Kansas today is an increasingly urban state.  More precisely, it is mostly suburban.  More than half the state’s population lives in just five counties — Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, Wyandotte, and Douglas. In many of these…

“No Significant Action Taken on TN Gun Laws” read the headline of The Tennessean on Wednesday, the day after the Tennessee General Assembly ended a special legislative session on gun safety. To call that headline…

LUCAS — Another 50 subscriptions would help Rita Sharp sustain her small-town newspaper. Sharp has owned the weekly Lucas-Sylvan News since 2012. It covers the towns of Lucas in Russell County and Sylvan Grove, 12…

Over 100 years ago, the National Child Labor Committee used photos of children doing industrial work to demand change in America.  Several states adopted child labor laws, and after much debate and several setbacks, the…

Last week, eight Republican presidential candidates did something unusual: They held a serious debate about foreign policy, focused mostly on their disagreements over U.S. aid to Ukraine. Of those on the stage in Milwaukee, only…

The 2023 Women’s World Cup was the biggest and best version of the competition in history. This year’s event, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, was the first to feature 32 teams, instead of 20…

When former President Jimmy Carter entered hospice care in February, many assumed that his death would be imminent, a matter of weeks at most. But six months later, he is still spending time with family…

In a report published earlier this month by the Kansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee (KMMRC), the state’s maternal outcomes have worsened in recent years. Both pregnancy-related deaths and illnesses increased between 2016 and 2020. According…

Of all the candidates in Wednesday night’s Republican debate, I appreciated Nikki Haley and her response about the role of the United States in Ukraine. Should we lower the sails? Or is it in our…

Small-town journalism —and to a lesser degree small-town politics — have gained national attention with the recent events in Marion. As part of the broader picture, First Amendment protections cannot be overstated, whether it’s a…