Opinion

By: Travis Naughton Over 99.99% of Americans who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case that resulted in hospitalization or death, according to scientific data analyzed by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Just so we’re clear, according to scientists and doctors who specialize in studying communicable

By: Travis Naughton I am what you might call an audiophile, a person who is passionate about hi-fidelity sound reproduction of music. It all began when I was a kid, listening to records on my mother’s sofa-sized hi-fi console. I’m lucky enough to still own most of Mom’s vinyl collection, which I play from time

Weather today can be challenging, and the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) reminds home and business owners that it’s important to make sure you have the right outdoor power equipment on hand and are prepared before a storm, hurricane or flood. “Across the country, we’re seeing weather events that are more significant and more frequent

By: Frank Burkett President Biden has defined infrastructure in many ways, so as to try to get the two and three tenths trillion dollar spending bill passed. This he says, is a must have, to fix our broken infrastructure. Let me give you a clue of his fix. Less than 6% goes to infrastructure, as

By: Travis Naughton My dad did his best to provide for my brother Blake and me after my parents divorced, but he was an overworked and underpaid high school history teacher who barely made enough money to keep us fed and clothed. Our mother helped where she could, but she was an overworked and underpaid

By: Dr. Don Kuehle I stood by the bedside of a man who had been seriously injured in an accident. If he lived, he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. I overheard a member of his family comment: “He’ll be alright —IF it’s God’s will.” I stood in a Funeral Home, trying

By: Travis Naughton When I was a fourth grader at Mark Twain Elementary School in Hannibal, Missouri, I had a major crush on a girl named Stacy. (Full disclosure: I also had a crush on Elizabeth and Lori and LeAnn and—well, you get the point.) Stacy was cute as a button and smart as a

By: Frank Burkett To adapt, occurs many times a day for species of animals and vegetation, and it will continue to do so for eons. For me working at Pepsi for 40 years, my body had to adapt to temperatures of extreme cold, and in summertime extreme heat. Think of the earth warming annually, and

By: Travis Naughton Greetings from Fort Collins, Colorado, where Bethany and I are spending an unforgettable 4th of July weekend with our dear friends Tina and Troy. Since my first visit in 1993, Fort Funk, (as a few of the locals refer to it) and nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, has become my spiritual home

By: Travis Naughton Exactly ten years ago, I enjoyed one of the greatest weeks of my life as a writer. At my very first book-signing event, held in my hometown of Hannibal, Missouri, during National Tom Sawyer Days, I sold fifty copies of my debut novel, Naked Snow Angels. I also made my debut as