Journal-World Editorials

Accept change
The hotel/apartment project proposed for the southeast corner of Ninth and New Hampshire streets is part of a positive trend for downtown Lawrence.
February 13, 2012
The soundest strategy to protect Lawrence’s most treasured historic asset — Massachusetts Street — is to give New Hampshire and Vermont streets some flexibility to change.
It takes time
Tackling big issues is fine, but the state needs to take time to find the right answers for Kansas.
February 12, 2012
Change is hard, and the sheer volume of change being thrown at Kansans this year is bound to make us uncomfortable. What would help, however, would be for Kansans to be confident that the elected and appointed public officials who are pushing these changes have a full understanding of their consequences.
Shared burden
Using federal money to subsidize individual higher-education savings accounts is a plan worth considering.
February 10, 2012
With federal and state aid to colleges and universities declining each year and the schools passing some of their financial burden to students and families in the form of higher tuition, attention needs to be focused on ways to keep higher education affordable.
Medicaid push
Kansas officials should listen to those voicing concerns about Medicaid changes and take the time to make the necessary revisions to their plan.
February 9, 2012
Gov. Sam Brownback and his administration have come up with a plan they say will improve care and reduce costs for Medicaid recipients in the state. That’s a good goal, but questions being raised about the plan indicate that the state needs to iron out more of the details before rushing ahead with a plan that will affect about 380,000 vulnerable Kansans.
Local talent?
A strong understanding of Lawrence may be more important than traditional chamber of commerce credentials in hiring a new executive for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.
February 8, 2012
As the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce apparently heads into the home stretch of its search for a new chief executive officer, wanting to have the new hired leader in place yet this quarter, let’s hope there’s a new perspective about a fundamental qualification for the job. Instead of playing another round of musical chairs within the ranks of professional chamber of commerce execs, maybe it’s time to recognize that what’s needed for Lawrence is someone who understands Lawrence and can function effectively in our community, with all its idiosyncrasies.
Turf battle
The city needs to get control of artificial turf installations on both commercial and residential property.
February 7, 2012
City officials need to regain control of their turf.
Oread parking
A parking permit system for the Oread neighborhood is at least worth a look.
February 6, 2012
Lawrence city commissioners certainly have had no shortage of discussion about the Oread neighborhood east of the Kansas University campus.
Political lines
A plan that makes relatively minor changes to the state’s 2nd Congressional District has spurred a major political reaction.
February 5, 2012
The reaction to a plan approved by a Kansas Senate committee to redraw the boundaries for the state’s four congressional districts is a vivid reminder of why redistricting often is referred to as the Kansas Legislature’s most political task.
Rate grab
A bill that would allow utilities to raise their rates before those rates are approved by the state is bad policy for Kansas.
February 3, 2012
Maybe it’s the mild winter that spurred natural gas utilities to take a shot at getting the Kansas Legislature to approve a bill to enable them to establish interim rates without going through an approval process.
Dinner debate
It’s hard to imagine that dinner meetings at the governor’s mansion with Republican committee majorities were simple social gatherings.
February 2, 2012
The story of how Republicans representing a majority of the members of various legislative bodies came to be invited to the Kansas governor’s residence for dinner and what they talked about while they were there continues to evolve.

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