WRITER: Josie Heimsoth

Public commenter escorted out of Lawrence school board meeting after using obscene language

A public commenter who has been frequently attending Lawrence school board meetings was escorted out of the meeting for refusing to obey board rules. Carrie Schmidt, who resides in Johnson County, has attended the last several Lawrence school board meetings protesting against the district’s public comment policy. She has also read obscenities and sexually explicit material to board members, saying the books ...

Lawrence school board offers support after alleged Prairie Park assaults, parent calls for transparency

Lawrence school board members communicated support for families at Prairie Park Elementary, and a parent called for greater transparency and additional support after several students were allegedly sexually assaulted. On Monday, Lawrence school board members told the community that they will help support the families in the school district and at Prairie Park Elementary School after eight children, between the ...

Lawrence school board approves $235K salary for superintendent

The Lawrence school board on Monday approved Superintendent Jeanice Swift’s employment contract with an annual salary of $235,000. Swift was the interim superintendent prior to being offered the permanent role, and her contract will run from July 1 of this year through June 30, 2028. Her interim contract will be in place until July. According to the contract, Swift will be paid an annual salary of $235,000, ...

Lawrence school board members to receive third presentation on instructional time after several winter storms

Lawrence school board members will hear another update on Monday about how nearly two weeks' worth of winter weather cancellations have affected the district's class time for the 2024-2025 school year. The school district has so far used nine inclement weather days — five in January and four in February — after three big winter storms hit Lawrence. Since the first storm in early January, the school ...

Rehired workers show that Haskell's voice is being heard, instructor says — but he stresses that the fight isn't over

The federal bureaucracy that surrounds Haskell Indian Nations University doesn't often give straight answers. But this week, Dan Wildcat said, it gave hundreds of community members a clear sign that they'd been heard. Fourteen clear signs, in fact. “This is, to me, the best part of the story so far,” Wildcat, an instructor of Indigenous and American Indian Studies at Haskell, told a crowd of about 100 ...

Evergy proposes rate increases to Kansas customers to help fund solar farm project in Douglas County

A large solar energy project proposed for Douglas County likely will require an increase in electric rates, as will a pair of natural gas power plants for other areas of Kansas. During a public hearing on Wednesday via Zoom, Evergy — the state's largest electric utility — proposed rate increases for customers in Lawrence and elsewhere to help pay for two natural gas plants and the Kansas Sky Energy Center ...