Citing the “sacrifices” that the city has had to make in a difficult budget year, the Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday broke an impasse between the city and the fire medical union by siding with the city’s pay proposal. The commission voted 3-1, with Commissioner Amber Sellers opposed and Commissioner Brad Finkeldei absent, to accept management’s proposal, which includes a 3% general wage increase ...
The City of Lawrence and the union that represents firefighters and other emergency personnel are at an impasse on wages, and the City Commission will be asked to resolve it at its meeting on Tuesday. Last year, the city and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1596 came to a working agreement that would cover the years 2025 through 2027. But this year, they reopened it solely to discuss wages ...
Last November, when Lawrence and Douglas County planning officials set their traffic safety targets for 2025, their target was to have under 8.3 fatal crashes in Douglas County. So far, the county is under that, with just five. Now, they're considering a target for 2026 that looks a lot lower: 6.4 fatal crashes. You might think that planners hope to see a drop in crashes because of the county's performance so ...
As someone who helps turn people into frogs, squirrels, hares and more, Jane Pennington might sound like a bit of a mad scientist. And on Thursday, while preparing for Theatre Lawrence's annual costume sale, she really looks the part — showing off a wild white wig, white coat and bug-eyed goggles that were used in the theater's production of "Young Frankenstein" in 2024. Pennington, the theater's ...
It's better known for folksy county fair activities, but on Saturday the Douglas County Fairgrounds will be hosting a very different kind of folk competition with a Scottish flair — the first Free State Highland Games. Highland games are a style of traditional Scottish events that have taken place for centuries both in Scotland and around the world. They combine a festival-like atmosphere with contests of ...
The increases city staff has proposed for water, stormwater and trash rates for 2026 and beyond are part of a trend of steady increases over the past several years, and one of the utility rates — for stormwater — has nearly doubled from 2019 to the present day. The city posts utility rates on its website at lawrenceks.gov/utility-billing/rates, and using snapshots of the page captured on Internet Archive, ...