Illinois’s pension program is in dire straits. Kansas should watch, listen and learn.In a unanimous decision, Illinois Supreme Court justices ruled Friday that efforts to reconfigure the state’s pension program violate the state constitution.Yes, the…

How can a slough, cut through the edge of several lawns to a shelf of limestone, be a playground?In the 1100 block of Mulberry Street in Humboldt was one — and still is, reports Jan…

It’s not that I need a designated day to think of my mother, but I admit Mother’s Day directs my thoughts more her way than usual. I’m getting to the age where I resemble my…

For the past 40 years Iolans have bemoaned a lack of adequate housing and how this has held back our growth. In 1979, an article in the Iola Register quoted Gil Brown, an executive with…

On Sunday, two men stormed an anti-Islamic gathering and were shot dead.The line between which was worse is fuzzy.The setting was Garland, Texas, where an event was sponsored to ridicule and malign Islam, including a…

Saturday’s “Allen County Gives” needs a do-over.Sponsored by the Allen County Community Foundation, attendance was feeble. Despite the ideal location on the Iola square, few passersby stopped in to learn of the area’s non-profit organizations.…

Does anyone borrow sugar anymore?That was a common occurrence on East Mulberry Street in Humboldt, back when the evening ritual for neighbors was adjournment to lawn chairs, always with a quorum, to discuss what had…

Five days a week a miracle happens here at The Register ­—  we meet deadline. I’m sure restaurant managers feel the same rush as they successfully satisfy each day’s breakfast, lunch or dinner crowd. It…

What occurred in Baltimore Monday night was a dreadful social commentary. No valid excuse can be made for the violence, thefts and vandalism.However, its roots are deep in the past.Consider: Many of the young black…

Kansas lawmakers say they don’t have the stomach to raise taxes. Kansans have been hit hard enough, they say. Before they vote to make more cuts to make budget, it would behoove legislators to visit…