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Life has changed. All that is critically important to each of us is now more clearly in focus. Life is precious. Family and community are treasured gifts, more central to life than we may have realized in the busy and hectic days before life changed. The unknowns, the worries, the concerns ...
On Feb. 11, the Lawrence City Commission expressed its support for moving forward on drafting a policy that would require the Lawrence Police Department to limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in certain cases, which would put our community’s safety at risk. ...
I write as an advocate for Medicaid expansion in Kansas and as a promoter of Republican-Democrat compromise. I served as a state senator from Lawrence from 1983 to 1992, and I also serve as chairman of Save Kansas Coalition Inc., a bipartisan group. I am concerned that this important advance ...
Sleepy eyed on a recent Sunday morning, a young mom named Rebecca and her two children, Byron, 6 and Kennedy, 2, wandered over to the Lawrence Community Shelter’s front desk, the place where I was stationed as a volunteer. I had brought doughnuts. “Would you like one?” I asked. ...
UTeach was created at the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 because Texas needed more math and science teachers. Through collaboration between the colleges of science and education, the number of science and mathematics teachers graduating per year doubled, the graduates went into teaching, ...
I am writing as a Kansan, a mother and as a biology professor at the University of Kansas. I am tremendously concerned by the proposed elimination of the UKanTeach program at KU. This program prepares high school teachers in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). I take my ...
During her recent announcement of candidacy for the U.S. Senate, Susan Wagle stated that “Socialized medicine, which leads to long waits, poor care, lack of choice and health care rationing, is never the answer.” I would like to know how she supports those claims about this very important ...
I read with dismay that the Lawrence Community Homeless Shelter is reducing the number of clients it can serve from 125 to 60. Hundreds of people who gave generously to help the Shelter acquire and furnish the current facility will be equally disappointed. When the move was made, the ...
It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since I retired. The days roll into weeks, the weeks to months and the months to years. Still, I remember a certain day in August 2015 like it was yesterday. It was my first day as a volunteer at Just Food here in Lawrence. It was also the day ...
For decades, Americans have been looking up to the night sky for answers to humanity’s biggest questions. This summer is particularly special, however, as we remember the immense achievement of putting a man on the moon 50 years ago and wonder where exploration will take us next. The ...
Fifteen out of 240 minutes. That’s how much time was devoted to the unfolding climate crisis during the first set of Democratic presidential debates. Six percent of the total time (toward the tail end of the debates) devoted to a topic that threatens our existence as a species. A topic that ...
Last year, the Journal-World joined 350 of the nation’s newspapers in decrying the repeated slogan from the White House that “the press is the enemy of the people.” These are really code words for “the facts are the enemy of the people,” particularly facts reported by the press that ...
One person committing suicide is too many. That’s been a given as our behavioral health collaborative partners have begun working on strategies to reduce Douglas County’s suicide rate as part of our current Community Health Plan. Sadly, our age-adjusted suicide rate of 15.4 deaths per ...
The intersection of 11th Street and Massachusetts Street is a Lawrence icon. Postcards, photographs, and civic promotional materials have treated it as the focal point of our city for over a century. The majestic buildings of the Douglas County Courthouse and the Watkins Museum of History ...
In April 1970, Earth Day was held in America to raise awareness about our treatment of the planet. Millions of people participated. Earth Day moved us to treat our environment better. Two catastrophes made it a no-brainer. Chemical waste on Ohio's Cuyahoga River caught fire, and a river ...
On behalf of the Kansas Supreme Court, I am pleased to invite the people of Lawrence and neighboring communities to join the court for a special session Monday, April 1. The court will hear attorneys present arguments in two cases starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Lied Center at the University of ...
In recent decades, the rise of chronic disease as the predominant driver of health in our country has spawned new models for the role and function of local public health departments. Each year the first week of April is recognized as National Public Health Week. This represents a great ...
Dear Gov. Laura Kelly, 2019 marks a hopeful turn for Kansas. Your election as governor and the return of essential tax revenue bodes well for the rebuilding of our state, beginning, as you said in your State of the State address, with education, child welfare and Medicaid. There is also much ...
On Wednesday, five members of the U.S. House of Representatives from both parties introduced the most significant climate change legislation in over a decade. Sponsored by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and ...
“I (expletive) hate my life. I am going to end it. My friend just took all my guns away. This is serious.” That is what my friend told me Wednesday morning as I stood next to the apple stand at the Merc waiting for my fancy coffee. His hands were shaking as he fidgeted — wiping his ...