In the wee hours of Sunday morning members of the House were absolutely giddy of their 231-192 vote to immobilize the new health care act for one year as a precondition for keeping the U.S.…

Merger of Allen County and Iola ambulance services should be completed soon. The lone sticking point for county commissioners is  concern for county personnel transferring to the city’s side in regard to accrued vacation time,…

No one likes to make a mistake.When I do in a story, it is there for everyone to see. It leaves me with a terrible feeling, because no matter how much I apologize — always…

A well-to-do couple in Pretoria, South Africa, recently spent one month living in the slums on the outside of town. As reported in the New York Times, the young couple, Julian and Ena Hewitt, moved…

Mass killings in the United States haven’t reached the point where we’ve become desensitized to tragic loss of life, but it seems that efforts to place any controls on firearms sales, or even the size…

An impromptu trip out west last week provided a good perspective of Iola and other towns our size.We drove along Highway 54 west to Tucumcari, N.M., before going north to Santa Fe for a couple…

Iolan Joe Lilly put us in touch with local history that’s meaningful in Moran today.Lilly dropped by a yellowed copy of The Moran Herald from Oct. 30, 1947, which contained a lead story entitled, “Moran…

Jim Yonally’s visit to Iola Tuesday came on the eve of Democrat Paul Davis announcing he was entering the 2014 governor’s race.If Davis is to have a chance of unseating Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, he…

Friday night is a special night for Iola and Humboldt high school football fans, one that should have stands in the two towns filled to the brim.The Mustangs and Cubs have broken quickly from the…

Fall festivals didn’t originate in our neck of the woods, but a legion of folks who care enough to give their very best have made local ones top-rung events.We have three major festivals remaining, starting…