It’s Local News Day, which seems like the perfect opportunity to introduce two new members of our news team.
We’re excited to represent Lawrence in today’s nationwide celebration of trusted local news.
Local News Day – Thursday, April 9 – will help millions reconnect with the local outlets that strengthen our communities, keep us informed, and hold leaders accountable.
Learn more at localnewsday.org, and find more publications that are part of this initiative at localnewsday.org/newsrooms.
Behind the scenes
Over the last few days and weeks, we’ve been working to update, strengthen and finalize some internal policies, frameworks and guiding documents in preparation for two major new additions to our team: photo editor Jacob Rice and staff reporter Courtney Lane.
We appreciate the community’s patience as we’ve poured much energy into welcoming these new members of our team, and we’re so excited to introduce them to you today.
Lane has been in training in the newsroom this week. We’ve put our heads together to divvy up dozens of local news beats large and small among our three reporting-focused team members. Lane will hit the ground running with community coverage today.
Courtney Lane, staff reporter
Lane is a graduate of KU’s journalism school, where she concentrated in multimedia and minored in photography. During her time there, she worked as a reporter, opinion section editor, and eventually editor-in-chief for The Kansan.
Lane’s experience includes working as a service journalism intern at The Kansas City Star in spring 2025 as well as some freelance work in Kansas City and at Kansas Public Radio.
As our new staff reporter, Lane will cover K-12 and higher education, business, local impacts of the World Cup and much more. She also brings experience covering rural issues and looks forward to expanding our coverage beyond Lawrence city limits and into Douglas County.
Jacob Rice, photo editor
Rice is a multimedia journalist and the new photo editor for The Lawrence Times. He studied journalism and mass communications at Iowa State University, where he spent four years as the visuals editor for the Iowa State Daily. During his time there, he helped lead visual storytelling and covered a wide range of campus and community stories through video and photo.
Rice worked closely with Iowa State Athletics and the Iowa Cubs AAA baseball team, gaining experience in fast-paced sports environments. He recently completed a seasonlong stint with the Kansas City football team as a photography assistant. He is also working with Lawrence Sports, the Times’ local high school sports affiliate.
Rice will uphold the high standards that former photo editor Molly Adams set for the Times’ visual media. He will help us further strengthen our photojournalism and expand our multimedia coverage.
Adams has moved on to another position where she can work hands-on in the Lawrence community. We are grateful for the excellent work she gave our readers over the years and the solid foundation she established for this team.
Wulfe Wulfemeyer, reporter and news editor
Wulfemeyer is nearing their first anniversary with the Times. They worked briefly as a freelancer before becoming a full-time reporter and, ultimately, taking the title of reporter and news editor.
Wulfemeyer fell in love with journalism as an undergraduate working on an award-winning feature about queer Texans finding community in country music. Since then, they’ve pursued stories on experiences that live at the margins.
Wulfemeyer splits their time chasing down their own stories while also working to keep the newsroom well-oiled. Above all, they want to ensure we publish articles that matter to and impact readers.
As part of this small but fierce news team, Wulfemeyer reports on multiple beats from business to arts and culture. Alongside their fellow reporters, they tackle stories on the city and county to create clarity on government happenings and hold our officials accountable. Read their work for the Times at this link.
Mackenzie Clark, reporter/founder
Clark has been here since day one, but she thought a reintroduction might benefit our newer readers.
Clark worked at the Lawrence Journal-World for more than five years before launching the Times in March 2021, and she’s elated that her time running this publication now nearly exceeds the time she spent there. Prior to that experience, she served as editor-in-chief of the student publications at JCCC and at KU and had a brief internship at The Kansas City Star covering Johnson County.
At the Times, she’s doing her best to run the show and filling in wherever she’s needed. Her reporting spans a lot of beats, including commissions, community, corruption, crime and courts. This year, she’s been working with an industry expert to focus on ways to make this publication sustainable so we can continue to serve Lawrence for years to come.
The Lawrence Times exists thanks entirely to the support of this community. Clark is extremely grateful for that support. You’ve enabled her to give other journalists job opportunities, allowed editors to pass knowledge along to up-and-coming high school and college student journalists through paid internships and professional freelance work, and so much more.
You’ve also reinforced Clark’s belief that Lawrence does care about local news enough to pay for it without us having to hold crucial information behind a paywall, away from people who need it. Our readers’ and advertisers’ support helps us keep reporting local news that values people over power and profit, individuals over institutions, and community above all else. Read more about why you should support us at this link. Please subscribe now at this link.
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