Austin Hornbostel

The Lawrence Community Shelter Board of Directors on Monday approved a $680,050 addendum to its funding agreement with the City of Lawrence, along with a $141,000 contract for engineering services for a set of shelter improvements and the installation of Pallet cabins outside the main shelter building. The board had called a special meeting for […]

The City of Lawrence’s Fourth of July festivities will look a little different this year. While the city still plans to host its annual free Summerfest event at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in celebration of the holiday, an Independence Day staple will be markedly absent. That’s because instead of a fireworks display, the city is […]

The Lawrence City Commission is once again set to consider changes to the protocol for general public comment at its weekly meetings, this time due to apparent difficulties with recording this portion of the meeting while simultaneously stopping the live broadcast. At Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, commissioners are being asked to consider moving the general […]

At Wednesday’s LMH Health Board of Trustees meeting, a familiar face joined the group as the hospital’s new top financial leader. The meeting was longtime Lawrence leader Rob Chestnut’s first as CFO since he joined the organization on May 20. As the Journal-World reported, Chestnut was hired in early April. He previously spent four years […]

The Baker University Board of Trustees has voted to retain ownership of a parcel of land near the Baker Wetlands that until recently was under consideration for a potential land sale to accommodate a housing development. The university confirmed the vote in a brief statement on Tuesday. As the Journal-World has reported, Baker University had […]

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran’s office has received a response to a letter sent last month calling for “systemic overhaul” of the federal office that oversees Haskell Indian Nations University — but not from the leader he sought answers from. Moran, R-Kansas, sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in late April highlighting […]

Rich Lorenzo, a rural Douglas County resident, has announced his candidacy for one of two new seats on the newly expanded five member Douglas County Commission. In a press release shared with the Journal-World, Lorenzo said he intends to run for election in District 5, which includes a small portion of south Lawrence, southern Wakarusa […]

The U.S. Department of the Interior missed the deadline to respond to a letter from U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran’s office urging a “systemic overhaul” of the federal office that oversees Haskell Indian Nations University, the Journal-World has learned. As the Journal-World has reported, Moran, R-Kansas, sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland […]

For the kids at Limestone Community School, understanding the need for affordable housing isn’t rocket science. Over the course of more than a year, the school’s second and third grade students have been studying ways to get more people in the community into secure housing. They’ve learned about zoning and land acquisition, drawn their own […]

A new mural unveiled by artists with arts-based nonprofit Van Go Thursday is a bit different from the projects they typically complete each spring — it’s not going to be installed on a wall but on a vehicle. Titled “Regenerations,” the mural will be printed on vinyl and wrapped around one of the Senior Resource Center’s […]

On Friday, 129 students were recognized as they graduated from Haskell Indian Nations University. The university hosted its 2024 commencement ceremony for spring and summer graduates on Friday, May 3, 2024. At the ceremony, graduates heard a commencement address from Billy Mills, a former student at Haskell and the University of Kansas and a famed […]

Story updated at 8:19 p.m. Thursday, April 25: The Lawrence Community Shelter Board of Directors on Thursday approved a collective bargaining agreement for a group of unionized shelter workers that, in part, would raise all employees’ pay to at least $20 an hour. As the Journal-World has reported, workers at LCS formed a labor union […]

A bench trial about the City of Lawrence’s housing nondiscrimination ordinance was canceled this month, and the city and the group of landlords who sued over the protections are now seeking a resolution without a full trial. The case centers on changes that the city made to its nondiscrimination ordinance in February 2023 that prevent […]

The Lawrence City Commission meeting on Tuesday was briefly derailed after multiple public commenters on Zoom engaged in racist and antisemitic hate speech and insulted another commenter. Commissioners voted to enter a 10-minute recess about 40 minutes into Tuesday’s meeting after what appeared to be three commenters talked over another commenter, calling her a “f–king […]

Story updated at 7:50 p.m. Saturday, April 13: The 1,105-acre Kansas Sky Energy Center solar project no longer has much standing in the way of its construction on agricultural land in Grant Township after earning unanimous approval from the Douglas County Commission on Saturday evening. Commissioners have approved a conditional use permit for the first […]

Story updated at 7:50 p.m. Saturday, April 13: The 1,105-acre Kansas Sky Energy Center solar project no longer has much standing in the way of its construction on agricultural land in Grant Township after earning unanimous approval from the Douglas County Commission on Saturday evening. Commissioners have approved a conditional use permit for the first […]

A 30-day public comment period is now open for a proposed reallocation of $100,000 in pandemic relief funds toward a housing study examining the effects of COVID-19 on the City of Lawrence’s housing market. At Monday’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board meeting, the group heard more about a proposed amendment to the city’s 2019 Community Development […]

“A Place for Everyone.” That’s the name of the new city and county plan to end chronic homelessness, so you might expect it to be focused on places — affordable and supportive housing for people to live in. And that’s certainly a part of it. One of the plan’s five “goal areas” calls for more […]

“A Place for Everyone.” That’s the name of the new city and county plan to end chronic homelessness, so you might expect it to be focused on places — affordable and supportive housing for people to live in. And that’s certainly a part of it. One of the plan’s five “goal areas” calls for more […]

A group of local farmers has partnered with earthwork artist Stan Herd to create a work urging the relocation of a utility-scale solar energy project proposed for 1,105 acres just north of Lawrence. The art installation — visible from the north side of Interstate 70 between East 1500 and East 1600 roads, not far from […]