WRITER: Bremen Keasey

Bert Nash employees announce unionization effort; concerns expressed about caseloads being too high

Story updated at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 15: Employees at the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center are looking to unionize. The workers, organizing to create Community Mental Health Workers United, have the goals of improving the quality of mental health care and addressing workplace issues, according to a press release from International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 304. The Bert Nash workers ...

Lawrence city commissioners ask staff for a plan to keep current pool configuration at Outdoor Aquatic Center

After a flood of public comments, including a petition asking the city to change its mind on a redesign of Lawrence’s Outdoor Aquatic Center, city commissioners have voiced support for a plan that would repair the pool’s current configuration and cost the city less money. Commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday directed city staff to further develop an option that would repair structural issues with the ...

Lawrence city leaders cancel purchase agreement for building that was proposed for new City Hall

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday voted to cancel a purchase agreement for a building that was proposed as a future location for City Hall after a crowd of public speakers spoke against moving city government out of the downtown area. The commission voted 3-2 to cancel the agreement to buy a former call center building at 2000 Bluffs Drive. Commissioner Lisa Larsen put forward a motion to cancel instead of ...

Lawrence bike and pedestrian projects win $3.5 million in state grants, including Safe Routes to Schools program

Two Lawrence bike and pedestrian projects won state grants totaling about $3.5 million, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Monday. The two projects in Lawrence that received the competitive grants from the state’s Transportation Alternatives Program — administered by the Kansas Department of Transportation and funded by the Federal Highway Administration — are for improvements for the city’s 2025 Safe ...

VOTER GUIDE: A proposal to change to the city's form of government is on the November ballot; here's what it could mean for Lawrence residents

No city leaders will be on the ballot this November, but Lawrence voters will have an opportunity to change the structure of their local government to include a directly elected mayor and a City Commission that's elected partly by geographic districts. The question on the ballot, which asks for a simple yes or no answer, reads: “Shall the City of Lawrence, Kansas, abandon the Commission-Manager form of ...

VOTER GUIDE: Lawrence residents face ballot question to double sales tax rate for affordable housing, homeless services

Voters in Lawrence are being asked to vote on a referendum that could raise the affordable housing sales tax from 0.05% to 0.10%, allowing some of the funds to pay for services to help persons experiencing homelessness. The ballot initiative was approved by the City Commission in August as part of the budget discussions for 2025, as the Journal-World reported. The sales tax increase would add an extra nickel in ...