Opinion

Clothes don’t make the American by Bruce Wallace After a long Tuesday of putting the paper together, picking it up in Jefferson City and getting my reliable inserting/labeling crew to work, I was off to pick up some quick Chinese food for a late dinner in front of the Olympics. While waiting in line at

by Travis Naughton While watching coverage of the Rio Olympics, I couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic about my own glorious Olympic moment that occurred twenty years ago. No, I didn’t compete in Atlanta, Georgia like the rest of the athletes in 1996. Instead, I showed off my skills from the comfort of my

by Bruce Wallace For so many years, I have written this column, It’s My Nickel, never once considering writing about ….. Nickels. Once in a while after another oh-for-four night on my baseball team, my dad would tell me, “At the plate you’re not worth a plug nickel – but I’ll still take you for

by Travis Naughton I guess I was about ten or eleven when my folks got divorced. My wife was only a baby when her parents split up. Some of the memories I have from the time before my parents’ marriage fell apart are warm and fuzzy, but most of them are just fuzzy. Bethany, of

by Bruce Wallace The pure excitement of a new, stand-alone McDonald’s with a double-window drive-thru — that’s right, you heard me, a drive-thru to take your money and a drive-thru to hand you your food – is almost too much to be believed. OK, there’s as much sarcasm in that opening paragraph as there is

By now, I’m certain you’ve grown weary of reading about all of the misfortunes that have befallen the Naughton family on our many R.V. adventures. As a favor to you, loyal reader, I will not write about the fact that we were able to run our roof-top air conditioner for a grand total of only

Let’s face it, the funniest political commercial on TV this election season is the one in which three children, including one young blonde girl, are sticking their tongues out at each other, saying: “Nyah-Nyah-Nyah” and actually slinging mud at each other. Meanwhile, Lt. Governor Peter Kinder tells the watcher that being governor requires more than name-calling

By Travis Naughton Author’s note: I strongly recommend reading today’s column aloud, preferably in your very best Southern accent, if you please. Begging your pardon, kind lady (or gentleman), but would it be too great an imposition to ask you to indulge, for just a moment, this poor excuse for a writer from America’s heartland

By Bruce Wallace Just returned from a national conference of YMCA directors, managers and volunteers, Southern Boone YMCA Director Kip Batye was excited to get to work on Monday morning – and ready to implement a number of new programs at the Southern Boone YMCA. I sat down with Batye for a Q&A: Q: What

What is a friend? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a friend as: one attached to another by affection or esteem; an acquaintance; one that is not hostile; one that is of the same nation, party, or group. Dictionary.com adds that a friend is: a person who gives assistance; a person who is on good terms with