Opinion

OPINION – The ‘Ellinwood Underground’ still haunts my Halloween memories

GUEST COLUMN, J. Basil Dannebohm

Every year around this time, as the leaves begin to change and the days grow shorter, I spend my evenings revisiting some of my favorite Halloween movies. It’s become an annual tradition that I kick off the season with “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.”

The film tells the story of Luther Heggs, a typesetter who aspires to be a reporter in the fictional town of Rachel, Kansas.

Heggs lands his big break when he sets out to solve a hometown murder. Hoping to land the story of the year, he stays overnight on the 20th anniversary of the crime in an abandoned house where the tragedy unfolded. There’s just one problem: Heggs is a chicken, and local lore suggests the house is haunted.

OPINION – If you smoked or still do this 60-second screening could save your life

GUEST COLUMN, Harold Wimmer, American Lung Association

Denise Lee smoked up to two packs a day for 40 years, but when she quit at 54, Denise made one more lifesaving decision.

After seeing an American Lung Association billboard that read "If you smoked, this lung cancer screening could save your life," Denise scheduled a low-dose CT scan. The next day, her results came back: a mass was detected, which they later confirmed was lung cancer.

When she scheduled the scan, Denise had yet to develop a single symptom -- and catching her lung cancer that early meant she had multiple treatments available. It's been eight years since, and Denise remains cancer-free.

OPINION – Culture change or goals?

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Starley Craig, Liberal

Everyone needs to be careful with our wonderful English language since it can be used to obscure information and yet leave the listeners or readers with the impression he/she is hearing truth.

After the forum for the candidates for Board of Education, the superintendent was featured in the Leader & Times speaking on his aims for USD 480.

But I’m confused, primarily because important words/phrases were never explained, although a casual reader would probably think he knew what was being told.

OPINION – Trump has violated rights, and we will protest him Saturday

LETTER TO THE EDITOR, Sheryl Hall, Liberal

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

On Sat, Oct. 18, Liberal has the opportunity to join the National “No Kings” day of peaceful protest. Of the many unprecedented actions of our current president and his regime, surely the most pressing issue is the rounding up of humans who have brown skin, the majority of which are perfectly legal. Documented, full citizens, even natural born citizens have had their lives and that of their families upended, many sustaining injuries.

If you have not by now seen the countless video accounts of extreme unnecessary roughness and injury to people from the very young to the very old, and the folks who have “done it the right way” having their paperwork revoked, you are watching a news source that ignores this injustice and you have yet to see the truth.

OPINION – Remember the 15th of September

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

Yesterday I was able to present testimony to the Special Committee on Taxation about the situation we face in Seward County.

I listened to several other Kansans also share their concerns, including Ellen Riedel, a citizen who, with her husband, bought a decaying bowling alley building and brought it to life.

What did they get for their effort? A massive tax increase through valuation, from about $3,000 a year in taxes on the building to $20,000 a year.

That made the project unsustainable.

Many are unaware of the process to pay under protest. While she was offering testimony she shared the she and her husband hired an attorney but only saw a minor reduction.