With temperatures reaching the upper 90s this weekend, we’ve arrived at the dog days of summer. It’s hot, we’re listless and yearn for the chill of a crisp fall morning. Given the pandemic, summer weeks become all the more wearisome, as one day melts into another, with no end in sight. ...
With the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of subsiding, it may not be realistic for universities to reopen this fall in any but the most guarded way, if at all. However, once the pandemic does subside, college students will be eager to get back on campus. How things do change. Ten years ...
July 4 marks our nation’s independence celebration and reminds us of our founding principles. It’s a celebration of fireworks and fun, but this year we find ourselves fraught with misgivings brought on by economic uncertainty, contagious disease and social unrest. We celebrate and honor our ...
The 2020 elections for the Kansas Legislature could be perilous for moderate Republicans. Their political relevance is at stake, with huge implications for Kansas politics. Most “moderate” Republican lawmakers in Topeka are actually pretty conservative. Most typically vote against ...
It’s been around 100 days since the COVID-19 pandemic officially arrived in Kansas, bringing fears both physical and economic to every corner of the state. What have we learned? On the positive side, we know that the dramatic precautions of closing businesses and schools likely made a big ...
Sometimes politics meets the personal, head on. This is one of those times. On June 14, I turn 75. On June 22, Michel and I celebrate our 52nd wedding anniversary. Forty-one years ago this month, we moved to Kansas, and one year after that our son was born. Happy 40th, Dakota. Ordinarily, ...
What do COVID-19 deniers and protesters of police brutality have in common? The first group tends to be older, whiter and more conservative. The more militant ones confront those wearing masks in public, but most simply choose not to wear masks themselves, despite the clear evidence that ...
Help is on its way, but reopening Kansas schools won’t be easy. With the state’s economy in free fall and Kansas COVID-19 cases still on the rise, educators are meeting in school districts across Kansas to plan for reopening schools this fall even though start dates remain ...
The Topeka Capital-Journal published a stunning story this week on foster care in Kansas. It prompts the question: Why hasn’t the Legislature prioritized foster care oversight and reform in the last decade? From 2016 to 2018 under Govs. Sam Brownback and Jeff Colyer, the Kansas Department ...
Throughout this pandemic, we’ve gotten used to waiting on, listening to and then either criticizing or thanking our elected leaders much more than usual. The reasons for this are obvious: During a public emergency we all, like it or not, depend upon those with governing authority who impose ...
The Kansas Legislature will return on May 21 with final, sine die adjournment. In short, the Legislative Coordinating Council decided to pull the plug, despite the huge public health and fiscal problems facing the state. This comes close to a dereliction of duty to the Kansans who elected ...
Among U.S. governors, Kansas’ Laura Kelly and her advisers rank among the clearest and most decisive in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, governors face limitations. Residents — and viruses — often cross state lines, and Kansas shares its most populated border with ...
Two months ago, on Saturday, Feb. 22, Mike Hughes climbed into his homemade rocket on a launchpad in the desert near Barstow, Calif., and blasted off. His mission? To fly, he said, to the Earth’s “edge of outer space” to check whether “the world is flat or round. I don’t want to take ...
As the battle with COVID-19 continues and we daily thank our courageous health care and essential workers, Kansas teachers also need our thanks. They rose to the occasion and they kept learning alive. With the future still unclear, teachers now are envisioning what will become the “new ...
COVID-19 is reminding us that many mundane aspects of governing actually matter and that leaving unglamorous problems insufficiently addressed can come back to bite us. The information technology problems facing the Kansas Department of Labor perfectly illustrate this. Many Kansans have lost ...
April, most experts say, is when we will see the coronavirus peak. Does that mean things will gradually return to normal afterward? That is everyone’s hope. But recovering from the costs — both social and economic — of this pandemic will likely vary a good deal across the country. On ...
Missouri’s Harry Truman famously displayed a sign on his Oval Office desk: “The Buck Stops Here.” Nothing could have been clearer. In the end, the president is responsible for the nation’s well-being, regardless of the circumstances. Much the same is true for governors, who exercise ...
Kansas needs to start voting by mail immediately. Our democracy may hang in the balance. With the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of subsiding, elections may become very complicated this August and November. Turnout may be low. Seven states have already responded to the pandemic by ...
To grasp how fully this administration and its sycophants have abandoned basic science, look no further than the coronavirus crisis engulfing the country. Exhibit 1 is the president, who has rejected scientific facts, renounced medical reality, rebuffed his own experts and tried to sell America ...
COVID-19 has lessons for Kansas in handling crises. Citizens and policymakers should use this moment to reflect on how we can protect public health now and prepare for the next crisis to threaten Kansas. First, let’s talk social trust. In surveys, Americans report little trust in ...