Charles McVey was scratching around in his garden when thoughts of his childhood came to mind.McVey, 84, was born a couple of miles east of LaHarpe just as the Great Depression was sinking its fangs…

An interview with Carolyn Whitaker of Humboldt earlier this week made me realize the value of family.Whitaker said her interest in genealogy gives her a better understanding of herself. I could guess from the brief…

Interstate 70 has been hailed as the “life sciences corridor,” because of start-up businesses from Kansas City west to Lawrence, Topeka and Manhattan that concentrate on health care, pharmaceuticals and animal health.Many have sprouted up…

The 1969 movie “Easy Rider” gave a look at the counterculture of the 1960s. The American public explored the lives of two bikers — played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. Drugs and communal life,…

The 1969 movie “Easy Rider” gave a look at the counterculture of the 1960s. The American public explored the lives of two bikers — played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. Drugs and communal life,…

Iolan Larry Wolken and I had a conversation the other day, with it touching on a subject Humboldt’s Ellery Robertson also mentioned this week.The stimulating topic? How years ago we shot rubber bands, often with…

Earlier this month Sen. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona, took issue with newspapers — both local and national — claiming they are hyper-critical of Gov. Sam Brownback in efforts to boost sales. This “Brownbackophia” is aimed to…

The irony is not lost that one of the fastest growing programs in Iola middle and high schools is viewed by many as superfluous to education.The schools’ band program is growing by leaps and bounds…

The one tax increase that seems to be making the most headway is on sales.Everybody needs food and clothing, the thinking goes, and so should be the most fair. That would be true if everybody…

Illinois’s pension program is in dire straits. Kansas should watch, listen and learn.In a unanimous decision, Illinois Supreme Court justices ruled Friday that efforts to reconfigure the state’s pension program violate the state constitution.Yes, the…