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
Colton Swaim: Don’t let the Kansas Legislature restrict our right to vote (Column)
We know that the 2020 election was secure. Claims of fraud and abuse nationwide and […]
Kirsten Kuhn: With 8 words, Kansas bill has stripped constitutional rights (Column)
“Just go ahead and throw out your copies of the Constitution,” Kirsten Kuhn writes as a bill suspends statutory speedy trial rights in Kansas until May 2023.
Kevin Boatright: In Kansas, the arts remain grievously underfunded by the state (Column)
“Feb. 7, 2011 — the day Brownback abolished the Kansas Arts Commission — was a setback for the arts in Kansas and an embarrassment for the state nationally,” Kevin Boatright writes.
Sydney Studer: Diary of a COVID long-hauler, Chapter 1 (Column)
Chapters 1 and 2 of this series are being published together. Look for future chapters […]
Sydney Studer: Diary of a COVID long-hauler, Chapter 2 (Column)
Note: The Lawrence Times is running this series written by a community member who caught […]
Kathy Downing: Kansas leaders who blame poor people for their poverty are promoting a false moral narrative (Column)
“Poverty itself is traumatic,” Kathy Downing writes.
Nate Morsches: Mental illness is the second pandemic (Column)
We are in the midst of a global pandemic that is overwhelming our hospitals and […]
Kirsten Kuhn: Rep. Amyx is just protecting his cut (Column)
“Recent proposed barbering legislation in the Kansas statehouse, while providing few positive changes, continues the tradition of protectionism in the skin of paternalism,” Kirsten Kuhn writes.
Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health
Andrea Zuercher: What I experienced while volunteering at a Lawrence COVID-19 vaccination event (Column)
Dozens of us received yellow ID tags, assignments, and fluorescent safety vests, along with an orientation and safety briefing, and learned that second Pfizer shots were being given that day.
Syed Jamal: Recent spike in violence against Asian Americans deserves national action (Column)
“I feel compelled to raise my voice in solidarity with the majority of Americans who are concerned with improving the seemingly worsening racial relations at this difficult time in our history, amid a historic pandemic,” Syed Jamal writes.
Illustration by Kansas Reflector
C.J. Janovy: Be afraid, Kansas — chivalrous manhood is coming for you (Column)
“Over the decades, I’ve noticed recurring themes. Not just over the fight for LGBTQ civil rights, but the civil rights of any group other than the straight white Christians who bolster their ruling claim to America by denigrating others,” C.J. Janovy writes.
Paris Raite: Kansas bill seeks to criminalize environmentalists’ protests (Column)
“It is a shame to see peaceful protesting, something that brought this country civil rights and suffrage, be targeted and overcriminalized under the guise of ‘protection,’” Paris Raite writes.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector
C.J. Janovy: This Wichita senator has a message for the Kansas Legislature from her mother in 1972 (Column)
These days, Wichita Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau wonders how much Black lives matter in the Kansas Legislature, C.J. Janovy writes.
Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector; file
Max Kautsch: Kansas AG Derek Schmidt falls short on enforcing open records law (Column)
KORA’s guiding precept is that it “shall be liberally construed to promote” the state’s policy that government records be reasonably available to the public. Unfortunately, in recently ruling on a KORA complaint filed by Kansas Reflector, Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office did the opposite, Max Kautsch writes.
C.J. Janovy: Roger Marshall’s obsession with trans kids in sports is unhealthy for everyone (Column)
C.J. Janovy, of Kansas Reflector, speaks with Lawrence life coach Jay Pryor about U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall’s push for an anti-trans sports bill.
