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The infamous Sheriff Jones of “Bleeding Kansas” fame was appointed Douglas County sheriff in September of 1855, swearing to uphold the laws of the territory.
Read moreThis week concluded the general session of the Kansas Legislature. I will return to Topeka with the budget committee on April 27 to review the budget in light of the revenue estimates which are completed late in April. The full legislature will reconvene on May 3 for the veto session.
Read moreIn 1877 J. H. Beadle published Western Wilds and The Men Who Redeem Them, a compilation of his travels in “the far west.”
Read moreThere are two sides to most stories and the 300 or so Central Kansas residents who attended a meeting Sunday afternoon at Vesper heard only one side of an issue that threatens to create a rift between property owners and promoters of Kansas tourism. Some background:
Read moreState legislatures across the country are criminalizing democracy with bills ostensibly designed to suppress voter turnout. Most voters will not read these bills, and many would not fully grasp the details of their provisions if they did. What they will grasp is that helping someone to vote can be a FELONY punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. Practically speaking the penalties of fine and imprisonment will rarely apply; the FELONY threat alone will suffice to discourage voter turnout.
Read moreThe end of March gives us a chance to evaluate the first three quarters of Kansas’ fiscal year. With all that has happened in the last year, we have not been very certain of how tax revenues would fare for the state.
Read moreSmallpox was particularly devastating to native people following the European entry into the New World.
Read moreDaughter Allie came home from Lawrence this past weekend and while I didn’t keep track, I suspect we put more miles on her car in one day than she has in the past year. We drove to Lindsborg to visit one of our favorite shops, which had reopened a few days earlier, and then stopped a couple of stores down for lunch before we returned to Salina. That night we attended a movie at the Salina Arts Cinema before having dinner at a downtown restaurant.
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