WRITER: Sylas May

City of Lawrence plans to buy former Journal-World printing plant building for a City Hall annex

To solve its space crunch at City Hall, the City of Lawrence is now planning to purchase the former Journal-World printing facility just across the street. At its meeting on Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider authorizing Acting City Manager Casey Toomay to purchase the building at 609 New Hampshire and 603 Massachusetts streets for use as a City Hall annex. According to the commission's meeting ...

A new aviation program at Peaslee Tech helped this Lawrence High grad get her dreams off the ground

Noelle Fisher’s flight plan through life hasn’t looked like a typical pilot’s story. “Most people in the aviation world have family that does it,” said Fisher, who graduated from Lawrence High School last week. “Or they have some kind of moment where they’re like, ‘Oh, I want to do this!’ “But I’ve never really had that moment. I just always liked planes, and then I started to get serious ...

Conversations on Riverfront site's future have already begun, but Lawrence city staff says there's a long way to go

Though the City of Lawrence isn't expected to take over the former Riverfront Mall building until next year, staff is already talking with advisory boards and even with the Lawrence Farmers Market about what might go there in the future. As the Journal-World has reported, the city will be taking over the building next to City Hall as part of a lawsuit settlement that it recently reached with the building’s ...

These officers play many roles on downtown patrol in Lawrence, and they don't want to see it cut

On the best days, downtown patrol officers Eric Dawson and Taylor Zook have a simple job: “Just wander around and say hello to people,” Zook says. How common are those best days? “Maybe once every couple weeks?” Zook estimates. “Does that sound right?” “Maybe,” Dawson replies. Friday, May 15, is certainly not one of those days. It starts with a report of someone burning clothes in a park ...

Lawrence Transit's sales tax is 'critical,' its director says, and an increase could be on the ballot in November

If Lawrence Transit's finances were a bus, it would be approaching a few important stops right now. First up is 2027, when its Biden-era infrastructure funding gets off, and a new and likely scaled-back Trump-era plan gets on. Next is 2029, when its contract with its current service provider will get off, too. And, depending on what happens in the next two years, there could be one more departure at that stop: ...

City of Lawrence enters negotiations with a city manager candidate; announcement could come next week

Lawrence city commissioners voted Friday morning to enter contract negotiations with a city manager candidate, but which one won't be revealed for a few more days yet. The vote was taken in a special meeting that lasted about a minute; the commission did not name the candidate the city would be negotiating with. Mayor Brad Finkeldei told the Journal-World afterward that another special meeting would likely be ...