Life tenure for Supreme Court Justices, combined with increasing partisan polarization, is a toxic combination that is poisoning our democracy. It is time to find a better way that preserves judicial independence while reducing the level of conflict over nominations. A move to a nonrenewable ...

In 1970 after establishing the EPA, President Nixon said, “Restoring nature to its natural state is a cause beyond political party and beyond factions.” In that spirit, it will take courage, commitment and vision to address the growing threat of climate change. During Citizen’s Climate ...

Recently, Douglas County voters narrowly rejected a proposition to remodel and increase the size of the Douglas County Jail and to fund the construction of a crisis intervention center. Faced with jail overcrowding and the continued need for crisis intervention programs in the community, the ...

Lawrence prides itself on being a progressive and inclusive community, but rarely engages in the tough conversations necessary to live up to our values of equity. On May 15, the City Commission considered whether to send a plan for a mural depicting Women of Color in Lawrence to the Arts ...

The words of a recent guest column in the Lawrence Journal-World about the Kansas Coalition for Fair Funding were not surprising. It was a continuation of the intellectually shallow, fact-short screed about taxes, school finance and the Kansas budget. Certainly, reasonable people can disagree ...

In 2012, Kansas lawmakers cut income taxes in a bigger, faster, more dramatic way than any other state had done. And revenue from tax collections dropped like a rock, causing Kansas to enter a multiyear period of serious financial trouble.In 2016, Kansans voted for a new Legislature. One-third ...

The Journal-World headline read “Jail’s daily population fell in 2017, reversing a 5-year trend.” The article continued: “The decrease stems from the introduction last year of behavioral health court, pretrial release and home arrest programs.” As a member of the Criminal Justice ...

False narratives are attempting to confuse Douglas County voters about the upcoming Proposition 1 vote. This is not a vote for or against expansion of the Douglas County Jail. The county is statutorily responsible for providing a humane jail that promotes prisoner reform: after several years of ...

Raising revenue is tough, especially in red states.Kansas tax receipts nose-dived between 2013 and 2016, placing great pressures on public services. The 2017 income tax revisions have staunched the bleeding, and revenues have consistently exceeded estimates since July, to the tune of $275 ...

Kansas entrepreneur Greg Orman formally launched his independent bid for governor recently and in doing so is challenging the two-party structure that has dominated U.S. politics for well over a century.Orman believes that voters are ready to break from the political status quo. They see ...

Opening his State of the Union Address, President Trump acknowledged the heroic first responders who came to the aid of victims in the floods that devastated south Texas and in the wildfires of California. Too bad he didn’t mention what made these natural disasters so deadly and costly: ...

It has often been noted that Kansas doesn’t have mountains or an ocean coastline, but what Kansas does have are strong public schools. And our quality schools didn’t happen by accident.Since the founding of our state, generations of Kansans have committed their work and taxes to funding ...

It’s the beginning of a new year and time to take annual stock of the past, present and future.By almost any standard, 2017 was a tough 12 months for most Americans.We’re stressed. The American Psychological Association’s 2017 annual Stress in America survey reports that “compared to ...

A century ago, William Allen White made Emporia famous because it embodied the can-do spirit of small town America. The Veteran City has been in the news again lately, and now the messages are decidedly mixed. Forbes calls it a “charming, walkable and bikeable town with 14 buildings on the ...

Hello, United States. Hello from Kansas. It appears that Congress and the president are about to enact a Kansas-style income tax cut for the nation. Good luck with that.Kansas went down that road six years ago and ended up with a budget-busting, economic-deadening disaster. Our reputation got ...

Next month the 2018 Kansas Legislature begins its annual session. It will face a host of major issues, starting with school finance and including constructing a new prison, funding KPERS and addressing the endemic secrecy within state government, comprehensively documented by the Kansas City ...

April Fools!In 2008, Lawrence’s sales tax rate was 7.3 percent. That year Lawrence voters approved three special sales taxes for an increase of .55 percent that we’ve been paying since April 1, 2009. Also during that time, the state has increased its rate 1.2 percent, and three special ...

Friends of Lawrence Transit, a group of Lawrence citizens, supports the renewal of a sales tax of .2 percent for public transportation. A special question election will be held with the general Lawrence election on Nov. 7. A “Yes” vote on Question Number One will provide funding for ...

You might expect that as the director of Douglas County’s food bank, I am writing to ask you to give food, money or time to my organization, Just Food. But as much as I would appreciate any of those commitments, today I’m asking you to consider fighting hunger in our community in a ...

Kansans, we have been riding an income tax roller coaster. In 2012 the “Kansas experiment” brought lowered income tax rates and a full tax exemption for business income. Last June those policies were rescinded. Income taxes went down, then up.Some have been calling the June tax changes ...