A branch of the University of Kansas has gotten into the business of evaluating the operations of law enforcement agencies across the state and offering accreditation to police and sheriff’s departments. The Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, which is based in Hutchinson but run by KU, has recently launched the Kansas Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. The program reviews police and sheriff’s departments that sign up for the program, and ultimately certifies whether the agencies are meeting a set of best practices for law enforcement. Source: LJWorld

The city of Lawrence is no longer allowing new residents in its sanctioned camp for the homeless, but now there is concern that an unsanctioned camp along the railroad tracks in East Lawrence is growing. At the unofficial camp behind the Amtrak depot near Seventh and New Jersey streets, there are now tents for the homeless about 25 paces from the active Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad line. A business neighbor, Tony Krsnich of Kennedy Glass, said that’s closer than he’s seen at any point in the last two years, and he estimated the footprint of the overall campground has approximately [...]

After assessing Lawrence’s development code for the past few months, city-hired consultants have laid out some changes for an update that will affect where and how the city grows. Those include changes to the setup of both residential and commercial districts and what types of developments and uses are allowed where. ... The development code update will implement the community’s comprehensive plan, Plan 2040, and the development-related aspects of the Downtown Lawrence Plan. It also seeks to establish simpler and more consistent development procedures, according to a project overview. The purpose of the code assessment is to establish a framework for [...]

The City of Eudora will be looking for a new city manager just as the eastern Douglas County community is expected to see an influx of growth from development of the nearby $4 billion Panasonic battery plant. Longtime City Manager Barack Matite announced at Monday’s Eudora City Commission meeting that he had accepted a job as deputy city manager in Rockville, Maryland, a community of about 70,000 people in the Washington, D.C., metro area. He will start that position in late January. Eudora Mayor Tim Reazin said the City Commission would soon announce an interim city manager and would begin working [...]

Many starting wages at the new $4 billion Panasonic battery plant in nearby De Soto will be in the $20 to $25 an hour range, a Lawrence consultant working with the company said. That’s good information for potential job seekers to have, but also valuable information for area companies as well, Rob Richardson, the Panasonic opportunities manager for the Lawrence chamber, told a crowd on Tuesday. Many area companies indeed will be vying for the same workers that Panasonic hopes to employ. “That is kind of what the competition is going to be,” Richardson said as he announced the $20 to [...]

In May of last year, the Lawrence Police Department warned the community about a potent drug that was killing area residents. It was not the usual “stay away from drugs” message directed at teens, but something far more urgent and directed at everyone: “About three to five grains of table salt — that’s the potential fatal dose of fentanyl for an adult,” a department news release stated. “We’re not trying to scare people,” interim Chief of Police Adam Heffley was quick to say. “What we’re trying to do is save someone’s life.” A year and a half later, the dire warning [...]