Everyone with a public voice is talking about the cold this week…and the groundhog. In these parts, it’s likely that contrary to public opinion, he did not come out of his winter stupor. Why would any creature wish to get out of bed at sunrise on a very cold February 2, just to see if Read More…
Well it’s here again – my least favorite month of the whole year.Thursday is Groundhog Day and after they roust the poor critter out of his “log,” this year “Punxsutawney Phil” may or may not see his shadow. According to the famous groundhog tradition, if he doesn’t, that means we should be getting an early Read More…
By Scott SullivanEditorSeal of DisapprovalThis time I knew it was all over. Ron and Maggie Conklin had paused en route to the South Pole to take pictures of seal pups, which on Page A6 she notes can grow to more than 20 feet long, weigh 4.5 tons and devour anything that moves in water. This Read More…
As you might have noticed I keep coming back to the theme of respect. We give it and we earn it. It is a rapid exchange of an intangible element in our life, flowing back and forth faster that the weirdest possible form of crypto-currency. It is exchanged even when we do not share the same meaning Read More…
I’m not a fan of Big Pharma. If you read my columns regularly you know I have railed against the industry consistently. After all the sacrifices we made through the COVID pandemic, I think it is time to give them a piece of my mind again.Never mind that Big Pharma, if you believe what one Read More…
We’ve all had encounters with law enforcement at least once in our lives. These encounters are usually minor traffic stops because we failed to come to a complete stop at a stop sign, or we were caught driving over the speed limit. I personally don’t know of anyone who has had the police break down Read More…
Everyday life seems to have slowed to a crawl during this odd winter in Marion, Michigan. Winter is what it is, from one to the next. But this one is unusual, so far, for its lack of being wintry and the long string of gray days. It seems that winter in these parts is holding Read More…
Another week, another column…With January winding down – there’s only four more days – that must mean there’s only a couple more months to get through before spring arrives again.That seems like a long time, but the way the days have been flying by this month, maybe my old nemesis February will “melt away” in Read More…
By Scott SullivanEditorPope PolI knew Rand Paul would show up on my imagined South Pole trip paralleling Ron and Maggie Conklin’s real one. (See Page A6)I was there, dropped off by The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine on Cape Horn, marked with a red “S” John said stood for Stupid. With that in front and Cape behind Read More…
The first of several garden seed catalogues arrived the other day, and I dropped everything for an hour or so to go through it. Others will soon follow, and I will go through them as well. We will dog-ear pages and circle some of their wares that are appealing, and then make a final decision on Read More…