Columnists

Exactly one year after the first laboratory-confirmed case of Covid-19 was identified in the United States, I began my tenure as the 19th director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the time,…

Over the next 18 months, the state of Kansas will have an opportunity to improve the health of Kansans. Taking advantage of this opportunity will not require passing legislation. Instead, it will require the state…

He’ll sit bolt upright at the first blast, his eyes wide with fright. As the barrage intensifies, he’ll cower under the table or in the far corner of the kitchen. Wherever I go in the…

NASHVILLE — Thanks to a Covid infection early in the pandemic, my blood pressure goes haywire when the temperature and dew point are both very high, and I have trouble breathing when the air quality…

It’s no fun being between a rock and a hard place, but that’s the spot Kansas public schools are in today.  It’s an unfortunate circumstance begging for action by the Legislature and Kansas State Board…

As a pediatrician a big part of my work is to advise families on nutrition and healthy eating. These days, I find myself talking with parents and patients more often about how they prepare their…

It’s a serious sign of something when as many as 20% of registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents tell pollsters they support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Democratic presidential nomination. Perhaps it’s a sign that…

In July 2020, my mother-in-law’s senior living facility was breached by COVID-19. We had been talking on the phone with her daily since the facility went into lockdown in March of that same year. At…

Kansas has been doing so much wrong for so long in higher education that it would probably take forever to straighten it all out.  But the Kansas Board of Regents took a step in the…

When a U.S. military member retires from service, he or she qualifies for retirement pay. Then there are disability benefits for members suffering service-related injuries and any service member with more 20 years in the…