The Lawrence Times

The top law enforcement officer in Kansas appeared to justify a Marion County search warrant that led to an unprecedented raid on a local newspaper and potentially contributed to the death of the paper’s co-owner. Kansas Bureau of Investigation Director Tony Mattivi released a statement Sunday following widespread outrage of Friday’s raid, in which local law enforcement seized computers, cellphones and other reporting materials from the Marion County Record office and publisher Eric Meyer’s home. The raid was part of an investigation into the alleged identity theft of a restaurant owner who had clashed with the paper. Source: The Lawrence Times

Lawrence Municipal Court next week will roll out a pilot night court program, which will add an early evening docket once a month to create more flexibility for defendants. The move is part of a push to reduce failures to appear in court. If defendants miss court, judges can issue arrest warrants, and getting booked into jail can cause serious repercussions for those who have citations or offenses that would not otherwise have involved jail time. Night court will be staffed with Municipal Court Judge Chris Kopecky, a prosecutor, a courtroom clerk, a customer service clerk, a court security officer and a supervisor, [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday could not come to a decision on how to change general public comment procedures and, therefore, opted to make no change. Mayor Lisa Larsen had asked her fellow commissioners on Aug. 1 whether they would like to again discuss making changes to public comment procedures. She proposed the commission move its general public comment to the end of meetings; only hold general public comment on the first Tuesday of the month; and designate a specific area in City Hall where the public can record video during meetings. Commissioners heard from about two dozen people about the [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday approved a revived ordinance banning single-use plastic bags citywide. The ordinance has been in discussion for years, and the Sustainability Advisory Board has suggested multiple versions of it. It aims to reduce the use of plastics in the city, which in turn could help reduce the city’s dependence on fossil fuels and prevent some pollution from the bags, contamination through microplastics from bags’ degradation, and animal deaths from eating the bags, among other concerns. Commissioners in a 2-2 tie on June 20 voted down the ordinance that would have banned the use of single-use plastic bags in city [...]

Members of the public no longer have the option to pull most items from the Lawrence City Commission’s consent agenda. There’s one item on Tuesday’s agenda that can be pulled. The consent agenda is a long list of items that are generally approved in one motion unless a commissioner or member of the public asks to pull something for discussion. Under a change commissioners approved last week, community members may only pull certain items that are designated as “quasi-judicial.” Deputy City Attorney Randy Larkin said last week that this distinction typically includes items where the commission is asked to apply city [...]

Members of the public can no longer request to pull most items from the Lawrence City Commission’s consent agenda during meetings, commissioners voted Tuesday. A governing body’s consent agenda generally includes a list of items that are considered routine and are approved in one vote. Some bodies, such as the Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission, allow commissioners themselves as well as members of the public to ask that an item be removed from the consent agenda for discussion; the Lawrence school board allows board members and the superintendent to remove items from the consent agenda. The change approved Tuesday [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will hold a public hearing and consider tax incentives for First Management Inc. to redevelop the long-vacant downtown Borders building for use as corporate headquarters. A city committee in June voted in favor of one tax break for a project to redevelop the former bookstore building at 700 New Hampshire St., but they voted against a much larger tax incentive that First Management Inc. and owner Doug Compton had requested. The company previously sought a 15-year, 90% Neighborhood Revitalization Area (NRA) rebate on property taxes for the building, and the city’s Public Incentives Review Committee voted [...]

Currently, Lawrence Municipal Court may issue arrest warrants for unpaid parking tickets. That could change as the City of Lawrence is considering moving to a new process to handle parking violations. The city is also considering other options for habitual violators, including demobilization of vehicles. Under the proposed changes, people would no longer be required to show up to court to appeal citations or for notices to appear, according to the city’s website about the project. Source: The Lawrence Times

From now through Aug. 20, Lawrence Municipal Court is forgiving up to $50 of traffic infraction or parking fines in exchange for $15 worth of school supplies.  “We think that this program will have the mutual benefit of helping families in our community … and helping citizens pay for the fines they owe to our court,” said Vicki Stanwix, court administrator. The debt forgiveness program is designed to help motorists with outstanding traffic fines while allowing them to help local school children and their families. It’s the first time the municipal court has tried the campaign, but if it is a [...]

Barton County residents will decide whether to break up with their school district and “start fresh” following heartbreak and anger over the closure of a rural community’s high school. The change could result in hundreds of students displaced and three more schools shut down. The Aug. 1 disorganization vote is a test case for rural communities that increasingly have to make decisions to shut down or consolidate as populations dwindle and schools face financial strain. “This is brand new territory for the Department of Education, for the State Board of Education and basically every district in the state of Kansas,” said KSDE [...]