Tom Harper/Lawrence Times
Walt Hull’s path to become a blacksmith had twists and turns not unlike the functional works of art he’s shaped all over Lawrence. Now 83, he has no intentions of retiring. Tom Harper shares Hull’s story in this column.
“The outcome of the case will depend largely on whether the district can show that implementing software designed to monitor students the way it did was closely related enough to an important government interest — namely, student safety — to justify Gaggle’s intrusion into the students’ lives,” Max Kautsch writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
“If we’d known about this Axon contract, there’s absolutely no way the people of Lawrence would have co-signed a program that risks the privacy and the dignity of abortion seekers, trans folks and immigrants,” Elise Higgins writes in this column.
“The city should pause new (surveillance camera) integrations and analytics until it adopts a Lawrence-specific oversight ordinance created with community input. This will preserve the benefits of cameras while putting safeguards in place,” Kincaid Dennett writes in this column.
“Attempts to establish a connection between the (KU-Mizzou) rivalry and the Civil War are ignoring or whitewashing the core elements of the fight between the residents of the two states. The conflict was fundamentally rooted in slavery, racism and white supremacy,” Shawn Alexander writes in this column.
“Thank you, John Green, for spending a little time in Lawrence. We love the thinkers, the feelers, and we especially love those willing to lay it all out there — in a book, on a stage in front of a couple thousand of us on a Tuesday night in September,” Erika Gray writes in this letter.
“Last year, at least 222 of our neighbors in Douglas County were evicted from their homes. … A right to counsel program helps all tenants,” Vince Munoz of Lawrence Tenants writes in this letter to the Times.
Tom Harper/Contributed photo
“The (Lawrence City Commission’s) 2026 debt decisions are particularly important because our community will pay for this debt for the next 25 years,” Holly Krebs writes in this column.
“Taxpayers are already supporting recreation centers in the taxes we pay every year, but the city commission believes that … rec center fees will somehow solve their budget deficit problems,” Carol Kummer writes in this letter to the Times.
“Everything we rely on — our supermarkets; our meds; our air conditioners and heat pumps; our vehicles … — does damage. What we don’t rely on is military aircraft performing ear-splitting flyovers in the name of intercollegiate sports,” Randi Hacker writes in this letter to the Times.
