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: 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.
Clay Wirestone: Statehouse scraps – Secrecy shrouds semiconductor deal, counting a community, silver screen plans (Column)
”Somehow we just wrapped the fourth week of the 2023 Kansas legislative session. Tracking lawmakers’ antics sometimes feels like pounding a half-dozen slushies and taking a ride on a tilt-a-whirl,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Community Children’s Center: If only they came with a manual (Column)
”The longest drive of my life was the 30-minute drive with my wife and newborn son home from the hospital in Topeka. … They give you some basic instruction at the hospital, but after that, you’re on your own,” Will Averill writes in this column from the Community Children’s Center.
Lawrence Preservation Alliance: KU campus demolitions cause concern about preservation (Column)
“Recent actions by KU administrators have left many wondering how much the current KU leadership values historic buildings and landscapes on campus,” Lawrence Preservation Alliance leaders write in this column.
Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Clay Wirestone: A Kansas woman killed her abuser. At every level, in every instance, the system failed her. (Column)
”Even after the abuse, after the violent slaying, the system failed (Sarah Gonzales-McLinn). The judge in her murder trial didn’t allow jurors to hear testimony about her abuse,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: A bomb threat at my son’s Lawrence school shattered an afternoon into emotional fragments (Column)
“I was worried because, in those lengthy Thursday afternoon minutes, I had lost the ability to protect my child,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
D.C. Hiegert: Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and laws harm your Kansas neighbors. We can build a more welcoming state. (Column)
”I believe we can make Kansas a welcoming and accepting state where LGBTQ+ people can live authentically and thrive. But LGBTQ+ Kansans cannot do it alone,” D.C. Hiegert writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Tresa McAlhaney: Community can creatively manage changes in Lawrence Public Schools (Column)
”We have so many great resources to draw from in our community, and with some thoughtful adjustments, we can gracefully rise to conquer the coming challenges together,” Tresa McAlhaney writes in this column.
