Opinion

One of the best parts of fall in Missouri is that three-to-four week period from mid-October until the middle or end of November when it begins to get cold, but not too cold, you think, to actually turn on the heater at home. Not coincidentally, I think, this is also the time of year when

You will likely be relieved to learn that today’s column has very little to do with politics. Instead, this is a piece about people and the way we communicate. Specifically, I felt compelled to write about civility, respectful discourse, and common decency—three areas in which online social networks are woefully deficient. Due to the overwhelming

Let’s start by making two basic assumptions: • Anyone who thinks that the SoBoCo girls basketball team will win anything less than 25 games and a state championship clearly should have their head examined. • It clearly seems now that Donald Trump will be heading to the White House, we can expect more things made

One of my all-time favorite writers is a man named Frank McCourt, who is best known for his gritty and brilliantly written memoir “Angela’s Ashes.” McCourt was a true Irish-American, born in the United States to Irish parents and raised in Limerick, Ireland, where he lived until he managed to save enough money to travel

I recently drove north on I-85 out of Atlanta and near the South Carolina border, was tempted to take the exit marked “Toccoa.” That’s the town where my dad, a New York City kid, spent his 19th birthday. He didn’t get any birthday cake, however, he was a little busy training to survive World War

October was a busy and fulfilling month for yours truly. In those thirty-one days I managed to: perform a wedding ceremony, attend the Roots’n’Blues music festival, visit my grandmother in her assisted-living facility and my father in the hospital, mow my mother-in-law’s yard, go to a Mizzou football game with my family, help celebrate Truman’s

The yard sign was prominent in many of the yards in the neighborhood we visited this past weekend – “Peter for President” it said in big, bold navy letters with a plain white background. “Who’s “Peter?” I asked my friend. “He’s a guy who is a university professor who crossed the state, walking and bicycling

“Here come your Southern Booooone EAGLES!” I was so excited to be in the press box last Friday night, playing the role of public address announcer for the district playoff game in which the Eagles defeated the Wright City Wildcats 49-0, that I may have ruptured a few fans’ eardrums during the course of the

I came to the realization this past week that I could write a column in which a chief of police, an emergency room nurse and a primary school teacher could make my case for what I have long theorized. And that theory is still blown to bits by those who proclaim themselves “traditional scientists.” A

Second graders at Southern Boone Primary School are currently learning about the Constitution, our government, and what it means to be a citizen. I love having the opportunity to teach kids about their rights and responsibilities and what it means to be a member of a community. I find it incredibly refreshing to witness how