Opinions

If you’re looking for a good cup of coffee Saturday morning, we encourage you to attend one of two legislative forums planned for Ellsworth County. The first will be at 8 a.m. at Grandma’s Soda Shop at Wilson. Both Ellsworth County representatives, Sen. Richard Wilborn, R-McPherson, and Rep.

The Way West Ellsworth County Sheriff E. W. Kingsbury surprised everyone on the Kansas frontier when he abandoned his post without notice. Ellsworth County Commissioners had no choice but to declare the office vacant at their Feb. 11, 1869, meeting.

Capitol View Last week brought many big items in the news and legislature. Starting the week with the Chiefs Super Bowl victory led to many celebrations. Even if the team isn’t located in Kansas, many here are happy to share in celebrating the team and its victory.

Political Bites Let’s be honest, assuming that is still possible in these days of the new normal. The subject: bullies and bullying. Over the last couple of decades Americans have campaigned against bullying behavior and labeled bullies as undesirable.

The Way West While the city of Atchison, Kan., was included in the famous “Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad,” construction for the railroad began Oct. 30, 1868, at Topeka. For more than two years there was no railroad at Atchison.

Capitol View Committee work continued to be the focus in the Kansas House this past week. The first bills are making their way to start discussion and voting on the floor next week. While most items are not controversial, we have two major issues to lead off the session.

As a resident of the Big First Congressional District for more than 40 years, one of the more difficult changes — at least from our perspective — has been the election of hyper partisan politicians to represent us in Washington.

The Way West Fully 600,000 head of Texas cattle were driven up the long trail to Kansas in 1871. The season had been a rainy one. Early good grazing turned to washed-out grass with little nutrition. Unlike previous years on the plains the cattle lost weight.

Capitol View The second week of the 2020 legislative session was focused on getting work moving in our committees. For the tax committee, I am getting many requests for exemptions, credits and incentives.

The photo of the Rogers family, which appears below this space, is representative of the stories you will find in this week’s edition of the I-R. Son Hayden, a student at Ellsworth High School, was named Junior Citizen of the Year this past weekend by the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce.