Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school board to take final votes on two elementary school closures
After hearing from dozens of community members on Saturday, Lawrence school board members will decide Monday whether or not to close one or two elementary schools after the end of this school year.
Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school board to take final votes on two elementary school closures
After hearing from dozens of community members on Saturday, Lawrence school board members will decide Monday whether or not to close one or two elementary schools after the end of this school year.
Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school board to take final votes on two elementary school closures
After hearing from dozens of community members on Saturday, Lawrence school board members will decide Monday whether or not to close one or two elementary schools after the end of this school year.
Kansas law singling out abortion clinics contested at high court
An attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights says a 2011 state law that targets abortion clinics with a “regulatory scheme” was an unjustified attempt to restrict access to a fundamental right.
Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Lawrence school board to take final votes on two elementary school closures
After hearing from dozens of community members on Saturday, Lawrence school board members will decide Monday whether or not to close one or two elementary schools after the end of this school year.
Kansas law singling out abortion clinics contested at high court
An attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights says a 2011 state law that targets abortion clinics with a “regulatory scheme” was an unjustified attempt to restrict access to a fundamental right.
Community Children’s Center: Early Childhood Family Resource Fair to return Saturday (Announcement)
“The CCC Early Childhood Family Resource Fair provides an excellent opportunity for parents, caregivers, and families with young children to learn about the various resources available to them in Lawrence,” Will Averill writes in this column for the Community Children’s Center.
Shy 38, a sanctuary for rescued farm animals, saves lives through advocacy and education
Kris Taylor is giving farm animals a new lease on life. Taylor is the director and founder of Shy 38, a sanctuary in Lawrence that’s helping people see industrialized farm animals in a new light.
Ken Lassman
Kaw Valley Almanac for March 27 – April 2, 2023
Spring wildflowers have been slow to emerge in most of the state; however, it has begun, as evidenced by this false rue anemone in a native oak hickory woodland.
LAWRENCE NEWS
Firebird Matthew Marcum wins national wrestling championship
Free State High School senior Matthew Marcum has earned a national championship title, becoming the first Lawrence wrestler to do so, according to his coach.
Chloe Anderson/Lawrence Times
Community gathers to celebrate Indigenous culture at Haskell Alumni Association Powwow
Community, food, shopping and dancing attracted people from Lawrence and beyond to the Haskell Alumni Association’s powwow on Saturday.
Family struggling with anger after woman’s death at North Lawrence campsite
Ashley Sawyer’s family members learned that she died this week, but rather than sit with their loss, they are processing feelings of anger and confusion resulting from the police department’s failure to notify them properly.
Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
‘You’re breaking up a family’: Pinckney community discusses the support system the school provides
Members of the Pinckney Elementary School community frequently teared up on Saturday afternoon as they told Lawrence school board members why the small school is so special.
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STATE NEWS
Kansas attorney general urges state Supreme Court to reverse 2019 abortion-rights decision
Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court grilled the state solicitor general Monday about an appeal asking the state’s highest court to reverse its 2019 opinion finding the right to abortion was embedded in the Kansas Constitution and then pivot to affirm a state law banning an abortion procedure.
Kansas activists discuss abortion rights, Legislature’s response to amendment vote
The Legislature may not respect the public’s stance on abortion, but reproductive rights advocates find hope in knowing the record turnout Aug. 2 to defeat the constitutional amendment on abortion was fueled by young voters who are likely to keep voting.
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COMMUNITY VOICES (OPINION)
Community Children’s Center: Early Childhood Family Resource Fair to return Saturday (Announcement)
“The CCC Early Childhood Family Resource Fair provides an excellent opportunity for parents, caregivers, and families with young children to learn about the various resources available to them in Lawrence,” Will Averill writes in this column for the Community Children’s Center.
Melody Alexander: School closures are not an equitable answer (Column)
”Equity resides in the community we’ve built for these children. And that equity was a priority because of these schools’ walls, where they feel the safety and security they deserve,” Melody Alexander writes in this column.
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LAWRENCE LIFE
Grant funding available to conserve Douglas County landmarks, open space and natural areas
Douglas County community members will have an opportunity next week to learn about nearly $300,000 in grant funding available for projects that conserve cultural, natural, agricultural or environmental resources.
Interfaith dialogue scholar to speak at several events in Lawrence
Scholar, educator and author Celene Ibrahim, whose expertise is focused on Islamic tradition, is set to visit with local faith-based institutions in Lawrence and discuss her research about dialogue among religions.
The Raven Book Store’s bestsellers for March 21, 2023 (Sponsored post)
”We always have an eclectic mix of titles on our staff picks table and this month, we’ve shared our love for everything from middle-grade graphic novels to ’smotherly’ horror (and yes, smother + motherly = smotherly),” the Raven Book Store writes.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT …
Kamarjay Shaw ‘loved hard’ and ‘had the heart of a lion,’ parents of slain Lawrence teen say
Fearless and big-hearted are how family members of a 14-year-old Lawrence boy recently shot and killed remember him. Kamarjay Shaw’s parents and loved ones said they won’t quit until he gets justice.
Lawrence Accountability
A Lawrence Times reporter was ordered to leave the city campsite for unhoused people. ‘That’s a problem,’ First Amendment attorney says
Lawrence Times reporter Chansi Long was targeted by city staff and ordered by police to leave the North Lawrence campsite for people experiencing homelessness Tuesday night while other members of the public were allowed to remain. “That’s a problem,” a local First Amendment expert said.
Chansi Long/Lawrence Times
North Lawrence camp residents say city workers won’t let certain people shower; one woman alleges harassment
Residents of the North Lawrence campsite for people experiencing homelessness say city workers have denied some people showers in the hygiene trailer recently placed at the site, and a woman alleges that one city worker harassed her as she showered.
Douglas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council evaluates racial and ethnic disparities work group
As Douglas County leaders weigh possibly changing or eliminating the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council’s racial and ethnic disparities work group, some members of the council want the work to get more attention.
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MORE COMMUNITY VOICES
The opinion pieces in this section are generally written by members of the Lawrence community and those who have close ties. In addition, we’re offering some space for area organizations and organizers to provide updates and attempt to reach other folks who might share their mission.
Want to submit a letter to the Times? Great!
Click here to find out how.
Letter to the Times: Closing Broken Arrow would compound systemic issues
”(The Lawrence school board’s) vote to hold a hearing on closing Broken Arrow Elementary School is a great disappointment and a clear testament that the winds of prejudice are still blowing across the land,” a group of community members write in this letter to the Times.
Letter to the Times: We can prevent more deaths of unhoused community members
”Those of us who care about Lawrence and who care about the state of our society must come together to help unhoused people,” Nancy Snow writes in this letter to the Times.
Ashley All: Lawmakers are ignoring Kansas voters, interfering in our private medical decisions (Column)
”Back in August, I could not have envisioned the extreme overreach that legislators would attempt during the 2023 legislative session,” Ashley All writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
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