Opinion

Editor's Note: We welcome Letters to the Editor of local and general interest to our readers. Letters should be typed and include the writer’s first and last name, home address and phone number for verification. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters may be edited...

About this time of year — February blending into March — I can get really sick and tired of winter. Folks back home might have a chortle at that; because, yeah, I know, we don’t really have “winter” per se in our neck of...

I’ve no idea where the term “bucket list” came from because it makes absolutely no sense. Fortunately, everyone understands what it is. Most of us of a certain age have such a thing — a checklist of sorts for our bucket — places we...

What is patience? In my handy College Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary, patience is described as “The act of waiting calmly for someone or something.” Now that we know what it is, can anyone tell me if you have patience? I used to have a...

It was time for Easter vacation, and that hadn’t meant much for a while in this household, not having school age kids anymore. We had pledged to take our granddaughter for a few days, give her parents a break, allow her to run wild...

This is my last Funny Papers Again column for the Valley newspapers, so if you have been a fan over the past couple of years then, well, just read slowly, I guess. More on this at the end of this column. Last Wednesday was the...

You may have noticed, or not noticed may be correct, that my smooth young face has been missing from this esteemed periodical for 14 days. Perhaps you were happy to not have to read my scribbling while looking for news, and wondered if my...

It is easy to sit down at the keyboard and churn out a thousand words when the subject has some local interest, which I can do for no other reason than I have some very vivid memories of life here in the Valley that...

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is a familiar proverb that appeared in 19th century America, advocating for the consumption of apples as a harbinger of good health. Could that be true? Well, a 2015 study by JAMA Internal Medicine collected actual nutrition...

When a recent local issue arose that struck a chord with my muse, I decided to send off a letter to the editor and opine about that issue, as I am a strong believer in the open forum offered by print media and have...