Earlier this month, Douglas County commissioners approved a raise of more than $41,000 for County Administrator Sarah Plinsky, following reports that her salary was below that of comparable peers. The raise — which amounted to a 19% base salary increase to $255,091 — created a straightforward question: Exactly whom was Douglas County’s administrator position compared to? An investigation by the ...
Southwest Middle School on Wednesday received a report that a student brought a gun to school, but district officials have determined that no gun was brought to school and there was no threat to students or staff, the district told the Journal-World on Thursday. District administrators worked with staff and the police-assigned school resource officer to investigate the report, which included talking with ...
At a holiday band performance by eighth-graders from Southwest Middle School on Wednesday, the Lawrence Schools Foundation surprised the band director, Deborah Woodall Routledge, with a $5,000 award for her dedication to the school’s music program. Routledge is this year's recipient of the foundation's Dedication to Education Award, which recognizes a certified teacher or paraeducator each year for going ...
Douglas County commissioners approved a nearly $82 million budget on Wednesday for the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center and Public Safety Building project — an amount that will also cover some extra features like solar panels and a new parking lot. The commission unanimously approved the total figure of $81,982,074 for the renovations and expansion of the JLEC and the construction of the new Public Safety ...
Douglas County commissioners will on Wednesday consider approving an approximately $82 million budget for the improvement and expansion of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center and a new Public Safety building built next to the county jail. County commissioners will receive a presentation from Treanor Architects and J.E. Dunn Construction regarding the $81,982,074 budget for the JLEC and Public Safety ...
Two 500-pound concrete wrens have had a significant flight path around Lawrence for several decades, but one has landed at the Watkins Museum of History, where it will permanently reside. On Monday, the museum held a reception for a new exhibition featuring the recently restored wren, part of a pair that ended up being all that remained of the “WREN Building,” which sat on the northeast corner of Eighth ...