Today several topics that were found in last weekend’s Emporia Gazette.
For starters, the paper’s lead story’s headline read: HEALTH LEADERS, COLLEGES FIGHT COVID.
Acting KDHE Secretary Janet Stanek was quoted saying:” The pandemic is far from over, but this step (the decision to stop contact tracing) is a move toward managing COVID-19 as an endemic disease.”
An endemic disease is one we learn to live with because we cannot eradicate it likely because our vaccination rates are too low.
In the same article, Jennifer Millbern with Lyon County Health said “There was always going to be a point in time when we would have to learn to live with this virus.”
My conclusion: regardless of what we call it – COVID is likely here to stay and annual shots along with it.
On the bottom of page 1 are a map of Kansas and a story about the redistricting plans proposed by Republican leadership in Topeka. It’s a doozy!
While the author of the proposed plan claim it’s all about equalizing population numbers (supposedly trying to put about 734,000 people in each of Kansas’ four congressional districts) this plan smells more politically driven to me.
The new plan would put Lawrence, Kansas in the First District with parts of over 40 western and central Kansas counties in it!
The numbers may work, but the politics are obvious as Lawrence a liberal community that votes Democrat in a big way is paired with the Big First that voted over 80% for Donald Trump in 2020.
Redistricting happens every ten years and often ends up being decided in court as it did ten years ago in Kansas, so stay tuned.
On the Gazette’s Editorial Page is a well-written piece by Ryann Brooks titled – Don’t blame the schools – explaining USD’s move to halt remote access is the result of a silly law passed last session by our highly leveraged Republican legislature limiting to 40 hours the number of remote learning schools could provide per student.
The editorial explains it well and my conclusion is it was a case of a not-so-smart knee-jerk move by the legislature.
Last our condolences to Carl Hoffman’s family on his passing last Thursday. Carl worked for ESU for many years as Director of Printing Services. A Hornet through and through Carl was 90 years old.
And there’s a bunch of things to think about.
I’m Steve Sauder
