Category Archives: Opinion

The first Friday the 13th of the year is this week. For some people, it’s just another day exactly like any other Friday, nothing different, nothing special. They are the same people who really don’t think birthdays, anniversaries, and other holidays are any different than any other day in their lives. But a whole bunch of...

So the rest and relaxation of the holidays is over. Now it’s time for some rigorous self-discipline. Yeah, right. Have you read the New Year’s resolutions statistics? Seven percent resolve to make more time for family and friends, 60 percent don’t make resolutions, 13 percent resolve to spend less and save more, and 20 percent resolve...

Christmas and New Year’s Day often mean making and continuing traditions. Some people send cards, but I hadn’t read the cider and the cow story until last week. In Herefordshire, England, (interesting to me that a city with such a name has a cow story?) on Twelfth Night Eve, twelve small fires and one large one...

People used to write Christmas letters and tuck them in with their cards. Sometimes, there was some distance between truth and reality. I will make up a fictitious family and show what they wrote and what the truth was. A family of five included: Father Malcom, wife Madlyn, son Maurice, daughter Mindy, and son Mervin. The letter...

Carols were first sung in Europe thousands of years ago, but these were not Christmas carols. They were pagan songs, sung at the Winter Solstice celebrations as people danced around stone circles. (The word carol originally meant to dance to something.) The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, usually taking place around...

What makes a great newspaper? The Associated Press Managing Editors Association pondered this question and found that a great newspaper is characterized by four traits.

1. Integrity: Maintaining vigor-ous standards of honesty and fair play in the handling of stories and treatment of news sources and the public. Treating disputed issues with impartiality. Providing a forum for...

I happened to look out my window this past weekend and saw eight or nine deer heads. (All had nice racks and were lined up in my neighbor’s driveway.) There was a group of five young men standing around that had shot those deer. They were led by “Pickle” Nikkel and Randy Huyser. Randy pulled me aside...