Columns

WICHITA MATTERS: Biden and (Some) Better Times for (Some of) Wichita

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When President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan (ARP) a little more than a week ago, I commented to some friends that this may arguably turn out to be one of the best things that has happened to Wichita in a very long time. Let me explain that argument here—starting with a rephrase of my original comment: the ARP will likely turn out to be one of the best things that has happened for many Wichitans in a very long time. Why the change? In part because there are a thousand ways to think about a city, depending on the perspective of the person doing the thinking. For every metric I or someone else might propose, someone else can surely come up with a different, countering one.

Columns

WICHITA MATTERS: Century II, Home Rule, and the Problem (and Appeal) of States Pushing Cities Around

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On Sunday the Wichita Eagle ran two guest editorials–one by me on how state governments push cities around, and one by my friend John Todd on the effort by him and others to get the state to require cities to hold a public referendum before historic buildings like Century II could be torn down. Both essays are essentially about “home rule,” though neither ever use that phrase. Let me try to expand on that idea here. “Home rule” refers to the principle of municipal governments being allowed the ability to fully govern their own residents. Under our constitutional system, the national government and the state governments are assumed to have some degree of sovereignty; no such assumption necessarily holds counties and cities, however.

Feature Stories

12 for ’21: The 12 Greatest Underappreciated Films of the Last Decade

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In a year remembered for a deadly pandemic, mourning the absence of movies on the big screen seems trivial, possibly even obscene. But for cinema buffs, these are melancholy times. Moviegoers desire great stories told by great storytellers performed by great actors. Pickings were slim in 2020. But the last decade has gifted us a treasure of great tales easily accessed on various streaming services.