Story updated at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 7: Lawrence City Manager Craig Owens will be leaving his job with the city in May of 2026, the city announced in a news release Friday morning. Owens was hired in 2019 after the previous city manager, Tom Markus, retired. The news release did not provide any details about the hiring process for Owens' replacement, but it said that Owens would remain "fully engaged in ...
Lawrence city commissioners next week will weigh in on a proposed policy that would set guidelines for how affordable housing incentives are issued. The commission won't be voting on the more than 50-page Affordable Housing Incentive Policy next week, but it will hear a presentation on it and provide feedback to staff. According to the meeting agenda materials, the policy is meant to provide clear guidelines ...
In this week's election, the volunteer-run Perry-Lecompton Community Library took a big step toward being able to access more resources — but the leader of its board says there's still a lot of work left to do. Voters overwhelmingly said yes on Tuesday to a referendum to create a new library district for Perry and Lecompton, whose boundaries will mostly match those of the Perry-Lecompton school district. In ...
Story updated at 3:08 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5: Lawrence residents can start purchasing recreation center memberships in less than two weeks, and the City of Lawrence will be holding information sessions later this month to answer questions about the new fees and help people sign up. The city won't start requiring membership fees for rec center access until Jan. 5, 2026, but monthly and yearly memberships will ...
To salute veterans this week, Douglas County is joining counties across the nation by lighting up its historic courthouse in green. Through Veterans Day on Nov. 11, the row of green lights will be shining outside the courthouse at 11th and Massachusetts streets, and green lights will also greet visitors at the entrance on the Massachusetts Street side. It's all part of Operation Green Light for Veterans, a ...
In a Lawrence City Commission race that featured two former mayors, two new faces came away with the victory on Tuesday night — Mike Courtney and Kristine Polian. Courtney and Polian, neither of whom has served on the City Commission before, each won a four-year term as the top vote-getters in Tuesday's election. They beat out incumbent Bart Littlejohn, who was elected in 2021, and Bob Schumm, who had been on ...