ICYMI: Lawrence Times news stories with longer shelf lives, deeper reporting, bigger impacts, more interactivity and/or stronger pushes for accountability. Oftentimes, these are the stories that exemplify our mission of shining light on our community and amplifying voices that have been silenced.
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LATEST
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Lawrence firefighter battling throat cancer months before retirement
John Mathis, the firefighter who has played Santa Claus during an annual holiday event in Lawrence for more than a decade, has been battling throat cancer, just months before he is set to retire.
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Lawrence firefighter battling throat cancer months before retirement
John Mathis, the firefighter who has played Santa Claus during an annual holiday event in Lawrence for more than a decade, has been battling throat cancer, just months before he is set to retire.
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Courtesy of Ahmad "Baset" Azizi
KU student helps family escape Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, find new home in Lawrence
Ahmad “Baset” Azizi is a KU political science student, not a congressman. But that’s what his older sister claimed as she showed a picture of Azizi to an officer at the crowded Kabul airport on Aug. 24. Her family was desperately trying to escape Afghanistan after it fell to the Taliban.
Courtesy of Tasha Neal
A reward greater than money: How Tasha Neal is serving Lawrence through activism
Where you find injustice in Lawrence, you may also find Tasha Neal, organizing a resistance.
Ryan Waggoner
KU’s First Nations Student Association shares ‘absolute indignation’ after Indigenous art vandalized on campus
Leaders of the University of Kansas First Nations Student Association were reeling Friday night, nearly a week after multiple pieces of the KU Common Work of Art were vandalized — not only because of the destruction of the Native exhibit, but because they feel the situation hasn’t garnered enough attention from KU administrators.
Carter Gaskins/Lawrence Times
Douglas County doula network strives to improve maternal and infant health in BIPOC community
Doulas help birthing individuals bring new life into the world. They’re also working to save lives here in Douglas County, where Black infants are twice as likely to be born prematurely or at low birth weight than white babies.
Tricia Masenthin / The Lawrence Times
Mother blames child’s heat exhaustion on lack of safety protocols at St. John Preschool in Lawrence
A local mother is demanding corrective action after her child suffered heat exhaustion in the care of a Lawrence preschool. As she’s pondered her child’s experience, her mind has gone to “dark places” — including wondering if racism played a role.
Contributed
Social worker, coach weaves life experiences into empowerment lessons for Lawrence youth
Audrey Trowbridge sits in her basement surrounded by glitter, wood, paint cans and her favorite crafting supply of all time — pipe cleaners. Her craft room serves as a retreat, and during remote learning, the Free State High School social worker took her video conference calls there.
Behind her, a painting of a glowing Black woman wearing a bejeweled crown draws attention. When asked if she painted it, Trowbridge says one of her sisters gifted the piece to her. Its placement is purposeful. She wants others to see it in the background, but she also hopes to glean inspiration from it when she glances at herself on screen. The powerful art serves as a self-affirmation and a reminder while advocating for herself and her students.
Screenshot
People of Color almost twice as likely to be searched when stopped in Douglas County, research shows
People of Color who are stopped by law enforcement in Douglas County are searched or frisked nearly twice as often as white people, an ongoing study shows. That ratio doesn’t change when the search is the officer’s choice.
Conner Mitchell / The Lawrence Times
Work begins in Oak Hill Cemetery to pinpoint grave sites of Black men lynched in 1882
Though a final answer is likely still a few months away, work began Monday to solve a question that originated just over 139 years ago: where are the three Black men lynched in Lawrence in the summer of 1882 buried? One Kansas researcher is using ground penetrating radar technology to find out.
August Rudisell/The Lawrence Times
Lawrence skateboarder injured during arrest files lawsuit against ex-officer, prosecutors
An ex-Lawrence police officer constructed a criminal case against a skateboarder in an attempt to avoid, essentially, the excessive force lawsuit that was filed Friday in federal court, the complaint alleges.
KU Libraries Exhibits
The KBI declined to release its case file on Rick ‘Tiger’ Dowdell’s 1970 killing by Lawrence police; here’s why it matters (Analysis)
The KBI will, at least temporarily, continue to keep in the dark records that could finally shed light on a case of police violence that has been imprinted in the fabric of Lawrence for exactly 51 years.
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