Local Columns

Opinion: Data center debate — LULUs and leverage

I remember the call. The city manager told me to buckle up. A rezoning for a smelly new potato-salad factory was coming my way. On a street with nothing but houses. My life as a planner flashed before me like the grainy black and white final scene of “Frankenstein” — angry village mobs ...

Opinion: We need a better conversation on guns

In the aftermath of the horrific Winfield murder-suicide that claimed the lives of four children, neighbor Lisa Spoon did what citizens are supposed to do in a democracy. She contacted her elected representatives and asked them to consider changes to state law that would prohibit convicted ...

Opinion: Instant gratification harmed the GOP

As we approach Labor Day, the unofficial start of the general election season, it’s worth looking back at a strategic decision Kansas Republicans made decades ago. In the early 1970s, as part of efforts to modernize the executive branch, Republicans advanced a constitutional amendment ...