Breaking News

Local Commentaries

Rounding Third: Always finding ways to keep warm

The mild winter changed course this week. As I write this, today is arctic cold outside. My jammies are warm, I’m staying home, and I’m keeping them on. The edges of the rooms feel chilly, Being cold inside the house takes me back to childhood. My trip down memory lane is an icy trek. I can still picture myself around age 9 or 10 sitting with my back grooved into the tepid corner radiator in our dining room. Mittens often straddled the top, boots slid underneath, both attempts at preheating. I always wore a heavy sweater in the house and Mom bought me slipper socks which I wore ...

Trump freight train has derailed the GOP

Lately, I have been listening to Republicans. Larry Kudlow, President Trump’s former National Economic Advisor, recently praised Bidenomics citing GDP growth, lowest unemployment in 15 years, real wages out matching inflation, inflation heading downward, interest rates about to decline, infrastructure projects, CHIPS & Science Act to bring computer chip making back home, consumer confidence rising, and record stock market prices. Kudlow said “I’d be bragging about Bidenomics too.” Also, Republican U.S. senators reacted to Trump’s order to kill the bipartisan Foreign ...

View from Hickory Heights: Eating is a luxury

In the ’70s, I remember seeing a political cartoon of a woman pushing a grocery cart full of money to the store. We all laughed at it, but now it is coming to fruition. When you visit the grocery store today you better have a lot of money with you. When I was in Aldi’s last week a young couple was just ahead of me. The young man said, “When I spent over ninety dollars, I used to have a full cart, but today I got just two bags.” How true that is. What is going on? I know during COVID the supply change was all messed up, but I think it is straightened out now. What makes ...

The everyday dose of reality

The creative geniuses in the advertising world who came up with the Geico Gecko and the AFLAC duck, spend all their time thinking up ways to capture our attention. The advertising brainiacs have figured out that only consumers over age 50 watch the televised evening news. The problem with ads shown then is that we are usually eating dinner and I think a lot of empty-nested couples and singles do the same. The TV execs know this. I remember when one of the stomach medicines portrayed its healing powers with a diagram of a throbbing, ailing digestive system. I was usually eating while ...

Let lawns soak in warmer temps

The previous days gave us a little taste of spring. I intended to get outside, find a sunny spot and enjoy a few days of 50 degree weather. Gardeners often use days like this to tidy up the garden, pick up sticks and accomplish general early spring maintenance. Don’t! Our lawns are in a ...

View from Hickory Heights: Show your love

I got to thinking about Valentine’s Day when my son’s bedroom stove overheated. When they got home from work their bedroom was more than 90 degrees. When he told me about it my mind went back to a Valentine’s Day many years ago. My first husband was never big on Valentine’s Day. Sometimes, he remembered but more often than not he forgot until he came home to a special dinner that I fixed for him. This event happened when we were dating. He came up to my apartment on a Wednesday night to visit and brought me a Valentine. It was a pretty box of candy that was shaped like a ...