Opinion

After the shootings of Minnesota state legislators and the apparent targeting of other officials, surely we can all agree that violence has no place in American politics.Yet what to make of the fact that President Donald Trump’s administration selected former Kansas Rep. Patrick Penn, R-Wichita, as the agriculture department’s deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services? You might remember Penn as the legislator who spoke on the House floor about blowing away former Hutchinson Rep.

Born and raised on a farm in northwest Kansas, I’ve seen firsthand the challenges the agricultural community faces. As a child, my parents had to fight to keep our farm, and I saw the mental and emotional toll these challenges placed on our family.Years later, I took a job as a therapist in a rural community just miles from my parents’ farm.

The Leavenworth County Commission will begin consideration of the county budget in the coming weeks. During the June 18 BOCC meeting, commissioners will look at the funding of outside agencies.

A political action committee targeted Leavenworth’s mayor on social media in May for her “liberal agenda,” accusing her of holding back progress in the northeast Kansas town. The Defend US PAC ran three advertisements in May on Instagram and Facebook that tagged Mayor Holly Pittman.

Brian Wilson, the sonic architect and soaring falsetto voice of the Beach Boys, was one of the most difficult interview subjects of my career.Not because he was angry or mean or uncooperative. Indeed, during our six-minute phone conversation in 2009, the famously troubled Wilson couldn’t have been any more pleasant.

It’s early, but I am hoping for a good year to harvest walnuts because I discovered a few things that may make processing them a lot easier and safer. Of course, I already use a walnut weasel, which is one of those rolling wire cages to pick them up and then drop them into a bucket.

What’s behind the mask?If you’ve seen news footage of federal immigration raids — and really, who can avoid it these days? — you may have noted how many of the agents doing the raiding are wearing masks.More often than not, ICE agents have their faces covered with neck gaiters or balaclavas as if they were on a covert mission in Beirut. They’re outfitted in military kit as well, from tactical vests to sidearms in drop leg holsters, which all looks a bit weird when worn over T-shirts and blue jeans.

On April 4, Gov. Kelly vetoed a bill that asked the federal government to ban the use of SNAP, commonly called food stamps, for purchases of candy and pop.

Excellence was once considered a virtue in human culture. Today, however, many people equate excellence with inauthenticity, inequality, oppression or narcissism.

This session, the Kansas Legislature voted to send Senate Concurrent Resolution 1611 to voters. This proposed constitutional amendment creates the direct partisan political election of Kansas Supreme Court justices.