments in approving tax incentives for a project that would develop just under 50 units of affordable housing in downtown Lawrence for people 55 and older. The vote for the New Hampshire Lofts project passed 5-2, with Erica Hill and Paula Vann dissenting. Hill expressed concern that it was on the consent agenda, with those items being routinely passed ...

Community celebrates 100th anniversary of Liberty Memorial school building with rededication and open house

Former principal Ted Juneau said that he can “feel the voices” of former students who passed through what is now Liberty Memorial Central Middle School during the 100th anniversary of the building and a rededication of it as a World War I memorial. More than 500 people were in attendance on Sunday for the ceremony and open house that commemorated the anniversary of the building at 1400 Massachusetts St., ...

Lawrence school board to consider tax incentives rebate for downtown affordable housing project

The Lawrence school board on Monday will consider a tax rebate plan that would aid in the development of an affordable housing project in downtown Lawrence. As the Journal-World reported, the New Hampshire Lofts project is expected to provide just under 50 affordable housing units for people 55 and older. The long-vacant lot is on the east side of New Hampshire Street just north of the 11th and New Hampshire ...