People have a lot of regrets in life, but unintentionally hurting someone, especially a loved one, is probably at the top of the list. The other day, for example, my lazy wife Diane and bad hip Terry were moving some things to the downstairs section of our house by sliding them down the stai…

The juxtaposition was poignant.

For months now, Andrew Cuomo — governor of New York, the hardest-hit state in this COVID-19 pandemic — has been the voice of cold hard truths of our nation’s response.

Indiana’s 2020 Primary Election had a different feel to it than past Primaries.

We have been on an island of sorts these past few months. My housemate and I have gone virtually nowhere, content to stay home, yet thankful for those who have to venture out into the world to make a go of it.

“A vote is like a rifle; it’s usefulness depends upon the character of the user.”

Get Republicans alone and ask how them how they really feel about President Donald Trump, and many will tell you they favor his policies, but they wish he’d get off Twitter.

I showered without assistance this morning. I poured my own coffee, too — and reached for a banana AND retrieved it without wincing. Today, I’m alive and safe. This day, I haven’t worried for a moment that someone who was supposed to protect and serve me crushed the life out of me instead.

The other day my wife Diane and I were deciding who to vote for in the upcoming Indiana Primary. We knew some candidates by reputation and from comments friends have made. Most, however, were unknown quantities. Political scientists call such political contests, where there is not much adver…

I awoke recently to the news of the death of a well-known and beloved man. A former teacher who over the years became a friend, a story I’m sure I have in common with many. He will be sorely missed.

I miss baseball. Two days ago, the wardrobe included a T-shirt of the Louisville Bats. Yesterday, the shirt sported the logo of the Indianapolis Indians. Today, the Cincinnati Reds are being honored. The Yankees are waiting on deck.

It has been eight weeks now since the Great Shutdown began. Humanity has not been forced to sit this immobile for this long since the 1951 movie classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and that time it was just science fiction.

Waiting has become our routine.

Remember as a kid the anticipation and excitement the night before a holiday?

Last week we saw signs of reopening. It was pretty exciting to see people getting out and about. Cautiously I ventured out with my mask and my gloves. For the most part I saw that in others, too; people were out and several were wearing their masks. Others, a lot of others, not so much. I re…

“If the NBA were on channel five and a bunch of frogs making love was on channel four, I’d watch the frogs even if they were coming in fuzzy.”

“Every great story seems to begin with a snake.”

We are endowed with 24 hours each day. That, in a sense, makes us all equal. However, if we have it, money can be substituted for time. Thus, from here to there, the poor man walks for a longer time than the rich man rides. Our use of time is, partly, a measure of the value we place on an activity.

Today, as I write, the sun shines brightly through my office blinds. The whir of the landscaping crew draws my attention outward just in time to glimpse the finale of a laden robin’s errant flight, taking to her nest. Below my window I spy the leafy emergence of a rose bush I dug out seasons…

“I am generally considered a conservative in my predictions for a disease.”

This is the 117th day of the coronavirus pandemic in America and the current world state of chaos is in uncharted territory with little chance of complete resolution of everyday disruptions in the near future. Indiana is in phase 2 of a five-phase plan to reopen, but there is a patchwork of …

The shutdown was sudden, but the reopening has resembled more of a snail’s pace than the sprint some believed we’d see once the economy began to restart.

Despite having accumulated a long list of things to write about for the next few months, and with one story needing just a line or two more to be finished, I had to write this one instead. Over the past week or so a gentle tug of an idea has kept coming back to me: I needed to say goodbye to Max.

The other day, while my wife Diane and I were eating chili, we started discussing school lunches. I said when I was in school they always served peanut butter sandwiches and a stick of cheese with chili. Diane said when she used to make school visits to consult with special education classes…

Breakfast seemed to begin leisurely but ended spinning as fast as a food blender set to “pulverize.” On top of the oven set a pan of freshly-baked orange-cinnamon rolls wafting a wonderful smell that no candle or aroma oil can duplicate. The sounds of the world were creeping into morning bac…

As COVID-19 takes a toll on the health and well-being of our state, I’m encouraged by the spirit and resolve of Hoosiers. I’ve been awestruck by the selfless acts of those on the frontlines — from healthcare workers fighting the virus, to store clerks stocking the shelves with food, and so m…

Hello Southern Indiana, how have you been?

“The other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.”

Poverty is alive and well and more pronounced right now than ever before in our society. It is very real to a lot of Americans, many of whom thought they had worked their way out of poverty. Recent layoffs, the uncertainty of employment, the cost of living on your savings, all of the stress …

April was National Child Abuse Prevention Month. As a country, we have come a long way in dealing with the issues of child abuse. We, of course, still have further to go. The birth of our modern child safety services can be found in the case of Mary Ellen Wilson. In 1874, New York child abus…

Shortly after Easter I spotted something that appeared to be a dead insect on the living room carpet. I gingerly picked it up and was taking it to the kitchen trash can when it suddenly moved and stung me on the finger. It turned out that it was a wasp and it wasn’t dead. It had just been pl…

Third in a three-part series.

In 2018, our neighbors would have paid $419 more for government services if tourism did not exist.

It’s been a little strange being in the office in recent weeks. It’s mainly dark with little human life around, except for me. Thanks to the coronavirus, I have been flying solo at 318 Pearl St. for six weeks now as reporters work from home.

“It is easier to build strong children than it is to repair broken men.”

Second of a three-part series.

While weathering the pandemic, most people are watching lots of movies and television. Many are also catching up on their reading, and spending a good deal of time cooking. Our oldest son has combined some of these and is watching MasterClass episodes on cooking. He has been making cinnamon …

”I’m not afraid of dying, I just

Over the course of a few years, a handful of blog posts have become an important part of my weekly reading and study schedule. During the weeks when extra time creeps in, links and suggestions prompt me to browse another handful. Not long ago, I ran across one by Dr. Lawrence Gerstein, a pro…

Editor’s Note: The first part of a three-part column series by Brad Snyder, superintendent of New Albany-Floyd County Schools, on the upcoming school safety referendum published in the News and Tribune on March 13. Here’s a link: https://www.newsandtribune.com/opinion/snyder-column-school-sa…

“My daughter, I tell you she is no bargain either. The boys nicknamed her Federal Express because when she goes out with a guy she absolutely, positively has to be there overnight!”

In my younger days, I would have slung my sports coat across the room, sat down at my computer and started pounding out a rant on my keyboard.

Everyone these days is speculating about what will be “the new normal” and how will the world and our lives be permanently changed by COVID-19. Recently Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the Wall Street Journal podcast that the new…

The last four weeks have been extremely enlightening. We have seen the best of people and now as the weariness of being cooped up and frightened settles in, we are beginning to see the worst in people. Angry voices trying to force us into prematurely opening up, starting to point fingers at …

The task was immense. Yet, the first Earth Day 50 years ago seemed less complicated than today's environmental observances.

Non-essential workers sit at home, not so much twiddling our thumbs but wrestling with the looming threat of layoffs, inaccessible health care and maybe the end of the world. One hand fishes at the bottom of a chip bag, the other scrolls through whichever social media site makes us the least…

Tick tock.

Spring is here. Flowers are popping up, leaves are popping out, but neighbors are not popping in. The COVID19 virus has seen to that.