Oftentimes, it takes getting away to get a closer perspective of home. Or yourself. Such is the case with a trip my husband, Brian, and I recently took to Ireland with local friends Nancy and…

Take a guess: How much Kansas land does China own?  It’s probably not a lot — you probably would have heard something about it if so — but it can’t be nothing, right? American right-wingers…

What happens in Washington may seem far, far away, but decisions by Congress can and do affect people out here on the High Plains. And if House Republicans have their way, our region could lose…

Benji Backer, a 25-year-old conservative from Wisconsin, was not pleased with a recent Republican presidential primary debate. The candidates either denied, ignored or downplayed the Fox moderator’s question on climate change. Backer is not alone…

“Newspapers are dead,” a solemn but dubious audience of students heard. “In 10 years, they’ll be gone altogether.” We’ve all heard the grim assessment. But it didn’t come this year, when corporate greed downsized far…

In 1969, soon after Dianne Feinstein first made history, a San Francisco newspaper published a bemused feature on her marriage. Headlined “The Big Man in Dianne’s Life,” it centered on her husband, Bert Feinstein, a…

A year after new president Ken Hush took a scythe to the faculty of Emporia State University, fall enrollment figures paint a bleak picture of what his “realignment” has done to what once was the…

Last spring, my tween was begging for more independence, starting with being allowed to walk home from school alone. The mile-plus walk involves crossing a few busy streets. I was hesitant; she doesn’t have a…

As perverse as it may sound, state-sponsored assassinations overseas are nothing new in the dirty world of international relations. Israel has conducted targeted killings against terrorists in multiple countries; in 2010, a team of Mossad…

A few years after relocating here from Pennsylvania, a friend of mine dove into home ownership. Being extremely knowledgeable and passionate about birding and gardening, she decided to convert part of her front yard into…