Category Opinion & Editorial

Legendary Chicago Cubs infielder Ernie Banks was known for saying, “Let’s play two!” because he loved baseball so much, he was ready to play a doubleheader every day. I used to write a monthly “50 first names only” column – essentially an “If you know,…

“After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”  —…

SPRINGFIELD – Charity, it is said, begins at home. It’s a common phrase, and one that often is misinterpreted. In fact, a British clergyman and historian, Thomas Fuller, popularized the proverb in the 17th century, with the full text stating “Charity begins at home, but…

BEND – “Son, get out of the business.” My first break in the newspaper industry was 1983, typing in sports statistics and weather data for The Miami News, an afternoon paper in my hometown. The newsroom was on the sixth of six floors, surrounded on…

I have a friend who seems to know everyone in his Springfield neighborhood—and I mean really know.  For at least a half dozen houses in either direction, he’s cultivated relationships in which he and his neighbors share everything from propane heaters for weathering winter power…