Local Columns

Opinion: Balancing tax relief and responsibility

If you’ve been to the grocery store since the new year you may have noticed that state sales tax on grocery items dropped to 0%. In 2022, the Kansas Legislature passed a bill that gradually eliminated the state sales tax on groceries, with final elimination on Jan. 1, 2025. To many, tax ...

Opinion: More EVs coming; will we be ready?

Currently (excuse the pun), electric vehicles make up only about 1% of the car and light truck market in Kansas, but that will change. Even the climate denialism of President-elect Donald Trump cannot stop it. His newfound friendship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk is sure to keep EV sales strong. ...

Opinion: Legislative resolutions for the new year

The start of a new year is a time for many to set their intentions by making annual resolutions. The Kansas Legislature also has this opportunity as it begins its 2025 session with a new slate of legislators following the November election. The question remains will this new beginning bring ...

Opinion: America’s libertarian moment is coming

America will soon be plunged into a libertarian moment. Are you prepared? Libertarianism is a political ideology — a belief system — that contrasts sharply with both liberal and conservative. It is also America’s third largest political party: the only one besides Democrats and ...

Opinion: Statehouse substance vs. signaling

Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson recently affirmed that, with the Republican legislative majority even stronger after the 2024 elections, the leadership will bring back the push to ban transgender surgery on those under 18 years old. The last effort to do so ended with a veto from Gov. ...

Opinion: The glass wall: Women in policing

On the morning of his federal trial this week for raping and terrorizing vulnerable Black women in the Kansas City, Kansas, neighborhoods he patrolled for 35 years, ex-cop Roger Golubski fatally shot himself. His story, much like last year’s Marion police newsroom raid, is another national ...