Opinion
Talking ‘bout my girl
Leonard Pitts Tribune Media Services Dear daughter: I have loved you from the moment I met you. You were still wet from the birth canal, hair matted to your scalp, eyes squeezed shut. They dried you off, cut the cord, placed you in a bassinet under a warming light. I went over to you. My hand covered your torso. And I loved you. That was 17 years ago, 17 years that have moved as cheetahs move. The infant is a toddler, the toddler is a l...
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Not so fast
John Schlageck Kansas Farm Bureau Pre-packaged, vacuum packed, just add water. Many of us in Kansas live in a world where food comes fast – so fast we all forget how it arrives at our table. We also forget it comes from the hard labor and calloused hands of Kansas farmers. Our food also comes from Kansas ranchers who work miles of rangeland in rain, snow and blazing heat. Fast food? Not really. Our lives wouldn’t be the same without th...
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Other Editors
The Wichita Eagle, on parole reform: Kansas’ innovative efforts to find smarter ways to manage its prison population is getting some well-deserved attention beyond the state’s borders. As the New York Times recently reported, “Kansas is a leader in a spreading national effort to make parole more effective and useful — to reduce violations and reincarcerations as it protects the public and seeks to help more offenders go straight.” ... The old...
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Summer session begins at library
Susan Willis Library Director Monday, June 2 is the official first day of summer at the Chanute Public Library. All of our summer reading programs kick-off, with prize drawings for every age. For the birth thru 5th grade, we will have drawings for admission tickets to the Sedgwick County Zoo. Middle school and High school also have some great prizes for those signing up on the first day. And, since adult like prizes too, we will draw for t...
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Hillary’s last hope
Kathleen Parker Tribune Media Services The question we keep hearing is: Why does Hillary keep running? The better question is: Why do people keep asking? She’s running because, despite evidence and warnings to the contrary, she still hopes to win. Hubris is an equal-opportunity affliction. But perhaps there’s more than hubris at work here. On the one hand, yes, there is a sense of entitlement. The presidency is her due, not only for ...
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Kansas Profile: Larry Grimsley — GS Inc.
Ron Wilson Huck Boyd Institute Three, two, one, ignition — we have liftoff. The ground shakes as the rocket thunders from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad, carrying the space shuttle skyward on its way to another successful mission. Those rocket boosters must be very strong and powerful. They were heat treated using a system designed and built by a company in rural Kansas. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s today’s Kansas Profile....
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Other Editors
The Boston Globe, on Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s recent diagnosis: Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s physicians have made their diagnosis, and it is not good - a malignant brain tumor. The senator can take heart in the knowledge that he is being treated at one of the greatest healthcare institutions in the country. He is comforted by his family ... but he also has a larger, national family, and wishes for his recovery extend far beyond his home sta...
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Analysis: Debate over energy likely to continue next year
John Hanna Associated Press TOPEKA (AP) — A legislative battle this year over two proposed coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas is likely to represent only the first few rounds of a longer debate over energy policy. This year’s fight ended quietly last week. House leaders decided against attempting to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ lastest veto of a bill allowing the two plants and limiting the power of the regulator who’s been b...
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Letter to the editor
Former commissioner has concerns about county’s operation I read about our present County Commission each week with renewed interesst. It seems they jump from one crisis (usually of their own making) to another without having solved prior crises. There have been open meetings problems (KOMA), personnel problems, elected officials problems, Shaw Road/Eminent Domain fiasco, etc. Commissioners probably think they are doing a great job but fr...
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Other Editors
Daily Southtown, Tinley Park, Ill., on the men who served in the U.S. Merchant Marine during World War II: Men in the U.S. Merchant Marine put their lives on the line in World War II, but they did not receive veteran benefits because they were not enlisted in the military. A bill pending in Congress would rectify that by giving those who still are alive a monthly stipend. This recognition is long overdue, and the opposition arguments - namely...
