Growing up, I was taught not to talk socially about religion or politics. In the accepted dinner table conversation of the time, those subjects were taboo. Given today’s small talk, those rules feel like a thousand years ago. Only the most polite conversationalists muzzle themselves ...

By Sens. RYAN AUMENT and ANTHONY WILLIAMS It’s time to sound the alarm on early literacy in Pennsylvania. Almost half of fourth-graders across our state are reading below grade level, a challenge that exists in every corner of our state — from urban cities to our rural ...

I remember the year the children got to vote on the state insect. I have no idea what their choices were, but they were thrilled when the firefly was chosen. Fireflies provided a lot of fun for them. At night we often sat outside – either at the farm or at Hickory Heights. Since this was an ...

Recently, I spotted a jar full of blue liquid that brought back an entire chapter of my childhood. Beside the nail salon’s sink, sits a large glass jar with a chrome lid, filled with Barbicide. It is the very same disinfectant, in the same-styled container, used in the beauty salon I worked ...

Is it too early to pause and give thanks to Warren council members who stood firm and signed on with PennDOT’s roundabout concept? The Jan. 21, 2019, council meeting heard concerns such as the heavy truck traffic, “over weighted” going out, having difficulty negotiating the roundabout ...

Over the years, I’ve had an appreciable number of encounters with the wild inhabitants of the Allegheny National Forest and the surrounding area. A good many of these remain etched in my memory as unique experiences which would never have occurred in the suburban environment where I spend ...