Opinion

GUEST COLUMN, David Dorsey, Kansas Policy Institute

The state board of education is in the throes of adopting cut scores for state assessment results; the test was taken earlier this spring by Kansas public school students. These cut scores divide individual student achievement into the four levels created by the state board, with Level 1 the lowest and Level 4 the highest.

MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

In a previous study, we explored the finer aspects of Jesus’ character as reflected in His everyday life. Those included humor, fairness, gratitude, consistency, and wisdom, as well as the absence of self-pity, spite, or pursuit of personal acclaim. Today we focus on four fundamental traits—humility, compassion, indignation, and courage—to understand what it means to follow Him. Again, credit is given to Everett F. Harrison for his outline of these characteristics.

GUEST COLUMN, Kim Baldwin, Kansas Farm Bureau

June is the month that tests my schedule and patience as we await the start of wheat harvest. For years my replies to a variety of invitations and requests have always defaulted to something to the effect of, “That’s June, so if we’re harvesting wheat we won’t be able to.” 

June is the one month out of the entire year where I fully exercise being noncommittal.

GUEST COLUMN, Howard Dean, former Democratic National Committee chair

Just before President Trump pushed her out at the behest of his corporate donors, former Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Lina Khan released a damning report about the most rapacious and anti-competitive actors in the entire healthcare system: pharmacy benefit managers.

These middlemen in the drug supply chain don't discover new medicines. They don't manufacture them. They don't even physically dispense most prescriptions. Yet they rake in tens of billions of dollars each year by driving up costs for everyone else -- especially patients battling cancer, HIV, heart disease, and autoimmune conditions.