Opinion

KMUW reported last month that “Opioid settlement money is meant to fight addiction, but Kansas gives a lot of it to police.” (A story also published by The Newton Kansan)This is harmful.The story explained: “The money is part of national legal settlements against prescription opioid makers, distributors and pharmacies.

For the second year in a row, Florida’s state legislature has an “end of life options” -- or “medical aid in dying” -- bill before it.SB 1642 / HB 561 would “allow” terminally ill patients, diagnosed as having less than six months to live, to “request” (and doctors to prescribe) medication to end their lives “peacefully” instead of waiting for the prognosis to run its course.Although this partial and minimal accommodation of patients’ rights should pass with a veto-proof majority faster than the TV cameras pan to Taylor Swift when Travis Kelce scores a touchdown, it’s probably deader than its beneficiaries will be in, say, six months.Since it’s unlikely to pass, and since nothing I write is likely to change that, I’d like to turn to a simpler question:Why do we tolerate politicians claiming that our lives belong to them and that whether, when, and how those lives end should be their decision rather than ours?Nature (and human nature) preclude, at least for the moment, the choice to live forever.

At first I assumed the invitation to an etiquette dinner had found its way to my inbox by mistake.

As op-ed writers, we often find ourselves writing about something negative, trying to inform the public about a problem that needs fixing.

Persons who never venture to another country, learn another language, or intermingle with foreigners are very inclined to think that all people think as they do.

When I was growing up, not that long ago, my family subscribed to two daily newspapers.The Wichita Eagle arrived in the morning and had the biggest comics page, which my brother, sister and I would fight one another to read.

Kansas has some of the most permissive gun laws in the country, and last week the state house began debate on a bill that, if passed, would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to further enshrine gun rights in the state constitution.The proposed amendment would change the language of Section 4 of the Kansas Bill of Rights to include possession and use of ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm components as constitutionally protected rights.

I had a friend in college who was from Coffeyville, down in southeast Kansas.