MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, news of the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts had already spread throughout the colonies. This Congress would not be like the first; it became in fact the first government of the united colonies for the next six years. Each colony had one vote, regardless of population or number of delegates it sent; it was simply a representative assembly, but it exercised legislative, executive, and judicial powers.

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

Attending the annual Kansas Press Association convention last week Was an encouragement as well as an eye-opener to the challenges of providing local news.

It’s not easy to report on friends and acquaintances who are being questioned by the public. It’s much easier to either ignore it altogether or try to defend the actions we know are not appropriate.

And many outlets do just that.

But we have a duty to inform, even when it means losing a friendship.

THE POSTSCRIPT, Carrie Classon

“The Bells”

“What’s up with the bells?” I asked someone who looked as if he might know something.

I live near a cathedral. I can’t hear the cathedral bells from our apartment, but I walk past the church coming and going on my walk every day and, when I got back from Mexico this spring, I discovered that one of the bells had stopped ringing.

I am sure you have heard bells like these. Sometimes the bells are now recorded, but these are the real thing. There is a short melody at a quarter past the hour and a longer one that plays at half past. At a quarter to the hour, almost the complete melody plays, but it stops early on a different note. Then, on the hour, the full melody plays. It is very satisfying.

MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

Even as the First Continental Congress adjourned Oct. 26, 1774, we saw last week that many delegates were still hoping for peaceful reconciliation with England. Each colony had formed a citizen committee which comprised the Continental Association to enforce trade sanctions until Parliament might repeal the Coercive Acts. Yet within a few months, shots were fired at Lexington and Concord which would turn debate and cautious expectancy into open war. We’ll explore some causes and events that explain why.

British leaders refused to recognize colonial petitions or to allow agents to speak, viewing them as “unruly children”. Though Benjamin Franklin in London warned British leaders that colonists were serious, Parliament and King George underestimated colonial resolve. Former war minister William Pitt introduced a bill prohibiting Parliament from further taxation and recognizing the Continental Congress - but it was rejected.