WRITER: Kim Callahan

West Middle School evacuated after bomb threat; search reveals 'nothing of concern'; juvenile booked into detention center

Updated at 4:50 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023 A student is in custody and hundreds of middle school students are grappling with the ordeal of having been evacuated from their Lawrence school Thursday after it was the target of a bomb threat. The events — which ultimately turned up no explosive device — unfolded Thursday morning at West Middle School, 2700 Harvard Road, after a report of a written threat ...

Theatre Lawrence takes a dramatic — and comic — look at truth and deceit in 'Lifespan of a Fact'

Long before the Trump administration gave rise to the phrases “fake news” and “alternative facts,” the squishy — and often satiric — concepts of “truthiness” and “my truth” were adrift in the culture, denoting the quality of appearing to be true, or feeling true, while not necessarily being objective fact. And long before those notions, there were truths that were famously held to be ...

If City Hall seems a little bare, it's because the trees are gone

If you happened to sense that the area around Lawrence City Hall seems different lately, it’s probably because four large trees on East Sixth Street have recently been cut down, leaving the plaza area and lawn looking unusually naked, even for winter. The largest of the trees, a pin oak that soared to the roofline of the four-story government building, is probably the most noticeable absence. The tree, which ...

Lawrence contest to put barbering skills on display

An upcoming event aims to put the art of barbering on display, and local barber Jermaine Jackson is expecting folks from around the region to show up with their scissors, clippers and a competitive spirit. The barbering contest, sponsored by Lawrence Magazine, eXplore Lawrence and Watson’s Barbershop, where Jackson works, is slated for 3 to 8 p.m. Feb. 5 at Venue 1235, 1235 N. Third St. in North ...

Lawrence PFLAG chapter, making its debut next week, wants LGBTQ community to know it has your back

No one should face a difficult or complex experience alone — especially when a segment of society insists on attaching stigma to that experience and even legislating against it. That’s the simple message of a group of moms who started a local PFLAG chapter — which Lawrence, surprisingly, has lacked even though the organization is in its 50th year. These moms know firsthand how crucial, even life-saving, ...

Mom says Lawrence woman who died of fentanyl poisoning at age 23 'was a person, not another number'

Mary Cowdin stood outside a Douglas County courtroom in mid-December, waiting to learn the fate of a man who had been charged in connection with the death of her daughter Angelyca. Angelyca was the 23-year-old’s real name, but, as her best friend, Raven Wilson, noted, no one ever called her that. “Because to us she was Angel,” Wilson said, even though they often joked about how she was no real angel, ...