We’re apparently very slow learners. A year and a half into a global pandemic we’re circling around into another wave of illness thanks to a variant of COVID-19. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. We were warned, and we’ve watched it unfold with heartbreaking devastation around the world. If we[Read More…]
Tag: Editor’s Column
Editor’s Column: Inconceivable!
Words have definitions. Over time and use sometimes those definitions change. Sometimes they get twisted, or overused, or misapplied, and the “new” definition sticks. In our modern culture of soundbites and buzzwords and trying to win arguments in 140 characters, this phenomenon has become rampant. Words that spark fear or[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: The duck test
Years ago I sat in a leadership meeting where the instructor admonished the group with the following words of advice: “if everyone you encounter says you’re a jackass, instead of blaming them and whining about how mean they are, it’s probably a good time to take a look in the[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: What’s your fruit?
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. ~ Saint Basil There’s an apple tree in my yard and this year it looks like it might actually[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Independence
Festooned with flags and bunting, we’re geared up for annual Fourth of July festivities. In the midst of planning your barbecue and looking for red, white and blue attire, please take a moment to read or re-read the Declaration of Independence. We’ve published the document on the front page of[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Speak up–someone may listen
In 1970, after a forced retirement at the age of 65, Maggie Kuhn embarked on a new adventure — advocating for the rights of the elderly as the founder of the Gray Panthers. By the time of her death at 89, the organization had been instrumental in implementing nursing home[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Collective energy
Imagine a house on fire. Now imagine the residents of the house standing in the living room, surrounded by flames, having a heated argument about whose fault it is that the house is burning. Seems strange, right? And yet we do it every day. We spend an inordinate amount of[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Uncommon courtesy
Having grown up in the days when telephones were attached to the wall and there was only one per household, I remember my parents objecting when I tried to call friends during the “dinner hour” or anytime after 9 p.m. Business calls were limited to regular business hours. Folks removed[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: You’re entitled to your opinion; we’re not obliged to publish it
The opinion section, particularly letters to the editor, presents a bit of a conundrum. I frequently receive emails from folks who have an inordinate amount of time on their hands to write letters to newspaper editors and blast them nationwide. These range from religious calls for national repentance to promoting[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Don’t. Feed. The. Trolls.
The trolls I remember from children’s books were dull-witted, cranky creatures who threatened to eat billy goats if they didn’t pay a toll, or evil villains who stalk and kill innocent gnomes. Vocabulary.com describes trolls this way: “a supernatural creature who is either very big or very small, ugly, and[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: First Impressions
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. ~ Will Rogers Most of us remember hearing that quote or something similar from a parent or a teacher or a coach, usually when we were on the way to a date or a job interview. If you took[Read More…]
Editor’s Column: Freeman E. Fairfield
As I write this on Wednesday, just before deadline, I’m planning to head to the high school this afternoon to hand out Fairfield Scholarship certificates from the Freeman E. Fairfield Meeker Charitable Trust to graduating seniors. It’s not a common thing for a town of this size to have a[Read More…]
