The South Central Indiana League of Women Voters along with sister organizations throughout Indiana and the country celebrate a huge milestone next year. On Feb. 14, 2020, the League on a national level will celebrate its 100th birthday. The organization was founded because women were fighti…

It happened so fast. Not lost on me is that seconds either way, and my mortality would have been apparent — along with that of the deer.

“I hate those meeces to pieces.”

Be careful driving. Do not hit a school bus or a child eagerly looking forward to learning the three Rs. And there are some older folks, particularly in high places, who need to ride a school bus. How is it that elected officials usually perform at a moronic level?

Genesis tells the well-known story of Joseph, a man who had some unfair stuff happen to him. The favorite child of his father, his jealous brothers toss him down a well and leave him to die — and then go back and get him and sell him into slavery.

Partisanship makes people do strange things.

Does your child’s school have a library?

Last week’s column on Indiana’s hospital monopolies generated 10 times the emails of any other column I’ve penned over the last decade. Hoosier taxpayers are interested in understanding who caused this problem and how we can fix it. I commend the thousands of readers who visited our website …

One of the great paradoxes of life is that the possessions we desire the most invariably get messed up, no matter how hard we try to prevent it. To make matters worse, this often occurs right after we finally acquire the possession and it’s usually our own fault.

I have come to the conclusion, as editor of the News and Tribune, that consensus is hard to come by. Some days, it’s as elusive as the fish that got away … you know, the big one.

I had a lot to do Sunday. I had to work, which takes up a chunk of the afternoon, along with a few other responsibilities that had to be met that day. Unfortunately, I didn't have time for a family reunion kickball game at O'Bannon Woods State Park, the site of the previous battles from year…

In the United States, there are more than 16 million people caring for someone with dementia, and estimates place millions more volunteering around the world. Giving care for a loved one can make an incredible difference for the patient’s quality of life. It is a remarkable gift to give, but…

The challenges of being a parent are unbounded. There are those everyone warns you about, almost everywhere you go: You'll never sleep again. Stick a cheerio in the toilet to help the little dude aim. Don't even bother trying to feed him anything green before college.

“Wonder Woman is not a fictional character. Wonder Woman is a mindset!”

In a previous article, I discussed the possibility of uploading your consciousness inside your brain onto a flash drive. This would provide a kind of “simulated self” for your posterity. You could live with your ordinary self during your daily travails, or switch to your simulated self, embe…

What makes a great story? Is it the twist and turns of the plot? Is it the development of the characters involved? Does a great story depend on the audience deciding that it is interesting or important, or does a great story have something that is of intrinsic value? “Stories,” writes Neil G…

Over the last several weeks, we have been discussing the growing impact that Alzheimer’s disease and dementia have on our society. We have seen that dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability that occurs through aging, and Alzheimer’s is a specific disease that accounts for b…

A few days ago my wife Diane and I stopped by a fast-food restaurant and I ordered a bottle of water and a small coffee. The young lady waiting on me took my money and came back a couple of minutes later and said in a loud voice, “Here’s your water and senior coffee.” Now I suppose she was j…

A line from a Bob Dylan song keeps going through my head: “Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

“The other America...” is referenced in a quote from journalist Carl Braden. I went to a 50th celebration of the Carl Braden Memorial Center, where Carl and his wife Ann fought and organized around the issue of political and racial oppression. They were ostracized greatly for their work. In …

Think with me for a minute. When you get up in the morning and start your daily routine, what is the first thing that you look at in the morning? OK, some of you grinned and answered, “My lovely spouse,” and the rest of us nodded a “Romantic, but real?” approval. Most likely, you were greete…

Back in June I wrote about impeachment, saying I believed President Donald Trump was guilty of multiple impeachable offenses but nevertheless shouldn’t be impeached.

On Oct. 3, the Southern Indiana Genealogical Society (SIGS) will host the annual “Hoosier History and Heritage Celebration” at the Floyd County 4-H Fairgrounds Newlin Hall. A drop-in pioneer social will begin at 6 p.m. with local history and First Families displays and music by Indian Creek …

As each human being begins encountering the aging process, it becomes much more difficult to remember things. It can be due to mental fatigue or the fact that a body and mind, distributed unequally, eventually wears out. As I attempt to hang on to life beyond the norm, I am well-aware that w…

“If you know what you need to do to reach your goal, it’s not a big enough goal.”

