I got a call from a well-meaning Gas resident after we reported city council members voted to permit use of fireworks year-round. The person — gender isn’t important — wondered if that meant residents were…

The other day I saw an oversized Confederate flag waving from the bed of a pickup as it drove through town.   Yes, this is a country where people can freely display their prejudices, but…

A blessing of the configuration of downtown Iola is that it lends itself to public gatherings. The big shaded lawn plopped in the center of the square is especially conducive to functions.  If we were…

When local school board officials received the budget for the upcoming school year Monday night they saw in stark relief the difference between being born with a silver spoon in your mouth — and not.…

Just in time, the 2016 Olympics have come to the rescue to those worn out following U.S. politics or the yo-yo performance of the KC Royals. (They spoiled us.) Talk about spirit; the U.S. Olympians…

I took a shortcut home by way of a county road the other day and whizzed — as much as my red Ranger can whiz — past a field where prairie grass was being wind-rowed…

Rep. Kent Thompson said the day after it was clear Tuesday’s primary election showed what voters in Kansas are thinking. Nearly a dozen conservative legislators in the two chambers were defeated by candidates who subscribe…

Randy Watson had an earful for folks in Ottawa recently. The Kansas commissioner of education told them emphasis on college education and advanced degrees wasn’t for every high school student and a multitude of careers…

“It’s … a certainty that aliens will be allowed to vote in this primary election …” Secretary of State Kris Kobach said, after Shawnee County District Court Judge Larry Hendricks ruled votes of people who…

Maybe what we need more than anything else over the next 100 days is a good dose of Will Rogers. Those 100 days are how long until the general election occurs and our fervent hope…