The Lawrence Times

Frank Gieringer rides a flatbed trailer toward rows of apple trees loaded with Galas, Crimson Crisps and other varieties, ready for the picking. His family owns this bucolic orchard and berry farm outside Edgerton, Kansas. Just beyond its borders lie 2,000 acres of land, a potential location for the state’s first utility-scale solar farm. Gieringer says he’d welcome the new neighbor. “To really look at ‘em, it’s not a heck of a lot of difference than looking at an orchard or a vineyard really. It’s just rows of panels,” Gieringer says. “They’re harvesting sun. Same thing I’m doin’. All of agriculture [...]

The city’s Homeless Initiatives Division is funneling an estimated 150 to 200 people who are dispersed across town camping at public parks, wooded areas and the library, to the parcel of land behind Johnny’s Tavern to live in a city-run temporary shelter. “I would prefer to call it a support campsite,” said Jenn Wolsey, homeless programs coordinator. “It’s intended for us to have a space for individuals to go to that has amenities, portable restrooms, showers, and then we will also be there as well. It’s also a place that providers can go to, like one place to meet folks where [...]

A lot has changed in the past 16 years — but that’s not reflected in the document that lays out the regulations meant to help the city implement its goals and visions. Aging it further, Lawrence’s land development code, adopted in July 2006, was based on the city’s comprehensive plan that was adopted in 1998 — Horizon 2020. What is Lawrence’s land development code? In simplest terms, the 559-page code basically says what can be built where. It’s a lot more complex than that, however. It covers everything from how closes together houses can be to whether you can raise livestock [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday decided not to put a question on voters’ November ballots asking if they want to directly elect a mayor. The question was about potential changes to the city’s form of government. A task force suggested that rather than the current five commissioners who are elected at large — meaning by voters across the whole city, rather than by districts — the city should have six council members who each represent a district of Lawrence, plus a directly elected mayor. Commissioners decided last week that they did not want to include the question of districts on ballots. Currently, [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday will resume a discussion on the city’s form of government and whether to ask voters if they want to directly elect a mayor. The ongoing conversation is about potential changes to the city government. A task force suggested that rather than the current five city commissioners who are elected at large — meaning by voters across the whole city, rather than by districts — the city should have six commissioners who each represent a district of Lawrence. The task force also recommended that voters should directly elect a mayor to serve a four-year term. Currently, the [...]

The City of Lawrence has joined a nationwide initiative to detect infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and monkeypox, in local wastewater, according to a news release Monday. The initiative is part of WastewaterSCAN, led by researchers at Stanford University and Emory University and aimed at providing local public health officials with tools to respond to crises. Previously known as the Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network (SCAN), the initiative has now advanced to detecting additional viruses along with COVID-19 and its variants, including monkeypox, influenza A, and RSV. Source: The Lawrence Times

The City of Lawrence will soon convert all 19 of its short-term parking stalls to two-hour spots. The city’s 15-minute stalls have been underutilized compared to the two-hour ones, according to a city news release Friday. “When introduced, the 15-minute time frame was intended to encourage high frequency turnover rates for visitors when picking up or dropping off items at Downtown Lawrence storefronts,” according to the release.  “… Because the two-hour parking stalls can also be used for short-term parking needs, the City made the decision to convert all 19 of the current 15-minute parking stalls to two-hour parking stalls.” [...]

More than 70 local households have been approved for housing vouchers but can’t find a rental unit that matches their needs. To help alleviate that shortfall, the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority will host a symposium July 28 to educate landlords and property owners about the incentives and support available for those who partner with the agency. Slated to become an annual event, the inaugural landlord symposium also has been designed to recruit and retain participants, said Mariel Ferreiro, landlord liaison manager for LDCHA. It’s part of a targeted effort led by Ferreiro and Gabi Sprague to increase landlord engagement with the [...]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit agreed with a lower federal court in Kansas a family could pursue a lawsuit against a Wichita police officer but not the city of Wichita for a fatal shooting of an innocent, unarmed man who was targeted in a hoax emergency call to law enforcement. Officer Justin Rapp, who was recently promoted by the Wichita Police Department, shot and killed Andrew Finch, 28, in December 2017 while responding to a 911 call about a possible murder and hostage situation. Rapp said he fired on Finch because he thought — incorrectly — Finch [...]

Lawrence’s Sustainability Advisory Board voted unanimously Thursday to approve an ordinance banning establishments from using single-use plastic bags. The draft ordinance will go next to the Lawrence City Commission for consideration. If the commission approves it, the ordinance will ban establishments — including grocery stores, restaurants and others — from providing customers with plastic shopping bags. Produce bags and reusable bags are exempted from the ban, and single-use disposable paper bags would still be allowed. A few public commenters spoke in favor of the ban. Some encouraged the SAB to move faster than the draft’s timeline of one year from the [...]