A weary world, still rejoicingNancy Kennedy Nancy’s note: Over the past year, I’ve used the AI program ChatGPT to help edit my weekly column, along with many of my newspaper stories. It’s taught me how to write tighter and — quite often — has gently pointed out my fondness for repetition, among other writing flaws….
What can God do with our dedicated lives? Are you eagerly looking forward to 2026? Or has 2025 been so bad that you dread another day, much less another year? Could it be that experiencing more of God’s wonders in the future begins with dedicating or consecrating our lives (setting ourselves apart) today? Throughout Scripture,…
Slim Randles When Steve and Dud got up to go get a paper, it left just Doc and Bert sitting at the philosophy counter of the Mule Barn truck stop. Bert turned his head and smirked a little, being careful not to let Doc see him. Doc also didn’t see Dud outside, punching in a…
Not so smart old dogJudy Conlin I should be excellent at managing appointments because I usually have some every day. Some are doctor appointments. Some are dentist appointments. Some are lab appointments. Others are committee meetings, club meetings, theater meetings or board meetings. I write them on my calendar and try to plan my life…
When ugly becomes good newsNancy Kennedy For those who celebrate, this year’s National Ugly Sweater Day is Dec. 19. It’s a day of lighthearted tackiness and frivolity — a chance to wear hideous knitted apparel, loud and proud. Embrace the ugly and pass the eggnog. When I was maybe 14, I had an ugly sweater,…
Repent – and clean out the ‘freezer’Sheryl Boldt I love ice cream. But every time I eat a bowl in the evening, I regret it the next morning when I step on the bathroom scales. Unfortunately, I still have the rest of the half-gallon in my freezer. How much do I truly hate the weight…
Jim TurnerNews Service of Florida Opponents of Florida’s first black bear hunt in a decade rallied Monday at the Capitol amid efforts to prevent bears from being killed next month in four areas of the state.In addition to the rally, opponents say they have obtained about 40 of the 172 permits that wildlife officials decided…
Slim Randles As I lay there in my super-duper borrowed-from-the-Army mummy bag, I had time to think about things. Mostly, I pondered how stupid I’d been to take a dog team out across the North Slope of Alaska in November. As I can now contemplate, 50 years later, it was a dumb thing to do,…
America’s peril: The rot of anti-intellectualism and demagoguery is costing us our future Jared O. Bell As a kid, my favorite part of grocery shopping wasn’t the snacks or the cereal aisle, it was the tabloids at the checkout. I’d devour headlines about Batboy sightings, Bigfoot vacations, royal scandals, and the occasional presidential summit with…
Let’s pretend it’s meJudy Conlin I told you about my photo shoot and how disappointed I was when the photographer showed me a few of the shots. She had called them beautiful so much while taking them I thought she had transformed me, but there I was, plain old Judy dressed up in Nurse Judy’s…
