Nation needs a leader to unite us

April 25, 2026

Can you imagine what the world would be like if we had a Donald Trump-like President instead of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the lead-up to and during World War II? Trump would have cozied up to the strongmen of the 1930s and 1940s. Trump’s admiration of strong men would have been in its glory as the authoritarians flexed their military strength and demanded their neighbors cede land to them. Does Venezuela and Greenland come to mind? Or calling Putin’s invasion of Ukraine a la Hitler invasion of Poland brilliant and having a reluctance to assist democratic Ukraine’s struggle ...

Keeping energy prices low makes the U.S. affordable again

April 24, 2026

The war in Iran has underscored an economic truth: higher energy prices are a killer. The war’s disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz sent oil futures soaring, pushing U.S. gas prices to an average of $4.15 as of April 10. As we approach summer, higher energy prices could hit even harder as people need to cool their homes. President Trump has made it a priority to expand American energy exploration and domestic drilling. It’s time now to double down on these commitments and bring energy prices down — even if it comes at the expense of some of his other signature ...

Rounding Third: Big time sports on big screen

April 23, 2026

The Masters Golf Tournament this year was a doozy. For us golf junkies, the Big Kahuna of the season’s contests was incredibly exciting, especially for Rory McIlroy fans. I joined that fan club about 17 years ago when he was a new name on the PGA Tour. Rory (he lets me call him by his first name) is an up-from-childhood player like Tiger Woods. His dad bought him plastic clubs at age two and he never stopped swinging. I didn’t realize until recently that he was an only child born to working-class parents. Both of them worked second jobs, hardly seeing each other, so their boy ...

Leadership runs dry in Tidioute water crisis

April 18, 2026

On March 18, the community of Tidioute was issued a boil water notice. As of the writing of this letter — four weeks later we are still under a boil water notice with seemingly no end in sight. Since the start of this water debacle we have received no official statement from our Mayor Henry Brown and nothing but boil water verbiage from Council and Southwest Warren County Municipal Authority President Steve Morrison. Last year when we had our last water emergency residents were provided with potable water and kept abreast of what was being done to fix the situation. This time, ...

Post-COVID, the world is still trying to catch its breath

April 17, 2026

We talk about recovery as though it’s something everyone experiences the same way. That’s not true. In many places, recovery never came. Food costs more. Medicine costs more. And for millions of people, just getting through the day is still a struggle. I’ve been in those places. I’ve watched women dig into a dry riverbed to find a little muddy water, scoop it up, and carry it home on top of their heads. Not because it was clean and not because it was enough, but because it was something. And I learned something in those moments. When the well runs dry or the pump ...

Daffodils, omelets and Rosemary Clooney

April 16, 2026

Is it finally Spring? I think Mother Nature might have made up her mind. She has been sort of a brat about it: “Oh let’s give them a nice day that soars above 78 degrees but plunges them down to 19 overnight. And tomorrow, bright sunshine but keep it at a high of 36. That should keep them guessing.” We’ve been guessing alright. I don’t know whether to leave the house in a black down winter jacket, a cardigan sweater or a striped summer tee top. I still have both boots and flip-flops by the front door. I don’t understand how the daffodils and jonquils have put up with it. ...