Opinions

The end of the 20222023 school year has come — and what a year it was! When I arrived for this new position roughly 11 months ago, I was thrilled to become part of USD 327 and the Ellsworth, Kanopolis and Geneseo communities.

When a tobacco box was found Saturday afternoon by boys playing near Wichita’s Second Street Bridge, they surely believed they had found a long-lost treasure. Their eyes must have sparkled with delight at the sight for it was no ordinary tobacco box.Little did they know the story it could tell.

Tragedy was never far from the lives of Kansas settlers. The story of Thomas and Nancy Morris sadly embodies the elements of lives drawn into a downward spiral that left them tragically broken. The couple moved to Illinois after their marriage in June of 1869 at Orleans County, N.Y.

What made you happy in high school will make you happy in collegeTo my daughter Ella: As you near your high school graduation, beware of the upcoming tsunami of well-worn advice from us, your elders.Every graduation envelope, starting with the first one you got last night, threatens a dose of this.

Google “Kansas stereotypes” and you will find some well-known thoughts about Kansas, but also some that surprised me a bit. The obvious stereotypes are “fly-over state” (What does that even mean?) and “Kansas is flat” (We all know this is not true.

G. W. Brown experienced the terrors of Bleeding Kansas firsthand. His newspaper, The Kansas Herald of Freedom, was the first free state newspaper in Kansas Territory. He was arrested and his newspaper office was burned by pro-slavery forces on May 21, 1856.

Dear USD 112 board members, We would like to ask you to consider extending Wilson Jr./Sr. High School for one more year.Yes, we realize you’ve considered the issue — twice.

On July 6, 2012, I was lucky enough to be passing through Memphis, Tenn. One of my family members was having a birthday that day and rather than waiting until we got home to celebrate, I decided to stop in to see Graceland.I wasn’t a huge Elvis fan growing up. This was partially due to my age.

John E. “Curly” Marshall is a favorite subject of The Way West. The notorious border character made his living in many ways, most of them “nefarious.

Space is brief this week, but we want to give a hearty high-five to the staff of the I-R, who week after week churns out a newspaper. And not just any newspaper, but an award-winning newspaper.