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.)
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.
Kansas’ proposed vaccination freedom reform attracts heavy dose of skepticism
On the to-do list for the Kansas Legislature’s special session will be laws making it easier for a person to claim a religious exemption to vaccination mandates, and they’ll likely consider granting unemployment benefits to anyone fired for refusing to be vaccinated or to undergo regular testing.
Lucie Krisman / The Lawrence Times
Jingle House pop-up combines plants and holiday cheer
Jungle House owners Jhami and Rachel Guffey hope that when customers walk into their new pop-up shop in downtown Lawrence, they experience “over-the-top holiday magic.”
Google Maps
Person struck by car, seriously injured on KU campus
A female pedestrian was struck by a car and seriously injured around 2:10 p.m. Friday on Engel Road on the University of Kansas campus.
Elwood Schaad / The Lawrence Times
Review: Lawrence’s Flip’d by IHOP shows us why pancakes are served on plates
“What happens when a new concept for serving pancakes falls as flat as … well, a pancake? That’s the problem with Lawrence’s latest breakfast place, Flip’d,” Elwood Schaad writes in this review.
Lee Norman steps down as Kansas health secretary, months after internal dispute
Lee Norman stepped down Thursday from his high-profile cabinet post as the chief medical officer in Kansas, where he managed the state’s response to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic.
Norman retreated from public view in June following a tense exchange with the governor’s chief of staff, who wanted Norman to stay in his lane and avoid sensitive political issues when speaking to news reporters.
Health agency urges Kansans to take COVID-19 precautions for holiday season
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is advising Kansans to follow the pillars of infection control and take steps to keep themselves and family safe from COVID-19 during the holiday season.
Screenshot/YouTube
Lawrence school board votes to postpone its meeting until return from fall break
The school board voted 5-0 to approve moving its board report meeting scheduled for Monday, Nov. 22 to the following Monday, Nov. 29.
Paul Samberg: Kansans who compare COVID-19 mandates to Holocaust fuel antisemitism (Column)
“Likening the greatest act of antisemitism in history to mask requirements and vaccine mandates is abhorrent and downplays the reality of the Holocaust,” Paul Samberg writes in this column for Kansas Reflector.
August Rudisell/The Lawrence Times
Lawrence police chief candidate shares experience, philosophies at meet-and-greet
In the final stage of recruitment for police chief, Rich Lockhart met with community members Thursday and said he thinks a consultant group’s report completed in the spring is a “great roadmap” for the Lawrence Police Department.
Tricia Masenthin/The Lawrence Times
Fairytale faves and zombies mix it up in West Middle School production
With two casts and two endings, there’s a lot to keep organized in West Middle School’s all-school play, “The Walking Dwarves.” There’s no sugar-coating the scene at Thursday morning’s preview show: It’s pure, loud chaos. It’s also a celebration.
Carlos Moreno / KCUR 89.3
A private company asked Kansas to hide public information, so the state obliged
Emails between an auditing firm and Kansas show how quickly the state bent to the company’s wishes to keep information out of public view. Experts say this reflects a disturbing national trend.
