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Local Commentaries

U.S. coming up short as great melting pot

By JAMES SPANGLER, OD A short time ago Times Observer ran a well deserved front page article on the book Rory Land by friend and Warren Area High School classmate TM Gay. It was about the ups and downs of a golfer, but also an honest look at the social mess of Catholic Ireland and Protestant ...

Times have changed

I got a message on Facebook that said – and I am paraphrasing here- If you grew up in the era where you went out each morning and did not come home until dark you grew up in the best of times. I think that is true. When I think back to the way it was when I grew up, I am in awe of the ...

Rounding Third: Being bitten by travel bug

Of all the bugs I’ve known – from ants to aphids, from fleas to fruit flies – I like my travel bug the best. I was bitten early. After college, when I absolutely couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with my life, I embraced my travel bug and became a stewardess. It was the perfect ...

Adults get in way educating youth

You might remember when the situation at Beaty was so bad that it was covered on the front page of this paper. One of the teachers appeared before the school board to report a chaotic environment — bordering on lawlessness. The problem? Lack of a consistent principal. At that point, Beaty ...

View from Hickory Heights: A favorite patriotic song

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12 One of my favorite patriotic songs is “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Years ago, when I was in grade school, we had a program of all patriotic songs ranging through the ...

Beneath our Norway maple, vandals and thieves

Beneath our Norway maple – felons, vandals and thieves It’s garden season. All the trees, bushes and pretty flowers in my backyard look so innocent. But I have learned – the hard way – that they are out to get me. They are a well-organized crime family, with covert agents working ...