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Letter to the Editor
Concerned citizens unite at county commission It seems that the end of the Neosho County commission meeting on Friday, May 23 had a little surprise that wasn’t released to the press or public. One county commissioner decided to bring this item up once most of the public and a press had left the room. I feel that this one item affects the eastern part of Neosho County to the extent that it should not be hidden from us as taxpayers. As I ha...
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Consumer confidence
John Schlageck Kansas Farm Bureau Premises identification program is the latest, greatest promotional campaign designed to encourage Kansas livestock owners to protect their livestock. Brought to you by the Kansas Animal Health Department, this coordinated effort focuses on educating Kansas farmers, ranchers, landowners or anyone else who handles or manages livestock about the importance of registering locations where animals are held. Th...
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Other Editors
Vindicator, Youngstown, Ohio, on Bush, oil and the visit to Saudi Arabia: Who says Saudi Arabia isn’t a firm ally of the United States? When President Bush visited the Kingdom of Saud last week and asked that the Saudis open their oil spigot a bit to help ease the oil crunch, the response was in the best interest of the United States. It was “no.” ... The kingdom had already decided to increase production by about 300,000 barrels a day i...
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No anger, just sorrow for West Virginia
Leonard Pitts Tribune Media Services I keep thinking I should be mad at West Virginia. Not because Barack Obama was recently beaten like a red-headed stepchild — to use my father’s expression — in that state’s primary. No, I’m thinking I should be upset about “why” he was beaten. According to exit polls, two out of every 10 voters said race was a major factor in how they cast their ballots. Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” ran a clip of a...
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The “Crisis!” crisis
Kathleen Parker Tribune Media Services Declaring and debunking crises has become a subsidiary industry of the gender wars. The latest to roll off the D&D assembly line is a study from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) that purports to debunk the idea of a “boys crisis,” which followed closely on the heels of a purported “girls crisis.” Boys are doing just fine, say the AAUW authors, who also insist that the boy crisis...
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Graduation culmination of the positive
Vicky Smith NCCC president Last Friday night, May 16, Neosho County Community College held its commencement ceremony. What a wonderful evening. Commencement is my favorite day of the year. Why? — because I am able to look into the faces of the graduates whose hands I shake and see the joy, enthusiasm, and, sometimes, relief that they made it. Every graduate has worked so very hard to achieve their goal. In addition to their academics, ma...
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Memorial Day
What are your plans for the big Memorial Day weekend? Did you sleep in late this morning? Or are you more the early-to-bed Friday type who wants to get up early and go out of town? It’s good to reflect on how you might feel and what you may have done when it comes Monday night. Everyone wants a good weekend, even one you can remember for years. What is the something special you will do to make this weekend ‘memorial’? Make sure you say ‘I...
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Other Editors
The Kansas City Star, on the housing bill’s benefits: The housing bill passed recently by the U.S. House has a few good points. The program it creates would be voluntary. It would tighten regulation of the mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, something Congress has resisted for far too long. But overall, the legislation goes too far in its attempt to fix the housing sector. Probably the best course is to let the market sort out the me...
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SUBSCRIPTION BASED
We’ve been working very hard at The Chanute Tribune to bring you the best possible web site. We know it isn’t perfect yet, and we will be continuing to work to improve it. But we’re now ready to operate on a subscription basis for our news, as we have done in the past. From today on, those readers who choose to subscribe to our website will have total access to every page – including a pdf version of the newspaper which will be up each day ea...
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West Main stores burn
From the microfilm files of the Chanute Tribune as prepared by the Chanute Historical Society. A fire and water damage of $50,000 followed the early morning blaze in the buildings owned by the Harry Jones estate on West Main Street, according to the Chanute Tribune of October 5, 1925. Shirley Brothers are the heaviest losers. Their dry goods and ready-to-wear section is a complete loss, while the grocery department is water-soaked and dama...
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