Columns
As a seventeen-year old freshman at School of the Ozarks College in the mid-60s I studied fishing mostly! With Tablerock Lake so close and my having a key to the gate and boat on the school's property at a place called Clevinger Cove, you knew where I would be on the weekends. If I couldn't get...
“Hometown” is a weighty word in Willow Springs. I’ve never been anywhere with such well-developed sense of identity. Hometown pride, school pride, and family pride exist in this town with a fierceness that is cushioned by hospitality and goodwill.
That pride shoots through everything in...
On Saturday at a beloved uncle’s funeral, I listened to a room full of my cousins say Uncle Ralph made us each feel like his favorite. After I was done coping with the reality that I, alone, am not the favorite -- I remained fascinated and astonished at the very idea someone could be so full of...
Like it or not, taxes are the theme of this election cycle. In Howell County, there are multiple taxation questions on the ballot next week. We were talking about new taxes in Mountain View Saturday morning at our candidate event. We also have school board elections and city government elections...
In my travels across the county this election season, the question I’m answering the most is not WHO the candidates are, but instead- HOW to vote.
Two of our most interesting races this year are school board elections. These are first-past-the-post elections, which means that no one...
Regular readers will know, and all other readers can check out THIS LINK for details, but Willow Springs Schools is hosting a candidate forum for school board candidates on March 10. Because this publication has hosted such a forum for the last three school board elections, I feel I owe you, my...
My love story with Ron is so cute it sounds made up. We met in passing, both with our separate apartments packed, ready to move to new cities. It felt like the Earth stopped the first time our eyes met. Our engagement year was spent in the French countryside where he made our wedding invitations...
Despite the many articles I've written with a toddler on my shoulders, I like to think we run a professional publication here.
If you ever visited us in the news office, you're sure to meet some of these (in)famous Mendez children. We homeschool, and Ron and I work together on the...
Three of my four grandparents were raised on dirt floors in the Ozarks. None of them had more than a high school education. At least one dropped out of school to take care of his siblings, eventually earning a GED. Two generations ago, their Christmas seasons and daily lives looked very different...
Last week was horrible. Unspeakable tragedy, grinding exhaustion, aching grief, sobbing children, and chaos set the stage for a lot of opportunities for God to show up and provide loving care in the little ways that sustain us poor mortals when life stops making sense.
All those little...