The Lawrence Times

The City of Lawrence will soon launch a mobile app where community members can report code compliance issues, missed trash pickups and more, according to a city news release. Beginning Tuesday, Feb. 20, the app, powered by SeeClickFix Inc., will be free to download and use on smartphones. The city in June 2022 announced that it was pausing its SeeClickFix app for about nine months so the city could “revamp and improve the system to better serve our community.” Next week’s launch will mark 20 months since that announcement. Community members will be able to submit requests for city assistance in seven service categories, [...]

The City of Lawrence is launching its new homeless solutions division, and Misty Bosch-Hastings, who has served as homeless programs coordinator for the city since summer, will serve as its director. Staff members of the HSD will “work with the Lawrence community on ending chronic homelessness, including service providers, advocates, and other parties actively engaged in the work,” according to a city news release Thursday. Bosch-Hastings will oversee the department. The HSD is not replacing the housing initiatives division — “This is just pulling homeless programs out of that division,” Bosch-Hastings said. The HID will still exist under the city’s Planning and Development Services [...]

University of Kansas scientist Nancy Muma said the average person inadvertently accumulated in the body a credit-card sized amount of plastic each week by breathing air and consuming water. Muma, who earned a doctorate in pharmacology and toxicology, said this involuntary consumption of bisphenols, phthalates and perfluoroalkyls created a wave of endocrine disruptions that altered hormones and reproductive systems in humans. Children and developing fetuses were especially vulnerable to these toxins, but the damage could emerge at all stages of life in the form of heart disease, obesity and cancer, she said. “The good news is that you can help solve this costly [...]

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission voted 6-3 early Tuesday morning to move forward with a new set of wind energy regulations at the end of a meeting that stretched six hours. ... Commissioners aimed to balance the need for rigorous regulations that protect Douglas County against the need to allow continued renewable energy development. The result was a set of new regulations with a series of modifications derived from public comments and commission discussion over the last few months. Source: The Lawrence Times

Thousands of students in Missouri and Kansas have left public school in the last four years, in line with a national trend of more families disengaging from public education. An analysis by the Associated Press, Big Local News and Stanford University economist Thomas Dee found enrollment in Missouri’s public schools dropped by 2% from the 2019-2020 school year to the 2022-2023 school year — making up nearly 18,000 students. Public school enrollment in Kansas is down about 16,000 students from its peak in 2015. Statewide enrollment numbers just released for 2023-2024 show 505,515 students in school this year, a 3% drop from the [...]

Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved the replacement of the Conservation of Historic Resources Code with an updated version. Lawrence established the historic resources code as article 33 of the city code in 1988. This chapter, designed to conserve historic resources, mandated a review every five years. However, it had not been reviewed since its inception. In 2014, the Historic Resources Commission was advised to assess and suggest changes. A subcommittee identified significant modifications, leading to a complete revision proposal. The biggest changes in the revised chapter encompassed aspects such as allowing administrative review for most projects and streamlining the approval [...]

The Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will hold a joint meeting to review the strategic plan to address homelessness and hear updates on progress. The commissions will not take any binding action but will discuss collaboration between the governing bodies going forward, according to the agenda. Both commissions heard reports on the draft plan in spring of 2023, and city/county staff members held public engagement meetings to gather community feedback over the next couple of months. The plan has since been revised, and the final draft was completed in December, according to the presentation in the meeting agenda. The joint [...]

City commissioners on Tuesday received an update on the city’s new land development code, which aims to update zoning regulations to allow for more sustainability, affordable housing and equity. Elizabeth Garvin of Clarion, a national land-use consulting firm, gave a presentation to commissioners outlining the work of city staff, planning commissioners and a steering committee for the updated code. The city began work to update the land development code in 2022 and is hoping to implement the new one this year. Currently, the project is in its third of four stages, which is drafting the new land development code. One of the [...]

Fifty small cabins will soon be available to help Lawrence community members experiencing homelessness recover and secure housing. The City of Lawrence has raised the Village of Pallet emergency shelters at 256 N. Michigan St., the former location of Veritas Christian School. Lawrence Community Shelter staff members will run the site. Misty Bosch-Hastings, homeless programs coordinator for the City of Lawrence, said she thinks a lot of people will probably compare the village to the city-sanctioned camp in North Lawrence. But “I want them to know that this is a very well thought out plan. The operational plans are to help individuals end their [...]

Gov. Laura Kelly said the next scheduled reduction in the state’s sales tax on groceries Jan. 1 would cut the rate in half to 2% and enable shoppers in Kansas to avoid $150 million annually in food costs. The agreement embraced by the 2022 Legislature and the governor established a three-year approach that included a Jan. 1, 2023, drop in the state sales tax on groceries from 6.5% to 4%. The next step on Jan. 1 moves the state’s assessment to 2% on food, food ingredients and certain prepared foods. That would trigger a reduction in state tax collections of $12.5 [...]