A new year presents an opportunity to see things with new eyes. If it seems like nothing in life here is about the business of changing, perhaps one might find the way forward with a…

Is it possible to come home and rediscover it? When I returned to Kansas last year after almost two decades of absence, never would I have thought that learning about the place I was from…

A yellow-white sun was descending the horizon in northern Allen County, not far from a place still called Horseshoe Bend on the Neosho River. Soon, the setting sun spread a fiery band of color, illuminating…

Near the southern tip of the Allen-Woodson border, is an immense native stone rise that’s known by many as Zeig’s Hill, and before that, Quackenbos Hill. The name comes from Professor George Quackenbos, a nineteenth…

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — History buffs are proposing that a Kansas limestone barn used in the Underground Railroad should be transformed into a community history center.  The Watkins Museum, Lawrence Public Library, Guardians of Grover…

Job Springer may not know much about fashion, but his instincts were good when he recently purchased the former Sophisticated Rose clothing store on the southeast corner of the Iola square. The location is to…

The German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel once quipped that, contrary to popular opinion, the most concrete things in the world are heady, complex thoughts, whereas it’s everyday modes of thinking and speaking that are abstract, detached…

Change in education goals used to come slowly. Since the 1960s, it’s generally come from federal law and Supreme Court rulings. But today, political polarization and social media clashes have devolved decision-making to debate.  We…

What social and moral duties we have toward the poor, the disabled and the elderly are perennial questions, but perhaps surprisingly, they dominated public discussion when Kansas was in its infancy. One finds an answer…

Pioneer life is hard. Time for a vacation. But where to? A charming city featuring scenic places to drive one’s wagon. Check. Reasonably priced resort with free food. Check, check. So where might one find…