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
Tom Harper
Tom Harper: The story behind Aladdin Cafe, celebrating 24 years in Lawrence (Column)
Mohammed Iskandrani opened Aladdin Cafe 24 years ago after his mother told him she would move to Lawrence from Jordan if he would open a restaurant, Tom Harper writes in this column.
Tom Harper: Project to bring new life to prominent downtown Lawrence building
”Lawrence is fortunate that 3D Development and Q39 have decided to take on the (former Lawrence Journal-World) building as a redevelopment project,” Tom Harper writes in this column.
Fally Afani Ruzik
Courtney Farr: How bowling one Sunday changed my life (Column)
”Every time we have an event, I wonder if this is the day that alters someone’s life for the better. … If nothing else, someone felt a little less alone in the world,” Courtney Farr writes in this column.
Clay Wirestone: I loathe Lawrence’s new plastic bag ban with a fiery passion. It’s still a good idea, though. (Column)
”So what if I don’t like the plastic bag ban? … We all have to do things that we don’t like for the greater good,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Max Kautsch: This Sunshine Week, Kansas officials should finally clear the Marion County Record’s journalists (Column)
”Journalists should not feel like they are taking an unreasonable risk just to do their jobs, a feeling perpetuated every day that goes by without resolution on the raids” of the Marion County Record, Max Kautsch writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: Doom-laden bombast about future of journalism overlooks striking work in Kansas, elsewhere (Column)
”I’m lucky to live in a state where myriad journalists set an example for the nation,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Kate Appel Eckert: Let’s celebrate the hot-blooded, radical, progressive history of Kansas (Column)
”Kansas is consistently at the heart of every single revolution in America. And I have every intent on continuing this tradition,” Kate Appel Eckert writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Lawrence Professional Firefighters: Incumbent city commissioners are good for emergency services (Column)
”It is understandable that everybody has different priorities, but we can assume that public safety is high on almost everybody’s list. This is why your Lawrence Professional Firefighters have confidence in the three incumbent candidates,” the IAFF Local 1596 executive board writes in this column.
Sarah Cole: Legislative leaders spread biased tropes about disabled Kansans in crusade against Medicaid (Column)
”Though disabled people are often prevented from doing the work they would prefer to be doing … most, if not all, of those barriers come not from within disabled people but rather from the outside world,” Sarah Cole writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Tom Harper: Celebrating renovations to the oldest library in Kansas (Column)
”Members of the Coal Creek Library Board in Vinland recently hosted an open house for community members and donors to celebrate the successful restoration of the nearly 125-year-old library building,” Tom Harper writes in this column.
Max Kautsch: Rule lets Kansas courts refuse the release of ‘compiled information,’ obscuring your right to know (Column)
”Even though court records in adult criminal cases are presumptively open in this country, searching for such records … by the type of crime charged or over a range of dates is prohibited,” Max Kautsch writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Tom Harper: Taking a rare 45, ‘Hawk it to ‘Em,’ to Love Garden Sounds (Column)
”Love Garden Sounds has survived and thrived for 33 years not just because they love music and sharing it with our community. They have also followed a simple and profound tenet — the Golden Rule,” Tom Harper writes in this column.
Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Clay Wirestone: I knew Kansas officials would overstep after Marion raid. I didn’t expect it to be in Lawrence. (Column)
”The fiasco in Marion generated national attention. This dustup in Douglas County will likely fly under the radar, given that it was conducted in the far more restrained forum of legal filings. But we should all be on notice,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Tara Wallace: Fixing Kansas’ child welfare system requires the voices of families ‘closest to the pain’ (Column)
”When those living in poverty are dehumanized, no voice can be heard. There is no opportunity to create understanding and no possibility of change,” Tara Wallace writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: Kansas newspaper raid draws plenty of attention, but journalists defy threats across U.S. (Column)
”When powerful people go after journalists and news outlets, they go after everyone. … Let’s look at outrages big and small from across the United States,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
