The bananas sat rotting. The bagels would have gone stale. The plastic trash bags used as makeshift parkas whipped around street corners, only to be snagged by prickly bushes.Otherwise the downtown streets were eerily quiet…

How precious is a child’s life? Or anyone’s, for that matter?Those questions should be front and center when Congress debates gun-control legislation, now that 68 senators have agreed to pursue the issue. Thirty-one, including Kansans…

Dear editor,Liz Cox is Iola’s bicycle ambassador. Liz is a one-person bicycle touring missionary.Last year a man from Germany was having bike trouble. Liz asked is she could help and he said some part was…

How about flapjacks and spaghetti for dinner tonight?That may not sound like an appetizing combination, but by partaking you can help out a couple of worthy causes.Her friends and co-workers at USD 257 food service…

I find myself in dad’s bedroom more often these days. On his dresser are two pictures of mother and him.The pictures are of happier days, of course. One is from a standard church directory photo…

The trouble with Shelia Lampe is that she’s not a boastful sort.She doesn’t go around tooting her horn, saying “Look at me!” when she has every right to do so.So we’ll do it for her.…

We had a visitor this week.Haley’s presence may be the precursor for an addition to the family. She’s a mid-size dog, quiet and well-behaved, belonging to wife Beverly’s brother, Monty. He was gone for a…

Teenagers, typically, make for poor parents   in all senses of the word. They lack the finances to adequately provide for their offspring. They lack the maturity to be good parents. They lack the education to…

You wouldn’t know it from the Legislature, but Kansans are willing to pay for public services.Voters signaled their willingness to open their pocketbooks with the passage of several bond issues in Tuesday’s elections.In Reno County,…

Harriet Tubman, the African-American who sheltered slaves along the Underground Railroad, has earned her day in the sun. Almost 150  years after her heroic service, two small national parks have been designated to honor Tubman.Congress…