Cuts to social service programs aren't likely to be a part of Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug's proposed 2019 budget, despite previous statements that warned such cuts were a probability if voters rejected a sales tax to expand the county jail. County voters last month did reject that sales tax, but Weinaug recently told the Journal-World that he doesn't plan to recommend any significant cuts to social service programs or cuts to the approximately $1.5 million of new behavioral health services programs that the county has begun. Instead, other cuts will be proposed to help fund some improvements at the jail. [...]

The Lawrence City Commission has delayed creation of a community police review board, citing concerns that the board could be denied access to investigation files and related video or audio recordings. At their meeting Tuesday, commissioners voiced concerns about the police department and city legal staff’s broad ability to redact police internal investigation files and the ability to withhold video and audio recordings from the board under some circumstances. Vice Mayor Lisa Larsen said she strongly disagreed with not giving the board every piece of information that police used to come to their decision. (Read more: LJWorld.com stories: Local news)

A community board may soon be able to review police investigation files related to certain racial or other bias complaints made against police. At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will consider allowing the city’s Community Police Review Board to review the police department’s internal investigation file when the person who made the bias complaint disagrees with the police findings. The current board, the Citizen Advisory Board for Fair and Impartial Policing, reviews only a summary of the investigation provided by police that some have said provides limited information. The proposed change is part of a revamp of the board [...]

The discussion of whether the city of Lawrence should create a local ordinance to raise the age to purchase tobacco-related products to 21 will be coming to City Hall. At the City Commission’s meeting Tuesday, Vice Mayor Lisa Larsen made a motion to add the topic to a future commission work session agenda. Larsen said she would like to have a discussion about the pros and cons and about what other cities are doing. “There seems to be a big push,” Larsen said. “I think that there’s some merit to getting more details about what would be expected from that type [...]

Consultants will soon undertake a study to come up with a new strategy for the city’s cleanup of the former Farmland fertilizer plant. At its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission voted unanimously to approve a more than $200,000 contract with a consulting firm, GHD Inc. GHD will complete an analysis of the city-owned Farmland site, conduct community input meetings and come up with a new plan to deal with the nitrogen-contaminated water at the site. The plan will have at least five contingencies, each with a cost-benefit analysis, in case one or more methods become infeasible. “Last fall you had [...]