Columns – Page 37

Yes It’s True: Terry Whitley was our local Andy Griffith

May 18, 2022

In these days of modern times, the police have been taking a public relations beating. Whether deserved or undeserved is a matter of opinion, but the passing Sunday of retired Michigan State Police Trooper Terry Whitley marks a life lived with decency and dignity. In my career I’ve known good...

How do we survive what ‘Crazy May’ hands us often?

May 17, 2022

by Denise Dykstra The author and son Abe Crazy May arrives like a visitor you have been so looking forward to hanging out with. The fun we will have! The memories we will make! There may be a little niggling of “remember the last time May visited.” In your excitement...

Columns

One Small Voice: The U.S. indeed has a sick society

May 15, 2022

by Lynn Mandaville America is a very, very sick nation. It ought to be on life support, for all the care it’s being given on a federal level, but it’s not even in ICU. The array of issues we face today seems far worse than at any time I can...

Columns

Yes It’s True: We are easily misled into buying poop

May 15, 2022

Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront." Between the lean years of 2008 and 2011, I was a substitute teacher by day and reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette by night. It helped to pay the bills. I learned a lot about the horror and drudgery I suspect still exists with substitute...

Chicken crescent roll sunshine wreath different

May 15, 2022

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Ingredients:2 cups cooked cubed chicken1 16 oz. can of whole kernel corn well drained1 16 oz. can black beans well drained1/4 cup sweet green onion diced1 cup red bell pepper diced1 jalapeno finely chopped and seeded1 cup spinach finely chopped1 envelope of your favorite taco...

I have fabulous fun with our fine feathered friends

May 10, 2022

by Denise Dykstra Eli and me with the fancy Oriole feeder he gifted me with for Mother’s Day. I cannot recall a time when I did not like birds. My parents have bird feeders outside the kitchen window and my siblings and I often filled the feeders during the winter...

Yes It’s True: Elderly banker helped get the sports scoop

May 8, 2022

Perhaps one of my greatest fears throughout life is being caught flat-footed when significant changes have occurred in our lives. I really do lose sleep when I come to the realization that something that used to be so commonplace in days gone by no longer exists. You know the drill....

Columns

Army Bob: Free speech is threatened by ‘New Media’

May 8, 2022

by Robert M. Traxler The First Amendment to our Constitution is in peril in the “New Media.” We have all witnessed the censorship of stories, people, and subjects that the socialist movement does not approve of on social media. The argument is made that social media is not a government...

Everyone loves chocolate chip yummy cheesecake

May 8, 2022

(Makes one 9-inch cheesecake)Preheat oven to 300°20 finely crushed creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies.4 tablespoons melted margarine or butter.3 - 8-ounce packages of softened cream cheese.1 - 14 ounce can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk.3 eggs.2 teaspoons vanilla extract.1 - 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, divided.1 teaspoon flour. Kathy Hamman Miller...

Columns

One Small Voice: Abortion must be a woman’s option

May 5, 2022

by Lynn Mandaville When word surfaced of the leak of a draft decision from the Supreme Court regarding Roe v Wade, my first inclination was to let it go. One, this is a no-win issue to write about. There will be substantial name-calling and aspersions cast about my character. Some...

Category: Columns