WRITER: Kim Callahan

Disruptive public commenting has reached a crisis point for some in public office; more changes may be coming

For the first time since a pair of public commenters began routinely disrupting government meetings in Lawrence, an official has mentioned the possibility of terminating public comment, at least temporarily. On Monday night, Lawrence school board president Kelly Jones — after an approximately 30-minute standoff with commenter Michael Eravi, who was refusing to obey board rules — said that the time had come ...

Lawrence native's BBQ & bar is a Chiefs hub in New Orleans on Super Bowl weekend

In his two decades of living in one of the world’s great party cities, Steve Mock has seen his share of revelry, but no celebration is likely to be as special to him as the one this weekend at a bar he partners in near the New Orleans Superdome, where Super Bowl LIX will be played Sunday evening. Mock, a Lawrence native and lifelong Kansas City fan, has the venue — the Pour House on Girod Street — decked ...

A Night to Shine: 'the best dance in Lawrence, Kansas, all year'

Kelsey King gave a queenly wave as she floated down the red carpet Friday night on the arm of a handsome military escort, while Stacy Tucker, a little more Lady Gaga than Lady Diana, gave raucous fist pumps as she sashayed to her throne. Those two and 74 others from the Lawrence area were the honored guests Friday night at River City Church, where more than 100 volunteers threw a giant party in their ...

Lawrence Arts Center lays off 7 salaried employees 2 months after fundraising plea to community

The Lawrence Arts Center, which recently sent a desperate fundraising plea to the community, has laid off a number of employees, according to the center's board chair. Meredith Lang, the chair, told the Journal-World Friday evening that the center had recently "reduced salaried staff by seven individuals." Though she declined to name the positions held by those employees, she said that they all had worked ...

Jury finds driver who crashed into Big Mill guilty of multiple crimes, including aggravated battery and drunk & reckless driving

After six hours of deliberation over two days, a Douglas County jury on Wednesday found a Lawrence man who crashed into a restaurant two years ago guilty of multiple crimes, including two counts of aggravated battery and multiple counts of drunk and reckless driving. Brandon Vess, 31, crashed his SUV into the Big Mill restaurant at 900 Mississippi St. on Nov. 4, 2022, injuring three people inside and causing ...

Jury deliberating case of man who crashed his SUV into Lawrence restaurant

Updated at 5:05 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 4 A jury is now deliberating the case of a 31-year-old Lawrence man who is accused of drunkenly slamming his SUV into Big Mill restaurant and injuring three people on Nov. 4, 2022. Defense attorney Nicholas Hayes on Tuesday morning attempted to convince the jury that "something else" was to blame for the crash — not the actions of his client, Brandon Vess. Hayes raised the ...