4/29/2013 12:00 AM
An eye-opener of Ozlike proportions
BY S. AMJAD HUSSAIN BLADE COLUMNIST
A speaking engagement recently took me to the northeast corner of Kansas. It is the area where the perfect geometric rectangle of Kansas is bitten off by Missouri. That geometric anomaly is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the region and is centered on the twin cities of Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan. …

4/28/2013 2:44 AM
Ohio shouldn’t gamble on private prisons
BY JEFF GERRITT BLADE COLUMNIST
Gov. John Kasich and state legislators should back off efforts to expand privately owned or operated prisons in Ohio. They just don’t work. …

4/28/2013 2:42 AM
Just a guy from Ohio — and glad of it
BY KEITH C. BURRIS BLADE COLUMNIST
Some years ago, when my daughter was a teenager and in full-blown teen rebellion, we had a huge argument. That wasn’t rare at the time. But she ended it with these words: “Why should I listen to you, Dad, you’re just a Catholic from Ohio.” …

4/26/2013 9:00 PM
Dad, daughter at marathon relieved
BY MARILOU JOHANEK BLADE COLUMNIST
Twelve years ago, my husband called me with a terse imperative: Turn on the TV. Planes were flying into the Twin Towers in New York. …

4/25/2013 11:04 PM
Snyder low on fuel, but Dems empty
BY JACK LESSENBERRY BLADE COLUMNIST
DETROIT — Nobody is saying this yet, but could it be that the political juggernaut called Rick Snyder is running out of gas? …

4/23/2013 7:41 PM
Social Security must be made more sustainable
BY DAVID SHRIBMAN PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE EDITOR
Can it be that Democrats are succumbing to the same sorts of intra-party tensions that have bedevilled Republicans since last November’s election? …

4/22/2013 12:00 AM
Hinkles collect all things baseball
BY TOM WALTON BLADE COLUMNIST
If you collect autographed baseballs by the dozen, which I do, you might think you’re hot stuff in the collectibles field. Not me. I’m bush league compared to Lowell and Shirley Hinkle. They’ve got a couple thousand of them. …

4/20/2013 11:29 PM
Senate mustn’t fumble its immigration breakthrough
BY DAVID KUSHMA BLADE EDITOR
Nothing will redeem the cowardice that the U.S. Senate — or at least a shameless minority — displayed last week in killing modest gun-control legislation. But if senators want to persuade Americans that they can act at least occasionally as a productive and representative body, they’ll approve the compromise immigration-reform bill before them. …

4/20/2013 11:26 PM
The real school scandal is our testing addiction
BY KEITH C. BURRIS BLADE COLUMNIST
In the Atlanta public schools testing scandal, some 35 educators have been indicted on charges of artificially inflating students’ test results. Some people say that abuse like this is the ultimate result of the nation’s testing addiction and the pressure administrators are under to hike the scores of their schools. …

4/20/2013 11:22 PM
Newspaper isn’t covering up trial of abortion doctor
BY JACK LESSENBERRY BLADE OMBUDSMAN
Last week I was startled by one reader’s question: