Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat, was still adamantly refusing to resign at the time this newspaper went to press. It seems he will not reverse himself anytime soon.
The Cannonball Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross is asking local government in its six-county area to reduce the chapter’s dependency on private donations by providing monthly donations from public coffers.
I’m curious — and I’m not kidding in the least — about the Republican party’s fascination with tax breaks for the very rich. (And I’m a lifelong Republican.)
I read with much interest an article in Monday’s Tribune stating that Pratt County is a safe place to live and raise a family, something most of us already know. But it’s always nice to hear, especially coming from someone as knowledgeable as Pratt County Sheriff Vernon Chinn as written by the Tribune’s Carol Bronson. We all know it was Carol because she was not ashamed, nor afraid to put her name on it.
Voters in the April 5 election have three strong candidates for two open City Commission seats. Lucus Kumberg, Bill Hlavachick and Willy Peltier have all demonstrated a grasp of the major issues and a willingness to stick to the facts.
Campaign signs don’t say much. A candidate at your door might say a little more and hand you a flyer before knocking on the next door — if they happened to catch you at home. And as good as they are at communicating more detail about a candidate, newspaper profiles are still no substitute for an in-person meeting.
Population is decreasing steadily in Pratt County. On a graph, the last 30 years look nothing like the stock market plunge of the latter months of 2008. Instead it’s a rather gentle decline, hardly noticeable if you’ve lived your life here and don’t reflect too much on the shutdown of schools and family farms.
This past April, residents of Pratt County were asked to vote on a 1-cent sales tax hike that would generate revenues to partially fund a $34 million addition to Pratt Regional Medical Center. The issue was defeated handily.
For as long as I can remember, Kansas lawmakers have been fiddling with the school funding formula — usually at the behest of their constituent school districts. Big schools complain about little schools, rural schools complain about urban schools, schools with extra numbers of special education students complain about schools with few such costly pupils, and middle-sized schools complain about being ignored.
As we baby boomers continue to age, our demand for healthcare services continues to grow. This demand has led to a shortage of healthcare professionals, which is projected to only worsen over the next few years. Planning for the future and choosing a career is very important to many young people today. In our forever changing, fast paced society it may be difficult to make such an important decision at a young age, which is why career shadowing can help young people make the right choice.
2013 is a long way off, but Pratt residents who love the greener aspects of downtown should start imagining now what they want in the center of their community.
What can be learned from the primary election of Aug. 3? Negative campaigning works — usually.
Pratt and Pratt County has much to be proud of. Great schools. Excellent hospital. Forward-thinking leadership. Pratt is home to many beautiful parks and the Green Sports Complex. The city can also boast of a strong retail base and, of course, the Hot and Cold water towers.
The U.S. Senate has been described as the world’s most exclusive club. In the past, that description might have been apt. All of the members knew each other, and despite the differences of politics, friendships often flourished across the aisle.
American Legion Post 86 has suffered of late as a result of the public smoking ordinance enacted by the City Commission. The ordinance prohibits smoking in all public places with the exception of restaurants and bars where it’s allowed only after 10:30 p.m. Private clubs are included, and while the Legion’s mature membership still enjoys some good company and a drink or two in the evening, few want to wait until the late TV news is over just to have a smoke.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday took a step in the right direction by striking down a Chicago ordinance banning handgun ownership, but it wasn’t a big step and it will give attorneys, lower courts and advocates on both sides of the issue plenty of room to stomp around in the now muddied ground.
The Deepwater Horizon accident presents another unfathomable example of a supposedly responsible corporation shooting itself in the foot.
Common sense prevailed at the polls Tuesday.
Baby Boomers — that’s a lot of us — have so far been spared anything like the great challenges of the 20th century.
After putting so much faith in him April 6 — an amazing amount of faith if ballot totals are any measure — Pratt voters may be wondering how well newly elected Commissioner Gary Skaggs did in his first round of public business Monday night at City Hall.
