MEEKER I A long time ago there was a special category of conversation called small talk. It served as a bridge to ensuring the continuance of a casual conversation. “How is the weather there?” was not a loaded question.
Columns
Loose Ends: Goal setting
RBC | I am getting messages from my phone about my failure to meet goals. It first started doing this shortly before the end of the year when it let me know that I had not reached my exercise goal of the week. Apparently I was not only doing less[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: The mad dash to Christmas
It’s a week after Thanksgiving and the pressure is on. Do you have your tree put up? House decorated? Shopping done? Gifts wrapped? Cards mailed? Cookies baked? Stockings hung? Parties planned? Donations made? Carols sung? You know the drill… it’s a mad dash from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and it can[Read More…]
Loose Ends: The ties that bind
MEEKER | I never thought that the first page I would turn to in a newspaper would be the obituary page. I admit I do tend to glance at the significant dates (birth and death), so I might be accused of this tendency to assure myself, as usually I am[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Be grateful, even when it’s difficult
While Halloween now kicks off the holidays for many, Thanksgiving is still the beginning of the traditional holiday season where we make an effort to gather with friends or family, or to take some time off to rest and relax. Whatever you’re doing this Thanksgiving, I encourage you to take[Read More…]
Loose Ends: The sounds of silence … loud
MEEKER | Reporting and telling someone else’s stories is an awesome responsibility. The editor of this community’s paper, Niki Turner of the Rio Blanco Herald Times, understands the importance of that. It also seems that she also understands that the word awesome seems to be put in conversation daily. Ask[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: The stories that must be told
Every story starts with a question. Sometimes those questions are easy to find the answers to, and sometimes, well, sometimes they’re not. In this week’s edition of the Herald Times you’ll find a story unlike anything we’ve printed for a very long time, if ever—an in-depth investigative journalism piece. How[Read More…]
{OPED} Loose Ends: A teacher or a writer?
MEEKER | “So, which are you, a teacher or a writer? The blunt question took me aback for a minute. I had only been teaching in this community (and anywhere else for that matter) for a couple of years. When I accepted the part-time teaching position, I was working in[Read More…]
{OPED} Loose Ends: The Real West
MEEKER | “Do you ever get over the blueness of the sky?” is a question that has been asked by more than a few visitors to our house over the years. Most of them are from another section of the country and used to seeing gunmetal grey over their heads.[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Don’t ignore your mental health
Today (Thursday, Oct. 10) is World Mental Health Day 2019. This year’s focus is on suicide prevention. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 15-34, and the fourth leading cause of death for ages 35-54. In 2016, the suicide rate for our veterans was 1.5 times higher[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: A lot of learning in a year
I don’t want to write this column this week, much like I didn’t want to write the column I wrote a year ago. It’s been one year since my oldest son, Ethan, died in a car accident. He was 25. Typing those words still seems surreal. The first anniversary of[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Even a broken clock is right twice a day
There’s a beautiful, elegant clock tower on the southwest corner of the courthouse square in Meeker. There’s only one problem with the clock: it’s wrong. The courthouse clock is about 5-7 minutes fast. How do I know? Because when I’m rushing to get to a meeting, invariably I check that[Read More…]
