Leaders at the local homeless shelter say that although they are once again accepting new residents, the pandemic continues to limit the shelter’s ability to house the homeless. The Lawrence Community Shelter, 3655 E. 25th St., stopped accepting new residents in March because of the ...

LEAVENWORTH — A Leavenworth hospital will close this fall because of costs associated with the coronavirus, the hospital owner said. Saint Luke’s Cushing Hospital’s inpatient unit will close July 17 and the entire hospital will close Oct. 1, the Saint Luke’s Health System announced ...

Kansas in the last 10 days has seen a “significant increase” in new COVID-19 cases and is taking “another step in the wrong direction,” the state’s top health officer said Wednesday. Since last Monday, the state has confirmed 2,547 new cases of the deadly respiratory virus, said Dr. ...

Updated at 4:35 p.m. Wednesday Just before the Fourth of July holiday, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health has announced a health order to close bars and nightclubs for two weeks, beginning Friday, in light of the COVID-19 crisis. The official order will be issued Thursday by Douglas ...

Every morning at 6:02 a.m., Kathy Hanks and Amy Bickel would wake up and log on to their computers. In the same Google Document, the women would write in the morning hours from their respective homes in Lawrence and Burrton, Kan. Hanks and Bickel, former colleagues at The Hutchinson News, ...

The University of Kansas has decided to give its instructors more flexibility to decide whether they’re comfortable with teaching in-person courses in the fall, just days after hundreds of faculty members signed a letter protesting KU’s policies related to COVID-19 and the reopening ...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City’s Black mayor said Monday that he was called a racist slur and told he should “swing from a tree” after he announced mandatory face masks in the Missouri city. Mayor Quinton Lucas on Twitter shared a screenshot of the texts, which came after he announced ...

The logistics of a fall semester at the University of Kansas in the COVID-19 era began to take shape late Monday, as the university released many new guidelines for classroom configurations, the options available for faculty to safely teach, and new procedures for the unprecedented academic ...

Updated at 4:47 p.m. Monday The state of Kansas, beginning on Friday, will require every person to wear a mask in public places where social distancing is not possible, Gov. Laura Kelly announced Monday. The marked escalation in Kansas' strategy to slow the spread of COVID-19 came after the ...

Story updated at 5 p.m. Monday: After more than 30 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed over the weekend, Douglas County will soon require everyone in public spaces to wear a mask when social distancing is not possible. Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, masks will be required throughout ...

The Lawrence Public Library has reopened in a limited capacity, but library leaders say a return to normal operating is still far away. The library’s meeting areas, study tables and reading corners are gone, and there are limits on the number of visitors and how long they can stay. ...

Story updated at 1:28 p.m. Monday: Two Boys & Girls Club locations and a Lawrence school district summer meal pickup site have closed because club staff members have contracted COVID-19. Alissa Bauer, a spokesperson for the club, said in an email to the Journal-World that the club ...

Dozens of department leaders at the University of Kansas are demanding more transparency from administrators about plans to reopen campus after a COVID-19-induced shutdown, and a few of them have refused to comply with a mandate that requires instructors to document their health conditions in ...

After a round of federal stimulus checks granted qualifying U.S. citizens money to help pay for living expenses and boost the economy, Americans may be wondering if a second round of payment could be on the way as COVID-19 continues to spread. On Monday, President Donald Trump told a reporter ...

The Fourth of July is upon us and with that comes fireworks, crowds and injuries. There is no doubt that this 4th may look a bit different from previous years. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many counties and cities to cancel their fireworks displays to keep large crowds from gathering in one ...

Monette Johnson wants her husband, Chuck, to see another of the wheat harvests that have been so central to his life. His career centered on grain elevators and wheat sales. Now in hospice care in Lindsborg, Kan., he misses those golden fields. So Monette recruited a family friend to Skype ...

A third City of Lawrence employee has tested positive for COVID-19, the city announced Friday in a news release. The case involves an employee from the Municipal Services and Operations Department whose position does not involve contact with the public, according to the release. The worker is ...

KANSAS CITY, MO. — Kansas City is making masks mandatory inside businesses and other places that are open to the public amid a growing number of confirmed coronavirus cases. Mayor Quinton Lucas said Friday that starting Monday, visitors and employees must wear masks when 6 feet of separation ...

Roadwork will soon begin to temporarily reconfigure the layout of downtown Lawrence to allow more space for outdoor commerce due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, city staff will begin work on Massachusetts Street for the recently approved reconfiguration plan, which will cause some ...

Updated at 5:07 p.m. Friday The Jayhawk Cafe was confirmed as a site of a COVID-19 outbreak on Friday, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health said in a news release. Several people who have recently tested positive for COVID-19 reported being present at the Lawrence bar at 1340 Ohio St., also ...