WRITER: Josie Heimsoth

Douglas County commissioners advance guaranteed income pilot exploration with new grant support

Douglas County commissioners authorized staff on Wednesday to use outside grant funding to continue exploring the idea of a guaranteed income pilot program for low-income single mothers. During their meeting on Wednesday, commissioners approved a subgrant agreement with the International City/County Management Association for what’s called the Economic Mobility Community and Opportunity Peer Learning cohort ...

Bert Nash supporters, recently laid-off employees ask county for support, transparency about mental health center's finances

Updated at 9:50 a.m. Thursday, May 29 At least two dozen people — including some who said they had recently been laid off from Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center — asked county leaders on Wednesday for support and for more transparency about the center's financial situation. Last week, Bert Nash announced that, as a result of an anticipated $3 million operating loss for 2025, it was eliminating ...

Douglas County commissioners oppose cutting EMS services as Fire Medical faces budget reductions

While the final decisions haven't been made yet on how Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical will handle city funding cuts, Douglas County commissioners said Wednesday that a reduction in emergency medical services shouldn't be on the table. “A reduction in services is not really an acceptable answer to me, and specifically EMS services, since that’s what the county is responsible for,” Commissioner ...

Despite new state law, Douglas County will keep developing idea for guaranteed income pilot program for single mothers

Douglas County plans to keep developing its ideas for a potential guaranteed income pilot program for low-income single mothers, despite a new Kansas law that bars cities and counties from establishing such programs with taxpayer funds. A guaranteed income program for single mothers has been on county leaders' minds for some time. But in its 2025 session, the Kansas Legislature passed House Bill 2101, which ...

With new MacBooks coming soon, Lawrence school board approves the sale of surplus technology devices to the public

Members of the public will soon have the chance to purchase "surplus technology devices" from the Lawrence school district, which the district will no longer need after purchasing new MacBooks for staff and high school students. On Tuesday, school board members approved the sale, which will be carried out by the IT asset management and disposal service Synetic Technologies. The district said in a news release ...

Douglas County commissioners to hear about options for how to handle fire and medical cuts from the city

More than a month ago, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical briefed county commissioners on two scenarios for its budget — where the city wants to make at least $1.5 million in cuts — and the commissioners didn't sound enthusiastic about either one. In one scenario, the county would have to provide more than $1.5 million in extra funding for LDCFM. In the other, the county wouldn't provide extra money, and ...