One of the beauties of democracy is its system of checks of balances.  One branch of government — either the legislative, executive or judicial — cannot go crazy without the others having the option to…

Dad died 20 years ago and for about that long previously he suffered from arthritic joints in both legs.  He spent many days in a comfortable chair absorbing one adventure after another from National Geographic…

It wasn’t until I was a senior at Iola High School that girls’ sports were introduced. That was in 1973-74. Up until then, girls played a supportive role for the boys’ teams as cheerleaders or…

Unwittingly, the Kansas Supreme Court came to the rescue of ultra-conservative legislators.  In no time flat, Gov. Sam Brownback and his cronies set the propaganda wheels in motion making the Supreme Court the enemy of…

Day was farmers cultivated crops to keep down weeds, bugs were a nuisance they tolerated and commercial fertilizer wasn’t as pervasive as today’s. You could drink from a creek without fear of getting sick. Not…

Imagine you worked a summer job painting fences, but continued to get paid year-round even though you’d hung up the paint brush months earlier. Unfortunately for Kansas taxpayers, our state legislators are enjoying such an…

The intimate setting Tuesday lent itself for a frank discussion between U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and his constituents. Instead, the senator chose to play the blame game now so common between Republicans and Democrats that…

An ominous cloud hangs over the Kansas Capitol today, after the state Supreme Court late Friday rejected changes in school funding the Republican-dominated Legislature made earlier this year. The justices ruled lawmakers failed to improve…

With a belt buckle as big as a dinner plate, wide-brimmed hat, and boots that obviously weren’t worn for show, the guy who greeted me in Ros-well, N.M.’s, tiny airport terminal was the real deal,…

Iola council members discussed Monday night whether they should be paid for their labors.  For some, it was an awkward discussion, deciding whether they should pay themselves with public dollars; so they have asked for…