WRITER: Josie Heimsoth

Douglas County commissioners ease rules for home-based businesses, drop registration and fees for many small operations

Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday approved a slate of changes easing regulations for small home-based businesses, which will allow many to operate without registering with the county or paying an annual fee. The changes apply to businesses run out of people's homes in the unincorporated parts of the county, and they cover activities in a variety of fields. According to a memo in the commission's meeting ...

Douglas County commissioners to consider allowing more flexibility for home-based auto and welding businesses

Douglas County commissioners may ease rules on home-based businesses, allowing more flexibility for home-based shops that do auto and welding work. On Wednesday, county commissioners will consider a text amendment to revise standards and the registration process for small-scale businesses that are run out of people’s homes in the county’s unincorporated areas. The home occupations must still be compatible ...

Kansas bill is expected to cut opportunities for affordable housing projects across the state, if signed into law

A bill awaiting the governor’s signature could phase out a key affordable housing tax credit in Kansas, raising concerns that it will make it harder to build and access housing for low-income families. The bill – House Bill 2289 – will change how Kansas supports affordable housing through tax credits. These housing tax credits help developers build or renovate homes for low-income families by giving the ...

Lawrence school board members have seen more online threats and harassment; one says videos of disruptions at meetings are to blame

“You don’t have no (expletive) brains?” The voice explodes from the speaker. It's a man from a San Jose, California, area code, and he's leaving a voicemail for a school board member in Lawrence, Kansas, nearly 1,500 miles away. “You cannot do that to people,” the voice says. “You cannot shut down the First Amendment. Don’t you understand that? … You can’t get it through your (expletive) ...

Honoring a legacy: Bert Nash Center marks 75 years with initiatives for youth care and housing support

At 75 years old, the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center is past the youthful stage of its existence, but don’t accuse it of failing to be new. The nonprofit organization is working on two of its larger projects in recent memory — one dedicated to providing urgent mental health care to children, and another that provides supportive housing to Douglas County residents in need. Both projects fit well ...

‘It’s all of our responsibility’: At Haskell, advocates urge county officials to help care for the Wakarusa River Corridor

Lots of people are involved in the conversations about development to the south of Lawrence, but Chehalis Jones thinks one very important group is being left out — the plants and animals living in the Wakarusa River corridor. Jones, a freshman at Haskell Indian Nations University, was one of about 20 people who gathered at Haskell's Tommaney Library on Thursday to talk with Douglas County's open space ...