The Lawrence Times

People living at the city-run campsite in North Lawrence say they’re struggling with increased interlopers, assaults, theft and drug activity in the week since the city installed a fence intended to prevent visitors, and a woman said she was raped at the camp on Sunday.  Tension, anger and fear at the campsite are increasing. At times, the feeling hanging over the camp is a foreboding one, said Jenn Adams — known as the “camp mom” — who has experienced violence while living outside before. “I felt safer out at Sandra Shaw after my throat had been cut than I do here [...]

A division of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is proposing to build a solar energy facility covering more than a square mile just north of Lawrence, near Midland Junction. The “Kansas Sky Energy Center” would supply electrical power to local utility Evergy Inc., which would ultimately own the facility. Savion LLC, based in Kansas City, said it has acquired more than 1,100 acres of land — currently used as farmland — on which to build the giant solar array. It said the solar collection equipment would cover as much as 734 acres of the land. Source: The Lawrence Times

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation welcomed a U.S. Court of Appeals decision in a challenge to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s method for distributing CARES Act assistance and the tribal chairman said the outcome could have ramifications for allocation of future federal funding. A series of lawsuits, including one by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation headquartered in Mayetta, led to the Court of Appeals’ declaration the Treasury Department engaged in an arbitrary and capricious process for calculating emergency aid. The Court of Appeals ordered the U.S. treasury secretary to provide further explanation of decisions regarding Prairie Band’s aid. Prairie Band Chairman [...]

Kansas lawmakers passed a tax cut package in the early Friday morning hours that fuses a flat tax rate for individual income with an accelerated reduction in the state sales tax on food, corporate tax breaks and residential property tax relief. The policies assembled into Senate Bill 169 add up to $1.3 billion in decreased state tax collections over the next three years, with more than half of the cost associated with the flat tax. The bill eliminates the sales tax on food at the start of next year. “To me, it’s always a priority to get it back to taxpayers [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday decided to table a discussion on raising or eliminating the cap on the number of short-term rental units property owners may license in some parts of town. Following an increase in short-term rental units like Airbnbs in past years, commissioners discussed possibly changing the limitation of how many units can be licensed or owned for that purpose — currently three per person.  Discussions surrounding the short-term rental industry in Lawrence have been ongoing for years. Tuesday night’s meeting agenda highlighted times when local policy was altered, including in 2020. Source: The Lawrence Times

More than a year of work by Lawrence Community Police Review Board members to engage with the community and revise the ordinance that outlines the board’s duties may have been for nothing. A resolution up for consideration at Tuesday’s Lawrence City Commission meeting would essentially scrap the draft ordinance that CPRB members and city staff members and attorneys worked to refine. If approved, a work group that has yet to meet will start from scratch, making amendments to the ordinance as it currently exists. The work group was formed to review the CPRB’s draft ordinance and the Lawrence Police Department’s current [...]

A draft strategic plan sets a goal of 2028 for Lawrence and Douglas County to achieve functional zero homelessness. The plan emphasizes equity, inclusion, and correcting imbalances of power. Douglas County commissioners heard a presentation on the draft Housing and Homelessness 5-Year Strategic Plan Wednesday afternoon during a work session. The commission doesn’t take action during work sessions, but staff aim to bring a final plan back to the commission in June. The roughly 30-page draft breaks the issues into five focus areas: Equity and Inclusion; Affordable Housing; Supportive Housing; Systems; and Emergency Shelter. Source: The Lawrence Times

Residents of Lawrence’s Pinkney neighborhood and staff at a nearby preschool are questioning the site where the city plans to place a “village” for people experiencing homelessness, and how the project would be managed. The city has its sights set on the former location of Veritas Christian School, 256 N. Michigan St., for its Pallet Shelter Village. The land purchase and project, estimated at $1.84 million and to be paid from federal COVID-19 relief funds, is now on a timeline to provide temporary cabin-style sheltering for up to 75 people starting this July, pending Lawrence City Commission approval. Source: The Lawrence [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will consider a $725,000 land purchase, a contract for $1.11 million of temporary shelters for people experiencing homelessness, and a resolution suspending zoning and code enforcement on that property for a year. The commission in December approved budgeting $4.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act money — federal COVID-19 relief funds — to purchase modular homes from Pallet, a Washington state-based “Public Benefit Corporation.” The modular Pallet homes, which will include a heating and cooling source but no bathrooms, will be part of a “village setting” that includes restrooms, laundry, shower and community gathering facilities and [...]

The City of Lawrence on Wednesday announced the location for its planned Pallet Shelter Village site: 256 North Michigan St., pending Lawrence City Commission approval. “The City is committed to working with the surrounding neighborhood to make the Pallet Shelter village a successful addition,” according to a news release. In December, the Lawrence City Commission approved using $4.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act money — federal COVID-19 relief funds — to purchase the modular homes for people experiencing homelessness from Pallet, a “Public Benefit Corporation.” Source: The Lawrence Times