While over 80% of the land area across Kansas qualifies as rural, the population of our state — which is mostly concentrated in about 10 of the state’s 105 counties — is increasingly urban, something…

I saw Rosalynn Carter angry only twice. Both occasions involved Ronald Reagan, who had crushed Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, and both reflected her passion and decency. The first concerned a free public swimming…

On Monday I had a wide-ranging conversation with Sarah Haney, the Register’s new reporter who began last week.  Our discussion was very different from that of a job interview. This time, I could ask her…

It is a surreal state, padding to the kitchen to blend a smoothie, while less than 25 miles away the ground is poised to split open and swallow a village. The wild prospect — too…

More than a year ago, Iola council members voted 7-0 to extend water, electric and streets in the Cedarbrook Addition and followed through last spring by committing $1.7 million to the project with the goal…

A couple of weeks ago, a young crowd in Shanghai came out in force to celebrate Halloween. The street where I live filled with revelers dressed in a range of elaborate costumes — as the…

In the time Sam Brownback was our senator, and later governor, I’ve been to dozens of his speeches. But I never saw him deliver a sermon before.  I did Friday, at the Wichita Pachyderm Club. …

On Oct. 8, President Biden ordered a fleet of military ships and an aircraft carrier closer to the war between Israel and Hamas. Days later, he ordered a second carrier group to steam into the…

A small town in east Alabama is saying goodbye to someone they shouldn’t have lost. By all accounts, F.L. “Bubba” Copeland Jr. was loved by thousands in Smiths Station, a community of about 5,400. He…

From head to toe, our bodies are adapting to accommodate our devices. A majority of U.S. workers spend most of each weekday seated and looking at screens. We’ve thereby put ourselves in the midst of…