An emergency public health order that requires face coverings for those ages 2 and older inside public spaces in Douglas County will go into effect Friday, Jan. 7, to help protect the community as COVID-19 cases have rapidly increased during the past week.

As of Jan. 3, there were 1,538 active cases reported in Douglas County, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health. The 14-day moving average for new cases is at 89 cases per day, a record high for the county.

At age 25, Mike Baxter, who worked in construction, volunteered with De Soto Fire & Rescue along with his father and brother. Once he started volunteering, he was drawn to the bond that he had with them and the community.

“There is something about a group of people who drop everything to go help someone in need, and they do it for little to no compensation,” Baxter said.

A few years later, he volunteered with the Eudora Township Fire Department and the Eudora City Fire Department. That volunteer work led him to a longtime career as a firefighter and paramedic.

In 2022, Douglas County, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Re-Entry Program and Johnson County Government are partnering to offer several Re-Entry Simulation exercises throughout the year. These are educational outreach events that highlight the challenges faced by people transitioning from time in custody back into our community.

Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health was notified today of the first confirmed case of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Douglas County by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. It is the second confirmed case in Kansas.

Dr. Jennifer Schrimsher, deputy county health officer and infectious disease physician at LMH Health, said detection of the variant in the county does not come as a surprise as it has rapidly spread across the country since the first confirmed U.S. case of Omicron was identified on Dec. 1.

Douglas County has been allocated $23.7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. These funds can be used for qualifying expenditures that occur between March 3, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2024.

The Board of County Commissioners is seeking project or program information from agencies interested in receiving funding through a letter of interest form. The form does not guarantee funding, but will help Commissioners further establish program parameters, guidelines and spending priorities. The deadline to complete the form is 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.

Douglas County Unified Command leaders and public health officers strongly encourage COVID-19 vaccination, testing and wearing masks in crowded places as the holidays near and cases and hospitalizations increase in Douglas County. While the local public health order that requires masks for children will expire Dec. 22, health officers say it is not time for residents to let their guard down.

Douglas County Commissioners approved changes to the Douglas County Animal Control Code on Dec. 1, 2021, during their business meeting. The Lawrence Humane Society proposed the changes to update the code with more clear, consistent and enforceable language. The nonprofit agency said the updated code provides more clear and humane procedures regarding animals in the unincorporated areas of the county.

The Douglas County Public Works Department is proposing to make changes to posted route numbers on several county roads.  The changes will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners for review, discussion and approval at their Dec. 8 business meeting.  The proposed changes do not affect mailing addresses or emergency operations. Route numbers — such as 442, 458, 1029 and 1055 — are primarily used by Public Works to define maintenance operations and snow removal. 

The Douglas County Treasurer’s Office mailed real estate and personal property tax statements to Douglas County taxpayers on Wednesday, Nov. 24.

The first-half real estate and personal property taxes are due on or before Monday, Dec. 20, 2021, and the second-half taxes are due on or before Tuesday, May 10, 2022.

Douglas County GIS web sites will be unavailable Friday, Dec. 17, while GIS web software is being upgraded. Popular items including “Property Viewer” and Map Gallery web applications such as “Survey Lookup,” “Cemeteries,” “Floodplain Lookup,” and others will not be available during the upgrade. 

The upgrade will not affect how users interact with the web resources after the upgrade but will allow for better security and enhancements to be introduced during the next year.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office is working with local nonprofit Building Peace Inc. to establish a Restorative Justice program.

In restorative justice programs, a trained facilitator convenes the offender with a victim or victims to talk about the act and how it affected the victim and the community. Through this process, the offender is held accountable for their actions and makes amends and the victims can begin healing.

“The community benefits, the victim benefits and the offender benefits,” Valdez said. “It’s a win-win-win.”

Robert Bieniecki has spent nearly 40 years protecting citizens through his work in the military, law enforcement and emergency management. He has flown planes during the Persian Gulf War, maintained aircraft for the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels and retired as a captain at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. Now, he is serving as director of Douglas County Emergency Management during a global pandemic.

Yet, he remains humble. “I like helping people. I think I’ve always been a helper and wanted to provide community service,” he said.