Column
Michelle Hilburn: What makes a library meaningful?
In Starfish by Lisa Fipps, one of my favorite young adult novels, Ellie, the main character, captures how meaningful a librarian’s presence can be: “[The librarian is] the first person to smile at me today./ The first to make me feel wanted./ Understood./I blink back tears./ It’s unknown how many students’ lives/librarians have saved/by welcoming loners at lunch.”
Dakoda Pettigrew: Ask Not
A bitter snowstorm dropped six inches of snow on America’s capital city the day before Inauguration Day. “Many of the pre-inaugural social affairs had to be canceled,” The New York Times wrote on Friday, January 20, 1961, adding that the snowfall had “snarled traffic, disrupted air and highway travel and chilled thousands of visiting Democrats.”
Kyle Troutman: The ball is in your court on Nov. 5
On Tuesday, I will cast my fifth-ever vote for a president in these great United States. To be quite frank, I’ll be glad to begrudgingly mark that oval and move on.
Dakoda Pettigrew: Democracy’s heart, the heart of Lincoln
“It is for us the living,” Abraham Lincoln said on Thursday, November 19, 1863, of the fallen soldiers at Gettysburg, “to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”
Kyle Troutman: Joy and despair
You can’t win ‘em all. That’s about all I could think to say on Tuesday morning after a wild weekend in Wildcat athletics.
Jeremiah Buntin: Halloween in the Ozarks
Just like most regions in the country, many folks in the Ozarks historically enjoyed celebrating Halloween. Celebrations were typically expressed in the form of either pranks or parties.
Jeff Fugitt: The spectrum of seasons
We read in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” I love spring with all the excitement of new things. As temperatures rise, flowers bloom.
Kyle Troutman: Who needs sleep?
As I was posting my football live updates article on Friday from the sidelines of the field at Wildcat Stadium, a Cassville sports mom posed a question to me — do you ever sleep? This week — really this month — sleep is or the weak. I am frequently asked how I can seemingly be everywhere, and frankly, it’s just the job.
Kyle Troutman: Pink inspiration
It’s no secret, October is for pink. For nearly 40 years, October has been dubbed Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with the iconic pink ribbon symbolizing one of the most successful awareness campaigns since 1991.
Jon Horner: Take an inventory of blessings this fall
Here we are in early October, and the fall season is upon us. For me, this is always a fun time of the year.
