Franke: Memorial Day 2026
by Mark Frank Memorial Day is here again and much of our attention will be on those who died in service to their, our, country. As a popular meme says: All gave some. Some gave all. It is those who gave all that focus our memories now, while in November we thank everyone who served. Read the full article…
The Outstater
Horse Thieves Matter THE SON OF PIONEERS in the Flint Hills of Kansas, my sheriff grandfather was familiar with the story of “the Sedgwick County Anti-Horse-Thieving Association” — or the SCAHTA as it was never known because they were blessedly free of acronyms back then. Let us just say that it would not have fit into the defund-the-police messaging, Read the full article…
The Outstater
James Briggs: The New Journalism WE DON’T ENJOY discouraging a fellow journalist. First of all, nobody cares. It is “inside baseball,” as an editor of mine liked to say. Our members have more important things to do. Still, any job has standards and after some decades in the business (note that I didn’t say “profession”) I have a Read the full article…
The Outstater
Unserving ‘the Unhoused’ OUR MAYOR has thrown down the NIMBY gauntlet. She is trying to shame opponents of her plan to build a $3.8 million “homeless services” center downtown, a couple of blocks from the art museum. She says they selfishly don’t want the center in their backyard but cannot offer an alternative plan. I am Read the full article…
The Outstater
Let’s Pack the U.S. House GALLUP REPORTS this week that the approval rate of Congress has fallen to 10 percent. Coincidentally, a Butler graduate student, Evan Wareham, has an intriguing idea — reapportionment on steroids. What if we reformed the U.S. House of Representatives by adding members to increase per-capita representation? That, please know, was the original plan. In Read the full article…
Eichenberger: Pride — From Icarus to Instagram
by Dan Eichenberger MD, MBA Ancient civilizations recognized pride, or hubris, as a recurring human vulnerability with serious consequences. In Greek mythology and tragedy, excessive arrogance — defying natural limits or overestimating one’s place—invariably led to nemesis, or downfall. The tale of Icarus, who ignored his father’s warnings and flew too close to the sun, melting Read the full article…
