Business owners around the state will now have better access to advanced business support, research and expertise, thanks to a Kansas State University initiative to create more than 3,000 jobs and generate $3 billion in investment by 2030. Officials from the university and Network Kansas —a statewide network of nonprofit, business-building organizations and resources — on Tuesday morning announced a partnership between the two entities that will bring university-level resources, research and professionals to businesses in communities around the state. Source: CJonline

A Topeka-based construction materials company is hoping to establish a new quarry in Eudora, and it wants the Eudora and Lawrence-Douglas County planning commissions to reconsider after they voted nearly unanimously to recommend against the project. At its meeting Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission will consider the request from Mid-States Materials to return the original conditional use permit application to the Lawrence-Douglas County and Eudora planning commissions for further discussion and an updated recommendation. The Douglas County Commission has to give its approval to revisit the application because back in November, the entire seven-member Eudora Planning Commission and all but two [...]

City commissioners Tuesday took another step to make Lawrence the first city in the state to prohibit landlords from refusing to rent to tenants who receive government assistance, such as Section 8 housing vouchers. After about two hours of divided public comment, city commissioners expressed support for an ordinance that would prohibit landlords from discriminating against potential tenants on the basis of their “source of income.” However, commissioners ultimately agreed to delay passage of the ordinance for a month to give the city’s legal staff more time to refine the ordinance, especially in understanding how the new regulation may impact not [...]