Opinion

Messiah: more to learn

MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

Last week in reviewing the childhood of Jesus, we looked at two themes: the freedom of simplicity revealed by the birth in Bethlehem and seemingly unremarkable boyhood; also, the challenge His parents faced in raising up such a child - human, but with divine implications.

We shared earlier how conditions were just right for the coming of the Messiah, with Hellenistic influences, Roman infrastructure and organization, and Jewish monotheistic heritage. God also chose faithful parents, Mary and Joseph, who would be responsible for nurturing Jesus, and a small town, Nazareth, where he would grow up. Let’s turn back to those simpler times and see other lessons learned.

Black and Latino voters swung to Trump — here’s how he can reward them

GUEST COLUMN, Eric Ruark, Director of Research Numbers USA

Donald Trump won a convincing victory over Kamala Harris largely due to record support from Black and Latino men. Trump won these votes because of, not in spite of, his immigration policies.

These predominantly working-class men intuitively understand that mass migration depresses their wages, increases competition for jobs and housing, and overburdens their local communities.

Kansas Senate ready to begin

GUEST COLUMN, Ron Ryckman, 38th District Senator

Welcome to the 2025 Session of our Kansas Legislature – and thank you for the honor and privilege of representing you in Topeka. As I start my 11th year in state office and 5th as your 38th District Senator, I will be helping lead the Committee on Local Government, Transparency and Ethics as its Vice-Chairman, along with membership on three other committees — Agriculture and Natural Resources, Commerce, and Judiciary. I am here to help you interact with your state government on any issue, however, so please stop by my Capitol Office in Room 236-E — right off the Rotunda; send me an email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.); or give me a call at 785-296-7359 if I can be of assistance in any way. I will look forward to hearing from you, especially if you’re a member of our amazing 1A State Champion Girls Cross Country team from Montezuma South Gray High.

Retribution or accountability?

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

One of the first actions President Donald Trump took when he returned to the White House was to suspend security clearance for former national security officials who signed off on the now infamous Hunter Biden laptop memo.

For those who forgot, more than 50 former senior intelligence officials signed a letter in the fall of 2020 during the height of the presidential race that the laptop in a repair shop in New York was not Hunter Biden’s laptop and, according to the memo, “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

Clean ankles

THE POSTSCRIPT, Carrie Classon

I don’t normally tackle controversial issues, but today I’m going out on a limb.

Baths are better than showers.

I don’t care what my husband, Peter, or my mother and father have to say on the subject. I don’t care about those people who take samples of bathwater and look at them under microscopes and tell you that you are bathing in minuscule amounts of dirt and microorganisms. They are all wrong, and I will tell you how I know.