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
Clay Wirestone: Exuberant protesters challenge malevolent Kansas legislators. Whose side are you on? (Column)
”Who best represents the principles that made Kansas and America great? (Hint: It’s the kids,)” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Melody Alexander: School closures are not an equitable answer (Column)
”Equity resides in the community we’ve built for these children. And that equity was a priority because of these schools’ walls, where they feel the safety and security they deserve,” Melody Alexander writes in this column.
Ashley All: Lawmakers are ignoring Kansas voters, interfering in our private medical decisions (Column)
”Back in August, I could not have envisioned the extreme overreach that legislators would attempt during the 2023 legislative session,” Ashley All writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: Emporia State demands ransom for public records. You deserve to know what they’re hiding. (Column)
”We asked Emporia State University a simple question. After breaking the law in responding to us, the school now wants a preposterous ransom to answer it,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Dot Nary: Despite Kansas state rep’s view, disabled people will not ‘rot at home’ (Column)
”Rep. Sean Tarwater, a Stilwell Republican, described some of his constituents as ’people who really can’t do anything … they will rot at home.’ … I want to address the prejudicial attitude revealed in his statement and his stereotypical and outdated view of some of the people he was elected to represent: disabled people,” Dot Nary writes in this column.
Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Tom Harper: Smith Hall demolition is on hold for now, but the building is still endangered (Column)
”The University of Kansas last year placed Smith Hall on a list of 12 buildings deemed obsolete, ’demolition ready,’ and likely to be razed in fiscal year 2023. Those plans have changed, but the fight is not over,” Tom Harper writes in this column.
Carter Gaskins / Lawrence Times
Eric Thomas: Bill Self’s illness reminds us how much he has accomplished as Kansas head coach (Column)
”The University of Kansas men’s basketball team and its fans face the prospect of entering the postseason with head coach Bill Self away from the bench. It’s a striking absence — hopefully temporary — for a program that has been defined by its head coach,” Eric Thomas writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: Lawmakers have declared war on the poor. They betray the 340,000 Kansans living in poverty. (Column)
”Not one person is better because he or she earned a million dollars or a billion dollars. That wealth buys comfort and corruption, but it cannot buy virtue,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: Statehouse scraps – Turnaround twaddle, stacked hearings multiply, another abortion ban proposed (Column)
”Turnaround, you see, works as another tool to silence dissent and make inconvenient bills disappear,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Douglas County Extension Master Gardeners: Water gardening – mini to magnificent (Column)
Douglas County Extension Master Gardeners are pleased to provide a free, one-day workshop on water gardening with Kelly Billing this weekend.
Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Tom Harper: OmTree Shala owner brings yoga studio to new home at Sunflower (Column)
“Sharyn Harley’s OmTree Shala yoga studio has been a fixture in Lawrence since 2012. She was excited to share the new digs and vision of OmTree at Sunflower Outdoor & Bike Shop,” Tom Harper writes in this column.
Iridescent Riffel: Amid attacks on our rights, transgender Kansans can celebrate being true to ourselves (Column)
”To any trans kid who might be reading this right now: You matter, and you are completely valid. You are loved, and we will not stop fighting for you. Please, don’t forget that,” Iridescent Riffel writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Carole Cadue-Blackwood: Kansas must honor – and study – treaties with Native American governments (Column)
”Vouchers will further chip away, dismantle, and do away with the right to a quality education that was promised in Indian treaties,” Carole Cadue-Blackwood writes in this column.
Donnavan Dillon: Kansas has no place for hate in 2023. When will legislators get the memo? (Column)
“We as Kansans must change our organizing and engagement tactics to ensure anti-LGBTQ+ legislation ceases to appear in our state,” Donnavan Dillon writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Ryan Fullerton: Education and job training are not the same thing; we need to help young people understand that (Column)
”Young people deserve the chance to understand the world around them beyond the confines of the work they may one day choose to do,” Ryan Fullerton writes in this column.
