Columnists

It always seemed unlikely that Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader, would vote to convict the disgraced ex-president who, even from exile in Mar-a-Lago, holds sway over most of his party. But…

This week Iola received $350,000 to buy a new fire engine. Or half of one. Fire engines these days cost a staggering $700,000. The gift takes the form of a Community Development Block Grant awarded…

Conspiracy theories have taken root in Kansas. Reporter Jim McLean discovered this while visiting the town of Protection, Kansas recently for a story. In 1957, this Comanche County community became the first town in the…

An open letter to  Sen. Jerry Moran: As each generation is called, America’s freedoms and democracy are defended by large actions of heroes and by smaller acts of individual courage. A Senate vote to convict…

The Virginia legislature on Friday voted to abolish the death penalty in a state that has sent more people to the gallows than any other in American history. It also made Virginia the first of…

I arrived in Kansas in 1979, having gone to college, graduate school and then taught in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois, states with a single land-grant flagship university. Kansas, I observed, had a much smaller…

No one could ever accuse Sen. Jerry Moran of being anything less than who he is, a conservative Republican. He is pro-life, pro-gun, pro-America, but most importantly, Moran is pro-Constitution. He knows the responsibilities and…

Allen County school districts received $50,000 stipends Tuesday from the Prairie Queen Wind Farm. The schools, as well as the Regional Rural Technical Center in LaHarpe and the county itself, can expect similar gifts for…

Somberly, one by one, officers in uniform came to the precise center of the historic white-domed Capitol Rotunda. Slowly, on Wednesday, each officer saluted the colleague who had fought to preserve democracy for us all.…

The news that several variants of the coronavirus have made their way to the United States is spurring many to wear not only one but two face masks.  Some of the new strains are said…