Opinion
Other Editors
The Salina Journal, on tuition increases: Here’s one more thing to add to that growing list of things increasing in price. On Thursday, the state Board of Regents approved new tuition and fee rates for the state’s regents institutions. The new costs for a college education are not good news for Kansas families. Starting this fall, two semesters with a 15-hour slate of classes will increase from $184.50 at Fort Hays State to $577.20 for inc...
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Bush rallies behind McCain at fundraising dinner
Ben Feller Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking to energize party loyalists, President Bush on Wednesday gave his most extended public support to Sen. John McCain, his former foe for the White House. The president said McCain is the only candidate in the race who can face tough decisions and “will not flinch.” In a full-throated fundraising appearance for Republicans, Bush never mentioned the name of McCain’s opponent in the pres...
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Kansas Profile: Matt Skillen and Laurence Pacey
Ron Wilson Huck Boyd Institute Travel through rural America along country roads, and you will occasionally spot an old, dilapidated building near the road. The roof and walls are in poor repair, the windows are broken out, and the yard is overcome with weeds. This long-neglected rustic structure was the one-room school, once at the forefront of public education in Kansas. K-State doctoral student Matthew Skillen brings to us the story of...
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Calling all fathers — and mothers, too
Kathleen Parker Tribune Media Services WASHINGTON — Barack Obama’s recent call for responsible fatherhood is welcome, overdue — and misleadingly incomplete. That America’s fathers need to embrace their most important role is no secret. Activist fathers have been trying to make the same claim for decades, without much success. Not all fathers are trying to be good dads, it goes without saying. But neither are all absent by choice, as Ob...
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Weathering the storm
Kathleen Sebelius Governor As reported earlier, Kansas has seen 172 tornados this year – more than any other state in the nation. This number is three times larger than our yearly average – and the year is only half over. We have lost friends and neighbors in these storms and several communities have incurred unbelievable destruction. Those who lost their lives, sustained injury or lost homes and businesses have our thoughts, prayers and ...
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Today’s newsroom is not for the chicken-hearted
Leonard Pitts Tribune Media Services And then somebody brought a chicken into the newsroom. A sign affixed to the bird — a statue of a rooster in full crow — said: “Brought in by a Santeria priest ... to help save our jobs. Make an offering.” The bird, placed last week on a bank of file cabinets in the newsroom of The Miami Herald, drew flowers, wine, pennies, peppermint, dolls, candles and other oblations. A few days later, the McClatch...
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Other Editors
The Topeka Capital-Journal, on Sen. Ted Kennedy: Generations of voters have grown up since Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts first won his Senate seat during a special election in November 1962. The liberal Democrat has survived and overcome setbacks in his political and personal life since then, and now finds himself in a battle with a malignant brain tumor. We haven’t always agreed with Kennedy’s politics or some of the choices he made i...
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‘Clean’ campaign in 2nd offers Ryun advantage
John Hanna Associated Press TOPEKA (AP) — Jim Ryun appears to be trying to give himself an advantage by calling for clean campaigning as he seeks the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District. Ryun, the congressman ousted in 2006, and his GOP rival, State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, filed for office hours apart last week. In between, Ryun issued his call for a campaign free of the negative attacks that he said tend to alienate voter...
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Other Editors
Los Angeles Times, on the iPhone: For the second time in a year, Apple has slashed the price of its coveted iPhone by $200. The basic model now sells for less than the cost of an iPod Classic (not counting the $70 monthly charge for using AT&T’s mobile phone and data network, which eventually makes the purchase more expensive than an iMac). ... They’ll soon find that the iPhone doesn’t deliver everything that the Web has to offer. ... The...
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The thrill is gone
Mitch Albom Tribune Media Services My sweet, old grandfather came down from heaven recently, just in time to join me at the airport. He’d been gone for years, so a plane trip had him excited. “Why aren’t you wearing a suit and tie?” he asked. “This is an airplane, not a bus.” Planes aren’t a big deal anymore, Gramps. “Pooh. You fly in the sky, it’s a big deal.” We pulled up to the curb. “What, no one to take our luggage?” No, Gramps....
