Opinions

Monday we celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.I have been thinking about racism a lot recently.I’m not a history buff, and admit until the last few years, I thought of racism as a thing of the past. As I’ve watched the last few years unfold, I realize it’s as alive today as ever.

The Way West revisits Kansas history, telling little known stories that give us all a better understanding of this place called Kansas and the people who have gone before us. We all should have a better awareness of our origins.

If you break down, do it in EllsworthOn Friday, Dec. 29, we had pickup issues and needed to be towed into Ellsworth. Joe from Randy’s Towing showed up and towed our pickup and living quarter horse trailer with two horses into town.

The Way WestIn light of modern-day standards, the trials of turning Kansas Territory into the 34th state in the nation are not easily understood.

Ignore Scrooge. Reject the Grinch. Believe. There really are Christmas miracles.My own personal miracle began 44 years ago Dec. 20. Drunk as a prairie skunk, I walked through the doors of St. John’s Hospital addiction treatment unit in Salina and checked in for a 30-day stay.

“The year 1855 has passed away and 1856 has quietly stepped upon the platform. Quietly did we say? Ah no, not so quiet as may be imagined by those who were shut up in their shake houses, trying to keep off the chill blasts of the departing year.”So announced the Topeka Kansas Freeman of Jan.

The Dec. 21 announcement of the sale of Robson’s Card and Gift shop to Raised Rustic is welcome news for Ellsworth.We are so excited to see new owners acquire a downtown anchor business. We also wish Ken and Alice Robson a well-deserved retirement.

By late Dec. 1893, Topeka’s sporting crowd was all abuzz over the coming glove match between their hometown boy, Frank Bradshaw, and Kansas City’s Jack O’Keefe. A glove match was the term used to differentiate from the brutal sport of bare knuckle fighting, generally identified as a prize fight.

There is a great divide between the voices of Kansans and the legislators who are shutting down their right to be heard.Medicaid expansion is essential to enhance comprehensive health care and long-term care coverage to millions of low-income families across our nation.

Thursday morning, Dec. 19, 1872, the citizens of Ellsworth, Kan., woke up to see the ground covered with snow. First thoughts on beholding the beautiful snow were that it might interfere with the Festival and Ball that evening at the brand new Grand Central Hotel.