Opinion

GUEST COLUMN, Sally C. Pipes, Thomas W. Smith Pacific Research Institute

Congress has handed hospital giants a new line of taxpayer-funded credit. This summer, Congress included a $50 billion “rural health fund” in the multitrillion-dollar One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The fund’s supporters are touting it as a lifeline for struggling community hospitals. But small-town emergency rooms will not be the primary beneficiaries. Instead, politically connected hospital systems that know how to game federal programs will clean up.

Rural hospitals are sympathetic figures. But they’re not in trouble because of a lack of funding. They’re struggling because patients choose to go elsewhere.

GUEST COLUMN, J. Basil Dannebohm

As a child, I used to enjoy watching Scooby-Doo. Though the world has changed since then, a lesson many of us learned from the Mystery, Inc. gang remains true: In the end, the monsters are always human.

Throughout history, there have been the obvious monsters -- those who commit heinous crimes, dictators, and wolves in sheep's clothing who prey on vulnerable souls through religion. Then there are the less obvious monsters who lurk in the shadows – the corrupt politicians, drug cartels, human trafficking rings, and predators to name a few.

Lately, however, our world has seen a rise in everyday monsters.

MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

We continue a series on the gospels, which reveal the work of God through Jesus. In the transition from the old to the new covenant, God uses Herod and Gabriel - Joseph and Mary - Zacharias and Elizabeth - and the words of ancient prophets. Leading up to Jesus' birth, there were several announcements. Last week we read how Zacharias encountered the angel Gabriel in the temple, and later we'll see how Joseph received news about the coming child. Today, we find in Luke chapter 1 the account of the angel announcing the birth of Jesus to Mary. Two things are worth noting: First, Luke writes from Mary’s viewpoint, after spending time with and interviewing her. Also, Luke reveals Jesus' arrival through universal human relationships, emphasizing not just Jewish heritage.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Reita Isaacs, Liberal

Dreary skies and showers are keeping me inside leaving me with nothing to do, so I pulled up my last opinion submission and reread it. Other than stopping before mentioning the sheriff approaching the body guard and vigorously shaking his hand, slowly removing his cupped hand and placed an object in his pocket before returning to his position — that’s all I had to work with.

The whole thing has to be rethought, uncovered, and disclosed and will be in time. If you listen to just Candace, Tucker, and a few others, your head will spin. The latest neighborhood video shows Tyler earlier walking down the street wearing a maroon T-shirt and a blue backpack; later comes back wearing all black with a black backpack; in hallways with identifying shirt and open jacket; jumped off roof with all black and wound up eating ice cream in same maroon T-shirt shortly afterward. His love-interest is about the same height with similar facial features and is nowhere to be found.