Folklore has it that seeing a spider web in the morning brings good luck for the rest of the day. If that’s truly the case, I am the luckiest man I know, for a short walk to my cabin each morning has had me sidestepping and ducking them for weeks.

When children were born prior to the technology revolution, they were provided a rattle thing to put in their hands. It helped keep them calm. Since then, it became necessary to provide tiny children with an electronic gadget to permanently hold in their hands in preparation to live successf…

Monday was officially the first day of fall. Of course, a lot of people have been celebrating autumn, since Aug. 27 when Starbucks released the Pumpkin Spice Latte for this year. Botanists are predicting that peak fall foliage won’t occur in our region of the country until at least late Octo…

Playing with my son and our young neighbor recently, the inevitable question that all inquisitive children seem to ask came up.

“If you live to be a hundred, I hope I live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.”

The South Central Indiana League of Women Voters has held two forums, one in Charlestown and one in New Albany. We consider both a huge success. The forum in Charlestown was attended only by Democratic candidates, though all were invited to attend. The focus of the forums is to offer the vot…

Like many students, there were days when New Albany High School was not my favorite place. Maybe it was a test I hadn't studied for in Herr Howard's German class that had me in a foul mood or a term paper I had put off writing.

When man decided to walk on the moon, the first step required a countdown. It takes years of preparation to accomplish those human endeavors that are considered worth the effort. The footprints remaining on the lunar surface are symbolic of the human spirit, when we set our minds to it.

“Getting divorced because you don’t love a man is almost as silly as getting married just because you do.”

I’m going to miss MAD magazine, and until last week, I hadn’t read one since Billy Carter sold beer. After 67 years of publication, the nutty monthly is as good as gone — at least as far as any new material is concerned — and I think we’re the worse for it.

Last week “IT Chapter 2” opened in movie theaters across America. This film is part two of the movie adaptation of Steven King’s famous horror novel. It tells the story of a primeval monster that feeds on the fears of children. It most often assumes the creepy form of Pennywise the Dancing C…

We rose at the usual time that Tuesday, greeted by a crisp fall morning as autumn settled in and our jackets came out.

Saturday, Sept. 7, was an incredibly beautiful day in the southern Indiana and Kentucky area. While residents found planned activities and impromptu get-togethers as a welcome bridge between the beginning of fall and the end of summer, almost 1,500 of us spent part of the day participating i…

“As children, we want to honor our parents who provided a “special” place in Southern Indiana for years.”

When our Creator set up the universe for us, He planned it perfectly. But it didn’t go according to the blueprint. Although there was land and seas and nature with bounty populated with all kinds of animals, there was something missing — the family unit. You know that story, the first family…

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind for me. Making a life-changing decision certainly has its impact. So many people have reached out to me and with such kind and thoughtful comments. Many are curious, some confused, some relieved, but all expecting more. So, as I sat with my husband an…

I was recently talking to a human resource manager about the phenomenon called “ghosting.” Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold has said that this trend in the workplace is when employees “just leave for a new job without telling anyone at the old job. They just don’t come back.” He sa…

When creation came about, God warned that there were a few things for man to fear; otherwise all else was good. Man didn’t take heed, and when fire was discovered, he frequently went too close and burned himself up. Then as civilization “progressed,” there became many more things to fear.

“They are willing to fight for a country that they weren’t even citizens of. I wish all Americans felt that way about their country.”

The other day I had an experience which might be considered an omen. I had been debating about whether or not I should attend a certain meeting. I wasn’t sure what I should say at the meeting and I doubted that my presence would make a difference. I also had a conflicting obligation at the s…

There’s a storm coming. I can’t go into many details about the wallop it’s packing. I’m just warning you to be prepared.

Sometime between now and mid-September, backhoes and morticians and television producers — and, I’m sure, a good number of the morbidly curious — will be on hand at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis as bank robber extraordinaire and Hoosier legend, John Dillinger, emerges from the ground l…