Columns

By Scott SullivanEditorBird PlayI knew it would be a long night when my wife’s parrot hit a bus.It started when she and our daughter asked if I wanted to take them to get the birds’ beaks and nails trimmed.No.“Then you…

As we approach Thanksgiving and the holiday season I would like to make a few observations.First, I don’t think we need to get upset over politics. I’ve read on social media, where if you voted for Trump you will not…

Many of us are making plans for Thanksgiving Day Nov. 28 this year. We might be traveling or others traveling to see us. Maybe the great feast will be at home or somewhere else. Turkey and all the trimmings could…

by Jim Whitehouse “So what happened then?” I ask Hilly, who’s been telling a story about painting a huge old house one summer when he was in college. He got to the part about lugging a 40’ ladder up to…

By Frank Passic FRANK E. DEAN             With the recent sale/return of the nearly 100-year-old Bellemont Manor by Albion College in October back to members of the Dean family, we are reminded of the heritage this family-clan has had in…

I’m putting this column together on Sunday, the day before Veterans Day. I always try to have it completed earlier, but my schedule has prevented me from getting to it until now. I must finish this column by today so…

Hunting Season arrived this morning with all of the annual “hoopla” especially a bit north of here where I grew up.It really is a special time of year in this, the “North Country.” I include Clare County because this is…

Halloween, All Saints Day, All Souls Day, October 31, November 1, November 2. A triduum that reminds us of the Easter Triduum, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.It’s the Pascal Mystery, the Death, and Resurrection of Jesus to save…

By Scott SullivanEditorGravity’s RainbowExtra! Extra: Could Gravitational-Wave “Memories” Prove Einstein Wrong?Scientific American gave us this grabber headline recently, claiming Albert Einstein’s 1916 general theory of relativity may soon be refuted. Or maybe not. If there’s one thing I love about…

I had my first brush with censorship in junior high school when I wanted to read Chinese Communist Chairman Mao Tse Tung’s “Little Red Book.” Everyone was talking about it and a few politicians wanted it banned from the United…

I missed Fire Prevention Week by a month, but I do want to send a shout out to the brave firefighters in this country.I have never had a fire burn down my house (fortunately) but I did have a grass…

by Jim Whitehouse Something just occurred to me. Back in my youth, I was on a track team. I was a shot putter. I put the shot. I practiced putting the shot. Later, I took up golf, which swallowed me…

“One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore!” -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.A SECRET TO A LASTING RELATIONSHIPA real lasting relationship requires a lot of tolerance. You have to accept that the other person is not perfect. Disappointments,…

I can’t believe Deer Hunting (gun season) is only one week away now.I grew up in an honest to goodness hunting family.Dad taught me gun safety before there were classes for such things and I have very fond memories of…

In a conversation I had with a fellow teacher years ago, she lamented that all the good men had been taken. She was a single mom, with a young son, who was doing her best to hold down a teaching…

By Scott SullivanEditorAll Things PassAh, joys of being a weekly print paper. We go to press on election Tuesdays long before polls close, so our Thursday-dated issues come out sans outcomes.Of course, readers who care can learn them on our…

I’m writing this on Election Day. I have no idea who is going to win the presidential race, but I do fear whoever wins, there will be discord in our nation. I have had this uneasy feeling in my stomach…

Because of the newspaper deadline, I am writing this just before the election so it is at the office in time to be published two days after the election and five before Veterans Day. This year, these two days flow…

Next Sunday, Nov. 3, Daylight Savings Time comes to an end. I try to mention this time change twice a year, because there’s always someone who forgets to reset their clocks. This time we set our clocks back one hour,…

Recently, I was stunned by a fellow church goer who witnessed another fellow church goer verbally criticizing a parent whose preschool children were not paying attention, but playing. The message was, “You need to make your kids behave! They bother…