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Tri-Valley Developmental Services honors worker enthusiasm with Eagle Awards
Tim Cunningham TVDS Executive Director To see individuals excited and enthused about coming to work and excelling at their jobs is any employer’s goal. Those who enjoy their work and fellow employees are the best workers: more innovative on the job, show better cooperation with other employees, and studies have shown they report less absenteeism from illness. Happy, fulfilled workers are good employees. These truisms apply to us all, ...
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Other Editors
Chicago Tribune on the Dunkin’ Donuts ad: Rachael Ray, the painfully perky, cute-as-a-button chef and spokeswoman for Dunkin’ Donuts, got herself into hot water while peddling cold coffee. What exactly did Ray do? Switch to Starbucks? Plagiarize recipes? Cheat calorie counts? None of the above. ... Ray appeared in an Internet ad touting Dunkin’ Donuts’ supposedly full-flavored, double-brewed, rich and delicious iced coffee. She wore a bla...
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Is Google making us stupid? Maybe
Leonard Pitts Tribune Media Services I had thought it was just me. In reading the cover story in the new issue of The Atlantic, however, I have learned that I am not alone. There are at least two of us who have forgotten how to read. I do not mean that I have lost the ability to decode letters into words. I mean, rather, that I am finding it increasingly difficult to read deeply, to muster the focus and concentration necessary to wrestle...
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Auto club does road work
From the microfilm files of the Chanute Tribune as prepared by the Chanute Historical Society. The Chanute Auto Club at its regular monthly session on February 6, 1913, canvassed the ballots on the road contest with the foregoing result. The road to Earlton, which received first prize, is the one extending south from Plummer Avenue. The east road is the one into Big Creek Township, the northwest road, the one extending from the improved hig...
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Not all Democrats falling for Obama
Ben Evans and Sam Hananel Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — Nothing personal, Sen. Obama, but our re-election comes first. Barack Obama, for all his attention and primary successes, does not go over so well in a fair number of Democratic lawmakers’ home districts. So it seems there is little chance that some will endorse him for president. Some are counting on Republican votes in their re-election bids. Some are newly minted and...
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Reunion
Ludlum The Ludlum Family Reunion held its 94th year on Sunday, Aug. 21 at Riverside Park Community Building in Iola. Debra Ludlum, president, welcomed all who attended. Don Bauer reported that there is not enough money to fix up the damaged tombstone of an unknown female buried at old Elsmore Cemetery. Also there are two horses that were brought down from Illinois and are buried in this cemetery. A stone will be placed for both. There was a r...
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Feast or famine
John Schlageck Kansas Farm Bureau While it’s true 2007 was a good year for Kansas agriculture, few farmers are flush with cash. Here on the great High Plains bumper crops with bin-busting harvests aren’t generally a yearly occurrence. In fact, in some areas of western Kansas this year is shaping up like so many before – little or no moisture for this year’s wheat crop. Kansas farmers aren’t blessed like their corn belt neighbors in Iowa a...
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Other Editors
The Wichita Eagle, on pre-Iraq war report findings: Five years ago it seemed the urgent responsibility of the Senate Intelligence Committee, then chaired by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., to take a long, hard look at what went so horribly wrong with the prewar intelligence concerning Iraq. ... Little did anyone know how long and hard the committee’s look would be, finally reaching completion recently amid an unproductive barrage of partisanship...
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Kansas Profile: Josh and Gwen Hoy
Ron Wilson Huck Boyd Institute Deep roots. The deep roots of bluestem grass are what sustain the tallgrass prairie in times of drought and fire. “Deep roots” also could describe a young Kansas couple who are sharing their tradition of cowboy food and culture in the heart of the Kansas Flint Hills. They offer an outstanding guest ranch and food-catering service in the best tradition of the West. Like the tallgrass itself, Josh and Gwen Ho...
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New Yorkers 0-for-3 in 2008 presidential race
Devlin Barrett Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Damn Yankees. After 19 months of primary campaigning, that seems to be the attitude of the nation’s voters. A year ago, three New Yorkers — Republican Rudy Giuliani, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and independent Michael Bloomberg — loomed large in the presidential sweepstakes. With Clinton’s departure from the race, they officially have gone 0-for-3 — a shocking bagel hole for the Big...
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