Latest new posts from ALL categories of The Lawrence Times:
Lawrence news, state news, Community Voices, Lawrence Life, obituaries and more.
(Please note that opinion pieces are included in this list, marked as columns or letters to the Times. Not all posts linked on this page were written or produced by the Lawrence Times staff.)
Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel/Contributed Photo
Chabad Center to ‘Light up the Night’ in Lawrence with menorah lighting Sunday
The Lawrence community is invited to the annual lighting of a 9-foot-tall menorah in front of the Lawrence Public Library.
Kansas state parks offer free admission for those who #OptOutside on Black Friday
The 28 state parks in Kansas will participate in a nationwide outdoors promotion by waiving entry fees on Friday.
Drone Lawrence/dronelawrence.com
Santa rescue to return to Downtown Lawrence
A beloved Lawrence tradition will return Friday after taking 2020 off + more opportunities to see Santa
Special session offers hint of what awaits Kansas lawmakers in 2022 legislative session
Expect the Legislature to grapple with an assortment of coronavirus bills, including one taking away authority of private businesses to mandate employees get a COVID-19 vaccination. Another proposal would add COVID-19 vaccination status to the list of prohibited forms of employment discrimination along with race, religion, color, sex, disability, ancestry, national origin and age.
Tricia Masenthin / The Lawrence Times
Photo gallery: Volunteers prepare annual LINK Thanksgiving meals
Volunteers hustled Wednesday to prepare hundreds of meals for the annual LINK Thanksgiving tradition.
August Rudisell / The Lawrence Times
Lawrence neighborhood’s road barriers aim to cut traffic but frustrate some residents
Those heading home to Old West Lawrence for the holiday might need to ask for directions. The routes that residents have taken for years are now obstructed by temporary road barriers.
August Rudisell / The Lawrence Times
Kansas Supreme Court will review Carrody Buchhorn murder case
The Kansas Supreme Court will review the high-profile Douglas County murder case of Carrody Buchhorn, who was charged with killing a 9-month-old boy at a Eudora daycare but whose conviction was overturned this summer.
2021 Edition: Where to see holiday lights in Lawrence
We’re mapping out holiday lights and decorations in Lawrence, KS.
Consumer advocates fear hedge funds’ influence could mean more spending, rate hikes at Evergy
Four of the five members on Evergy’s finance committee, tasked with recommending management and investment decisions to the board of directors, were selected by activist hedge funds that critics worry are asserting undue influence over the electric utility.
Kansas governor plans to combat 24/7 facility staffing shortages with pay initiative
Kansas state employees at several 24/7 state facilities are the beneficiaries of a new pay initiative aimed at reducing staffing shortages, Gov. Laura Kelly announced.
Artist Heap of Birds, who created ‘Native Hosts,’ to give virtual lecture
Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne, Arapaho), the artist who created the five-panel “Native Hosts” installation at the University of Kansas’ Spencer Museum of Art, will give a virtual lecture next week.
Contributed/Emily Boedeker
Children’s choir aims to diversify voices, remove barriers to participation
A new children’s choir for Douglas County third through sixth graders boasts only one requirement: a love for singing. No auditions, no fees, no experience nor church membership required.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signs special session bill allowing unvaccinated workers to keep jobs
Gov. Laura Kelly has signed legislation passed during a special session Monday, clearing the way for unvaccinated workers to keep their jobs in the face of federal mandates.
Redistricting committees urged to avoid temptation of drawing convoluted maps
The Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to lean toward adoption of boundaries in the four congressional districts favorable to winning each of the partisan elections.
David Condos / Kansas News Service
Even in the most Hispanic cities in Kansas, getting elected as a Latina is an uphill battle
In a pair of predominantly Hispanic southwest Kansas communities, two women try to become the first Latinas voted into local office. Elections earlier this month show both how far Latina candidates have come and how many barriers they still face.
The Raven Book Store’s bestsellers for Nov. 23, 2021 (Sponsored post)
“This one was no contest — Nikole Hannah-Jones’ monumental ‘The 1619 Project’ sold twice as many books as any other on the list.”
Kansas Legislature adopts bill with expanded vaccine exemptions, unemployment benefits
The Kansas Legislature completed a 14-hour special session Monday night by sending Gov. Laura Kelly a bill packed with generous medical, religious and philosophical exemptions to federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates and the potential of state unemployment benefits to people fired for refusing to be inoculated.
Contributed photo and Wikimedia Commons
Lawrence High senior chosen to perform in Big Apple with Carnegie Hall concert choir
A Chesty Lion will join voices with the top-rated high school vocalists from across the world in February.
Contributed Image
Save the date: First in-person Paper Plains Literary Festival coming in April 2022
Lovers of the written word, mark your calendars — the Paper Plains Literary Festival has set dates for 2022 events, which will be in person and livestreamed.
City of Lawrence/Contributed Image
Lawrence Transit riders can now purchase bus passes through an app
Riders of Lawrence Transit can now use an app to purchase bus passes.
Kansas House passes bill allowing moral, medical, religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccines
Anti-vaxxers packed the gallery overlooking the House chamber for this historic special session debate, and were repeatedly admonished for jeering, applauding or coughing on the lawmakers below.
Kansas Senate surges ahead with vaccination exemptions, unemployment aid bill
The Kansas Senate struggled with a series of amendments Monday before passing a bill defining wide religious and medical exemptions to federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates and extending state unemployment assistance to people fired for refusing inoculations.
Ken Lassman
Kaw Valley Almanac for Nov. 22-28, 2021
This greenish-tinged limestone is full of fossils, including a short seven-segment section of a crinoid stalk, a plant that was quite prolific in oceans where Kansas is now some 250 million years ago.
City of Lawrence, Douglas County plan closures for holiday week; some trash pickup delayed
City of Lawrence and Douglas County government offices will close for the holiday Thursday and Friday, some trash pickup will be delayed, and more tidbits to know for this week.
