WRITER: Sylas May

Lawrence City Commission could take a step forward on nearly $184 million in debt for capital projects

City commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday could take a step forward on nearly $184 million in debt to fund a variety of projects, including stormwater improvements and the Municipal Services and Operations campus. The commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution to offer the sale of $158 million in general obligation bonds and $25.9 million in temporary notes for projects in the city's Capital ...

Lawrence's climate policy has lacked an 'action plan' for years, sustainability advisers hear

“Currently, there is not a laid-out strategy that the city has adopted to reach those next goals.” Those words were spoken by the city-county sustainability director back in 2019 about Lawrence’s plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But they might as well have been said by the Environmental Sustainability Advisory Board just this week in its discussion of what to do with the city’s clean energy ...

Instead of repealing Lawrence's clean energy ordinance, an adviser wants to give it more teeth

After Lawrence fell far short of a clean energy target it set for 2025, city staff wanted to repeal the ordinance that set the target. But now, a city adviser wants to not only keep that ordinance, but give it more teeth. The ordinance is known as Ordinance 9744, and it was passed by the City Commission in 2020. It set goals of powering all city facilities with renewable energy by 2025, and of transitioning to ...

$74M in eco-friendly improvements to Kansas River wastewater treatment plant are nearly complete

More than $74 million in improvements to reduce the Kansas River wastewater treatment plant’s impact on the environment are almost complete, city staff said this week. At the Connected City Advisory Board’s meeting on Monday, Trevor Flynn, assistant director of Municipal Services and Operations, said the project had reached its “date of significant completion” this week. From here, it’s a matter of ...

Public works staffer says little details will help Lawrence put its 'best foot forward' for the World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup may be one of the biggest events the Kansas City area has ever seen, but it will take a lot of little details to pull it off successfully. For Scott Fewins, general manager of field operations for Lawrence’s Municipal Services and Operations department, that means fixing sidewalks, painting parking lots, and a whole lot of cleanup. All of that contributes to “what is people’s ...

Leader of Lawrence's Homeless Solutions Division feels like 'nobody wants to hear the good news'

Living outside in an unsanctioned homeless camp, Misty Bosch-Hastings says, is “horrific.” In two years as director of Lawrence’s Homeless Solutions Division, she’s seen enough human trafficking, violence, substance abuse and death in encampments to know that. “It’s horrific. It’s horrific,” she repeats. “It’s not just a good old time, you know, all just hanging out, just loving each ...