Thinking of others this Easter season

April 1, 2023

When thinking of sweet Easter traditions that have been enjoyed and passed down from generation to generation, my first thought is of chocolate. There are chocolate bunnies, chocolate crosses, chocolate eggs filled with peanut butter or coconut, and a myriad of other shapes from dinosaurs to ballerinas. All bringing smiles and joy to those on the receiving end of these confections. Heartbreakingly, chocolate has been in the news a lot over the last week, and not because Easter is quickly approaching, but because of the terrible, deadly explosion which occurred at the R.M. Palmer ...

Baseball season is a cherished companion

March 30, 2023

As winter retreats and the first blooms of spring emerge, a familiar sound resonates in the air - the crack of the bat, the cheer of the crowd, and the thud of the ball landing in a mitt. Baseball season has arrived, and there’s no better way to celebrate the rejuvenation of spring than by taking your scorebook out on a beautiful day, basking under the blue skies and sunshine, and immersing yourself in the youthful energy of a baseball game. There’s a certain poetry in the fact that baseball season begins during spring. Much like the world around us is being reborn and renewed, ...

Republicans are defunding the US, not China

March 27, 2023

House conservatives have devised a “new and improved” threat to the world economy if their demands are not met. Once again, they vow to vote against raising the cap on U.S. debt if desired cuts in government spending are not made. Once again, they insist their plan would not crash the world financial markets, because it would guarantee payments to holders of U.S. debt. Only Americans expecting to be provided certain government goods and services would get stiffed. (That the U.S. debt is tantamount to a balance already on the national credit card does not seem to have gotten ...

Cut administrators some slack

March 25, 2023

School administrators are not meteorologists, and they don’t pretend to be. By job title, they are forced to make decisions about school closures when Mother Nature comes calling with wintry mixes. One school administrator admitted making those decisions is easily the worst part of the job. There is a rigorous process in place to help with the decision-making, but it still leads to many sleepless nights. These officials are darned if they do and darned if they don’t. If they open school and it snows, the lynch mob comes calling. The same mob turns out if they close or delay ...

Don’t go chasing waterfalls

March 18, 2023

I recently spent a weekend in Pittsburgh. I have been there several times before, but never tire of turning the corner and seeing the city majestically standing there before me. I love this city of hills and bridges. It doesn’t take you long to feel the sense of pride these self-proclaimed “Yinzers” have in their city. What is a “Yinzer” you might ask. The best description, this is the way Pittsburghers identify themselves. It has derived from the way they refer to “you all”, or “you guys.” Such as, “Are Yinz going to the game”? As I shopped my way through the ...

Still searching for sunshine in ‘open society’

March 13, 2023

It’s been nearly 60 years since President Lyndon Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act. The signing was done out of the view of the public, ironic considering a statement released with the passing of the bill noted Johnson signed it “with a deep sense of pride that the United States is an open society.” Turns out, Johnson’s hand was forced by a unanimous vote in Congress, which marked the end of a very interesting story into how the act — those in the biz call it FOIA, pronounced foy-ah — came into existence. Sunshine Week is observed March 12-18 across the United ...