Like most of you, I still find myself not believing what is really happening around us.

The first article that I wrote for the News and Tribune paper was penned days after the tornado furiously cut a path through Southern Indiana. The March 2012 twister mowed down trees and demolished homes, forcing Hoosiers to make decisions of life and death within minutes. At the time I was …

“I gave up A/C and hot water to watch the ocean.”

People get on my nerves. But now that I’m living alone in isolation, there is little opportunity for me to tell other annoying people to please shut up. To express my pent-up feelings, I inadvertently talk to the TV that keeps us updated on the invasion of the COVID-19 virus. It’s a whole ne…

Mac and I worked together for several years sharing teaching, counseling and administrative duties at an intense treatment program at a state prison. We provided educational sessions, individual therapy and group counseling at a highly structured and innovative program using a Therapeutic Co…

In 1916, pre-World War I America was enjoying a period of relative peace and prosperity, not unlike our pre-pandemic late 2019, early 2020. The nation’s sense of bliss was, however, shattered that summer over 100 years ago by a series of shark attacks — the first ever recorded in the U.S. — …

The other day, while doing our duty and staying home, my wife Diane and I decided to watch Cats, the notorious movie adaptation of the Broadway hit. The film version debuted in December and was released digitally on March 17th.

In my lifetime (and that now includes six-plus decades) I never thought anything or anyone could make me sit still or stay in or just plain stay away from people. Until now. I am trying really hard, but I have to admit I have pushed the limits. For instance, daily I go to the coffee shop on …

Our community — along with communities around the world — is navigating unprecedented challenges as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread. The cycle of our lives and neighborhoods has been altered, and we are all working to accommodate an ever-changing new normal. Fear and unc…

I was still a bit groggy and sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in hand when an incoming text rang my eyes the rest of the way open. It was my friend, Joe, who for some reason can’t stay in bed much past sunrise, and since we hadn’t spoken for a few days, he wanted to catch up.

Records requests dive in

It’s been nearly 81 years since that day embedded in my mind, when I saw my mother cry for the first time. It was on a dreary late Sunday afternoon in December when our phone rang. She listened for a few moments and then hung up, bursting into tears. What was it, a death of a friend or a kin…

I got a note from a reader seeking to explain why previous pandemics did not result in the same level of panic brought about by the coronavirus.

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears, and the summit of his knowledge. This…

INDIANAPOLIS — My wife became ill.

INDIANAPOLIS — Hoosiers are facing their greatest physical and economic threat since the Great Depression and on the most crucial aspect of this crisis — the availability of coronavirus testing that would allow health and policy executives to learn of the extent of the spread and contact tra…

There is an old yarn that tells of a weary traveler who, in the days before GPS and navigation apps, found himself far from home, hopelessly lost in the country. Indeed he was “off the map.”

The other day I read a number of creative twitter posts in which people imagined what they’d tell their future grandchildren about what they did during the coronavirus pandemic. Most said things like they valiantly stayed home and heroically ate Grub Hub delivered junk food, while watching N…

If enough people do something utterly stupid, you have to do it, too.

Did the U.S. Supreme Court go too far in its rationale for free speech and press when ruling for the New York Times in a landmark libel case brought by a public official 56 years ago?

About a week ago, the chance to walk down Memory Lane was made available at the Louisville Arcade Expo. The exposition featured arcade and pinball machines and extensive home classic systems like the Atari, Commodore, NES, Sega Genesis, PlayStation and more. This year’s expo was the 10th-ann…

Remember when…

”It is not the strongest of the species that survives but the most adaptable.”

The media is most definitely not your enemy.

(Sung to the tune of the theme song of The Beverly Hillbillies)

When our Creator planned a new universe, the one we cling to, He initially established what is known as a family unit. You know the story: Adam and Eve were naked, but leaves and fruit were plentiful, except for a forbidden one. It goes against the grain of human nature to pass laws that for…

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first part of a three-part series written by Brad Snyder, superintendent of New Albany-Floyd County Schools, on the upcoming school safety referendum. Like and opposing views are welcome. Letters can be submitted by email to newsroom@newsandtribune.com; through our…

Think about where the 2020 presidential race was a month ago: President Trump had been acquitted in the Senate impeachment trial, and his approval was approaching the 50% mark that had eluded him for most of his first term. His re-election chances were greatly enhanced. With Joe Biden’s appa…

With the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) over the past couple of weeks, things have gradually, but dramatically, shifted in America. It has become the main topic of conversation and many of us have started changing our behaviors. My wife Diane and I, for example, have put off a planned …

Justice ... seven letters with so much meaning. On Saturday I went to a seminar at Actor’s Theatre on housing justice. As I listened to the professor from UCLA speak on the vulnerability of the poor in today’s housing climate and the masked efforts to create “affordable housing,” I was struc…

Ryszard Legutko has lived through communism and democracy — and is unimpressed with either. Communism is more obviously flawed, relying on naked coercion, resulting in economic and social deprivation. But aspects of modern democracy are often driven by similar motives and mechanics. In his b…

It’s been 10 years since I wrote a story about boots; specifically, a pair that I loved so much that I saved them time and time again from the trash barrel before finally realizing they had given up the ghost. Despite their worn and leaking soles, their torn eyelets and shredded lining, I st…

The first warmish day brought forth green shoots of nascent flowers. And, lo, Faye of the Forest was on my deck railing, feisty as ever.

To be successful in life depends upon how many years a person is enrolled in a school. It also depends upon how much knowledge can be stuffed into a human brain, which is about the size of a shrunken grapefruit. Now that education is so important, there are people who don’t begin their caree…

As Republicans have captured control of statehouses across the South, including Kentucky’s, they’ve followed more or less the same agenda.

“I guess when it comes to safe words, I am a true Belieber!”

INDIANAPOLIS — The cards tell the story.

This National Disabilities Awareness Month, I want to take a moment to advocate for those who assist 40,000 Hoosiers with intellectual and developmental disabilities each and every day and help show the world how truly ABLE they are. I’m talking about Indiana’s Direct Support Professionals (DSPs).

INDIANAPOLIS — Back in 1980 while working for the Elkhart Truth, I covered a rising star congressman named David Stockman, who represented a southern Michigan district.

The fourth Sunday of March heralds the start of National Cleaning Week. Jessica Ravitz from CNN says, “There’s something about a deep clean and purge of clutter that inspires a sense of rebirth, which must be why we traditionally tackle our clutter in the spring…” Clutter is inevitable in ou…

On learning that Russia had staged a massive disinformation campaign in the 2016 presidential election, schools across the country began adding digital literacy classes to their course offerings.

This past week, I was faced with an unexpected circumstance that demanded quick and prompt action to prevent a possible crisis or disaster. The situation created an opportunity later to ponder the amount of uncertainty that regularly comes upon us. Consider the events of the week gone by.

Editor’s note: This column, updated here, was originally published in February 2019.

The spread of the coronavirus is serious. It should not be taken lightly. Nor need we overreact and assume damages that may not occur.

Now that our favorite ex-mayor is dropping out of the running, the question can finally be asked: