Opinion

For the past several years Kansas families have suffered from a systemic lack of childcare. Access to childcare is a problem in both urban and rural areas.

Are you over 75? –You remember the children paralyzed with polio wearing crutches? –Some adult polio victims were in “iron lungs” in order to continue breathing. –Parks and swimming pools were closed to control the spread.

Dear Doctors: I heard on the news about research that associates walking every day with living a longer life. Both of my grandfathers are avid walkers. They never miss a day, no matter what, and both of them are well into their 80s. I would like to know more, and also how this research was done.

It is hard to believe the 2023 session is coming to a close. This seems to be one of the fastest sessions in years. We have produced about 323 bills in the Senate and sent 82 of those to the House. The House has produced 469 bills and sent 144 to the Senate.

Dear Doctors: Why does someone with Alzheimer’s disease have trouble sleeping? Is there a good sleeping medication for a person who has latestage Alzheimer’s disease? Dear Reader: It is common for people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease to develop disrupted sleep patterns. In the earlier stages of the illness, patients often begin to sleep more than usual.

For the past couple of years, I’ve been going around the state presenting a program on Kansas Myths, Legends, and Tales, under the auspices of the Humanities Kansas Speakers Bureau. To a folklorist a myth is folk religion, a story that holds a deep truth about a people, whereas a legend is folk history, a story that really happened, although some of the narrative may have often gained details that might have strayed from the literal truth to make it more interesting.

Over the last few weeks many community members have grappled with a few of the most recent school board decisions concerning the closure of a school, a change to one of our school policies and whether the meeting held was even legal.

Each month I want to provide you with regular updates about what’s going on in our nation’s capital and throughout the 4th District of Kansas. Here’s what happened in March.