Joco spotlight

Ray Merrick: Speaking for the outsiders

While Kansas House Speaker Ray Merrick’s sphere of influence is dryly — and fondly — referred to as “Raymerricka,” it connotes an image in the statehouse of the Johnson Countian’s conservative leanings and his ability to build a life for himself out of poverty.

Mary Sanchez

When will military get serious about reform?

The U.S. military has proved to be a sexually hostile environment for women — and for a fair number of men as well. By the Pentagon’s own measures, women are more likely to become victims of sexual assault while in the military than in civilian life.

C.W. Gusewelle

Toss the tassel and let the sweet beginnings commence

Graduation is one term for it — the ceremony of passage that marks the end of a specific period of learning. Commencement is to my mind the better word, alluding as it does not to a conclusion but rather to a beginning — not what’s behind, but what lies just ahead. Through the course of a life, the starts are what contain the excitement and promise.

Another plague besets Africa

A plant virus called cassava brown streak disease has spread across much of the African interior, reducing by as much as 50 million tons a year the harvest of a crop upon which some 500 million Africans rely for their staple food.

Columnists

Nation & World

Jackson & Cass Counties

Northland

Wyandotte & Leavenworth

Family wanted

Shelby, 13, is a bundle of energy who loves talking with others and spending one-on-one time with adults.

Kansas City youth seek futures in tall grass, chess

Kids from High Aspirations, a non-profit youth mentoring program, mowed abandoned yards near the Lucile Buford Library where they meet three Saturdays each month. The fourth Saturday is devoted to community work to help them grow into better men.

Kansas negotiators agree on a 6 percent sales tax

House Republicans drafted the proposal during negotiations with senators on tax issues. GOP senators accepted it so both chambers could vote on it, with the House taking it up first, possibly Tuesday. But a Senate leader doubts it can pass both chambers.

Traffic signal is coming to Mission intersection

Ralph Hile of Merriam has a bone to pick with the city of Mission. He remembers city officials saying they would install traffic signals at the Broadmoor Street intersections with Martway and 61st streets when the old Herff Jones property was redeveloped.

Giving kids something to hold: Kansas girls’ blanket project wins national recognition

Sseven girls from Heartland Elementary School in the Blue Valley School District, now mostly middle-schoolers at Harmony or Aubry Bend, for a few years had been competing in an international problem-solving educational program, Odyssey of the Mind. This time around, however, they decided to take on a side challenge — Odyssey Angels — and create a real-world project to help people in their own community.