The Lawrence Times

The City of Lawrence released new details Tuesday about its policy to serve primarily people who are from Douglas County with homelessness resources, and to send others elsewhere. Under the policy, the city provides “non-resident homeless individuals” with short-term assistance and helps them return to their “place of origin,” according to a city news release. Service providers working with the city are expected to follow suit. “We’re not servicing individuals long term that cannot prove that they’re residents, and that’s going to start going into our contracts, because we just don’t have the bandwidth to do that,” Misty Bosch-Hastings, director of [...]

Lawrence city commissioners decided Tuesday that they will ask Lawrence residents to vote on whether to approve a .05% sales tax increase to fund homelessness programs. Otherwise, much of the 2025 city budget is still up for discussion. Commissioners heard from more than 30 people during their budget hearing, most asking them not to increase property taxes. Many also asked commissioners to maintain funding to staff Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical fire trucks with four staff members rather than cutting staff for each truck to three, as the city manager’s budget had proposed. In their discussion, commissioners considered ways to save on [...]

The City of Lawrence announced Friday that it is closing the camp where people are living behind the Amtrak Station in East Lawrence. “The City’s Homeless Response Team began working with individuals staying at the camp several weeks ago and informed them today that the camp must be vacated by Tuesday, Oct. 15,” according to a news release from the city. The city in fall of 2022 opened its sanctioned camp behind Johnny’s Tavern in North Lawrence. That camp was also the first major camp the city closed, effective in April. Some people have been living in the woods near the [...]

More than 100 parents of students in the Lawrence school district have signed a petition in support of a districtwide ban of cell phones in classrooms. Justin Blumenstiel, a parent of a Free State High School student, told the school board Monday that he and fellow petitioners support teachers who have called for a stricter, more cohesive cell phone policy. “I know that the school board is considering these matters very strongly, and I really recommend urgency on these matters,” Blumenstiel said. More than 80 Lawrence educators signed a petition at the end of the past school year proposing students’ phones [...]

In response to the latest point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness in Douglas County, the City of Lawrence says employees are making individual connections with people, leading to “powerful milestones of impact.” The latest count of people experiencing homelessness in Douglas County show a total just slightly higher than 2020, the previous record year. “The point-in-time count represents real people, each with their own stories, struggles, and hopes,” the city said in a news release Thursday morning. “Through collaborative efforts with Douglas County, the Lawrence Community Shelter, and other dedicated service providers, the City is focused on knowing each person by [...]

Trees were destroyed and damaged all across Lawrence in a storm late Wednesday. Thursday morning light revealed the extent and the collateral damage from felled limbs and branches. Damage was widespread across town. Robert Bieniecki, director of Douglas County Emergency Management, said there were 40-plus reports of trees or limbs down, 12 reported power lines down, 14 reports of arcing power lines and two reports of traffic signals out. They did not receive any reports of injuries, he said. The city is canceling its city-load compost event set for Saturday and will instead open the compost facility to Lawrence residents only [...]

A diverse group of community members shared their perspectives on Lawrence police Saturday, voicing concerns ranging from how officers could show more compassion and preparedness in crises to making downtown feel safer. Several dozen community members gathered at Lawrence High School for a partnership workshop hosted by the Lawrence Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice. The two-part workshop aims to “improve trust and develop partnerships between police and community members. Participants split into six small groups to identify the positives and negatives of the LPD’s interactions with the community, ultimately narrowing it down to three “barriers.” A second session [...]

The Lawrence Police Department, working with the Department of Justice, will hold two half-day workshops “where DOJ facilitators hope to improve trust and develop partnerships between police and community members.” The program’s goals are to improve trust and develop partnerships between law enforcement and the community, engage in dialogue to identify issues and solve problems collaboratively and address longstanding community distrust and historical barriers, according to a flyer about the workshops. “I’ve always said I want our officers to police our community the way the people want to be policed,” Chief Rich Lockhart said in the release. “When I heard the [...]

A districtwide cell phone ban was included in a draft of an updated student handbook, but Lawrence school district administrators and board members made some clarifications on Monday. Students aren’t to have their cell phones out while they’re in class across the district. Elementary and middle school policies don’t allow students to use their phones at all during school hours unless granted permission. High school students, however, are still permitted to use their phones outside of class time. The handbook draft originally included in the school board meeting agenda for Monday said that “students found using their phone during school hours [...]

For a second year running, Lawrence Municipal Court is holding a school supply drive that will allow people to pay off $50 in fines with $15 worth of school supplies. “Participants can purchase $15 worth of new school supplies from the approved supply list below and bring them to the Lawrence Municipal Court along with the receipt to get $50 credited towards a traffic infraction and/or parking fines,” according to a Friday news release from the city. “The donations will only apply to existing court fines, not potential future fines. Individuals can also choose to donate toward fines on another person’s [...]