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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FREQUENT COLUMN TAGS
Tom Harper • The Way of the Wide, Wide World by Shawn Alexander • Ask Codi • Dot Nary • Edith Guffey • Kirsten Kuhn • Larryville Life
OPINION COLUMNS
Eric Thomas: January ushers in COVID-19 turning points year after year in Kansas (Column)
“The last three years tested us as Kansans in dramatic ways. January provided the decisive moments,” Eric Thomas writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Tom Harper: How the English muffins are made at Cellar Door (Column)
Tom Harper is hooked on the English muffins at Cellar Door, he writes in this column. He asked how they’re baked: They’re not, owner Louis Wigen-Toccalino shared.
Kelly Rippel/Contributed photo
Kelly Rippel: Positive change on horizon for hemp products and hemp farmers in Kansas (Column)
”Multiple factors are causing a new, positive shift” for Kansas’ commercial hemp program, Kelly Rippel writes in this
Kansas Reflector column.
Jenn Wolsey: Our unsheltered neighbors in the Lawrence community deserve better (Column)
”I wanted the full truth to come out because this community deserves transparency. I messed up. The city messed up. We need to do better. Our unsheltered neighbors deserve better,” Jenn Wolsey, homeless programs coordinator for the City of Lawrence, writes in this column.
Clay Wirestone: Libraries serve communities, not aggrieved parents. Kansans can learn from challenged books. (Column)
”Libraries hold a conflicted place our collective imagination. To many of us — to me personally — they’re magical. … But to a small and vocal group, school and town libraries threaten social order,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Iridescent Riffel: Transgender Kansans face energized enemies. The words you use can make a difference. (Column)
”Words are just one way that we let our souls reach out and touch someone else’s. Will you hold someone’s hand in support or rip a hole through their heart?” Iridescent Riffel writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: This artificial intelligence program will surprise you. But can it write about Kansas politics? (Column)
”Could (an artificial intelligence program) fill in for me? At least now and then? I decided to find out,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Tom Harper: Look up to spot this Lawrence holiday tradition (Column)
”The annual placement of the nativity scene on the Hillcrest Shopping Center pleases many in Lawrence who honor the Christian tradition, and even those who simply appreciate the kitsch of this local holiday tradition,” Tom Harper writes in this column.
Clay Wirestone: Kansas Supreme Court justice resigns as teacher after KU protests antigay speaker. Bless his heart. (Column)
”Stegall outlined the situation and his claims in a six-page letter, packed with the kind of petty grievances one might expect to read in the diary of a middle schooler, and resigned his adjunct faculty position,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Max Kautsch: Dear Kris Kobach: Please read this open letter about open government in Kansas (Column)
”Kansans have given you the responsibility to serve as the state’s primary enforcer of open government laws,” Max Kautsch writes in this open letter to Kris Kobach.
Eric Thomas: Midterm squabbles distract from parties that remain ideologically unified, polarized (Column)
“When compared to the lockstep coordination within parties today, previous eras were a madhouse of party disloyalty,” Eric Thomas writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: After an unhinged election season, results in Kansas suggest a sensible streak (Column)
“After all the drama, all the accusations and mudslinging, election evening in Kansas was — dare I say it? — a bit of an anticlimax,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Clay Wirestone: With Kansas elections approaching fast, I searched for peace in this tranquil hideaway (Column)
”Whatever our country is, and whatever it becomes, it will need as many people of goodwill as possible,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Tom Harper: Smith Hall is an architectural and artistic landmark worth saving (Column)
”Irma I. Smith Hall can’t speak for itself. But as it possibly faces the wrecking ball, we seek to share its history and relevance as a significant, intact example of midcentury modern architecture,” Tom Harper writes in this column.
Clay Wirestone: The ‘blue dot’ of Lawrence, Kansas, will soon have a new congressman. No one’s talking about it. (Column)
“Lawrence, a vivid blue dot in the sea of red that is Kansas, could soon be represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by a Republican who opposes abortion rights and voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election,” Clay Wirestone writes in this column for Kansas Reflector.
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