The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. Occasionally, we’ll also pick up columns from other nearby news outlets. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
The Lawrence Times does not publish staff editorials (unsigned opinion columns, usually about the topics we cover, that many news publications run).
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OPINION COLUMNS
Contributed photo
Ken Lassman: Wakarusa River Valley is a key wildlife corridor (Column)
“It is important in the current conversations about developments along the South Lawrence Trafficway … to have a better appreciation of what the Wakarusa Valley represents to the larger community of wildlife,” Ken Lassman writes in this column.
Tom Harper: La Prima Tazza celebrating 35 years serving Lawrence (Column)
For 35 years, La Prima Tazza has functioned as a coffee shop, community gathering place and a “little tugboat” helping Liberty Hall move forward in the turbulent waters of Massachusetts Street, Tom Harper writes in this column.
Holly Krebs: How will Lawrence’s utility rate increases affect your household? Here are the numbers (Column)
“The Lawrence City Commission has increased the city utility rates each of the last five years and are planning substantial increases for the next three years, too,” Holly Krebs writes in this column.
Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Tom Harper: Walt Hull has forged functional metal works of art throughout Lawrence (Column)
Walt Hull’s path to become a blacksmith had twists and turns not unlike the functional works of art he’s shaped all over Lawrence. Now 83, he has no intentions of retiring. Tom Harper shares Hull’s story in this column.
Max Kautsch: In loco parentis, or just plain loco – Surveilling Kansas students doesn’t make sense (Column)
“The outcome of the case will depend largely on whether the district can show that implementing software designed to monitor students the way it did was closely related enough to an important government interest — namely, student safety — to justify Gaggle’s intrusion into the students’ lives,” Max Kautsch writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Elise Higgins: Abortion seekers, trans youth, and immigrants can’t afford more surveillance (Column)
“If we’d known about this Axon contract, there’s absolutely no way the people of Lawrence would have co-signed a program that risks the privacy and the dignity of abortion seekers, trans folks and immigrants,” Elise Higgins writes in this column.
Kincaid Dennett: The community has no interest in taking away the police’s cameras (Column)
“The city should pause new (surveillance camera) integrations and analytics until it adopts a Lawrence-specific oversight ordinance created with community input. This will preserve the benefits of cameras while putting safeguards in place,” Kincaid Dennett writes in this column.
Shawn Alexander: Race, history and a sports rivalry (Column)
“Attempts to establish a connection between the (KU-Mizzou) rivalry and the Civil War are ignoring or whitewashing the core elements of the fight between the residents of the two states. The conflict was fundamentally rooted in slavery, racism and white supremacy,” Shawn Alexander writes in this column.
Tom Harper/Contributed photo
Holly Krebs: Lawrence City Commission considering debt that might not be sustainable (Column)
“The (Lawrence City Commission’s) 2026 debt decisions are particularly important because our community will pay for this debt for the next 25 years,” Holly Krebs writes in this column.
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
Holly Krebs: Wanted – Lawrence city commissioners who listen to our community (Column)
“Two city commission seats are up for election this year, and these new commissioners could help change our local government’s culture to be more collaborative and community-oriented,” Holly Krebs writes in this column.
Kincaid Dennett: Program giving Lawrence police access to cameras needs review, transparency (Column)
“We deserve public debate before we’re pulled into a nationwide experiment in pre-crime technology. And we deserve better than a surveillance rollout that hides behind the language of community safety,” Kincaid Dennett writes in this column.
Max Kautsch: Largest Kansas counties grapple with closed-door meetings and public’s rights (Column)
“A majority of commissions for the five most populous counties in the state,” including Douglas, “recently fell short of providing the information legally required before entering executive session,” Max Kautsch writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Tai Amri Spann-Ryan: Lawrence organizations need to center healing in their work (Column)
“Our communities should not have to rest on one or two people. But what’s more, the fracturing has to end,” Tai Amri Spann-Ryan writes in this column.
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
Shawn Alexander: Whose history? Experiential knowledge takes us closer to the truth (Column)
“There is not one American experience! … Let us resist the persistent push to limit the narrative of our nation’s past,” Shawn Alexander writes in his latest column.
John Clayton / Contributed photo
Tom Harper: Community to gather in ‘precious love’ to celebrate the life of Rob Blank (Column)
The family of Rob Blank — “Peace Man” and “Precious Love” — wants to thank the Lawrence community for the love and support it gave Rob throughout his life. They’re planning a gathering in his memory next month, Tom Harper writes in this column.
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