Opinion

  Acts 17:22-31 I Peter 3:13-22 Have I ever told you how Tom and I met? It was in early November, 1976.  We were both substitute teaching at the same high school in a small, rural community in the thumb of Michigan.  In my morning classes, my students told me about the other sub they had, that "weird Mr.

"Once upon a time, there was a little girl, who lived in a purple house. She heard stories of how her daddy had always wanted some boys to pal around with. But when he had his little girls, he was content to pal around them instead and he bragged that one day, his girls would know how to tear a car down before they could drive..." Well, in real life, I never learned how to do a lot with a car, but I still got to hang out a lot with my daddy.

  Dear Editor, We would like to publicly thank Duane Randall and family, Allan Merchant, Brad Barker, Kelly Brodigan, intern extrordinaire, and all those folks who served on the Party in the Park committee, especially Scott Merchant who brought some radical new ideas to the table!   The 20th anniversary of Party in the Park was a rousing success!  Thursday night highlights included record-breaking hotdog attendance at FSB, the Schmidt Family Band, awesome give-aways for the kids, that crazy Gooseman with his geese and ferret, the juggler, and so much more.

  Some friends of mine are scared of heights.  Any high elevation causes them some kind of mortal anxiety that results in super-human resistance for elevating hardware, particularly the aluminum kinds like extension ladders, elevators and airplanes.   And, if looks could kill, I’d have been dead at least twice after I asked one of them to bring me my cordless drill atop my aluminum extension ladder.

Today we ran a story, about the Betterton's, and immediately got a comment from one of our readers that asked, "Is this News, Opinion or an Advertisement?"  I laughed. If the reader had looked carefully, they would have seen my name at the top, the answer is right there.  See, I can write in a pinch.  But I've learned in the crash course of editoring, that when it comes to what people do, it's best to let people tell you in their words and don't mess with it! I also laughed myself when I thought about the article , before we published it, because I thought the same thing.

This weekend I did the traditional, loaded the kids in the car, took a road trip to visit my dad,  and we went shoppng for dad for Father's Day. While at Wal-Mart, I thought, "They USED to brag, that everything in the story was 'Made In the USA'", so it shouldn't have been hard to find something still made here.

Dear Editor, Normally, I do not respond to her hateful letters, but Rosemary Schwartz consistently attributes her world view as mine and it is just not so. Rosemary's letter to you says, "I stated that they were talking to the wrong person because Pettengill's actions and voting record speak otherwise. However, to my surprise, she told the AFSME union member that indeed she does support unions.

  A small group of activists protested Congressman Steven King's appearance at the county Republican dinner Saturday night in Newhall. One reason that King agreed to speak at the event according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette as King stated was to "help me move the political center to the right."   Republican's wrap themselves around the Constitution, but the reactions from some of those arriving seemed to question our right to protest.

  Acts 7:55-60 I Peter 2:2-10 There are three things my husband and I are on the look out for when we're on a road trip.  One, is clean restrooms and another is good convenience store pizza.  We also love to stop and read roadside historical markers, especially the older ones that have plaques set in a big boulder, probably from a local field.

     "Keith had fun making Vinton a better place."      I spent a couple of hours Monday morning, learning more about Keith Mossman from his family and his pastor during his funeral. I first knew Keith as the lawyer whose grandson joined his practice, and later as one of the leaders of the efforts to support Virginia Gay Hospital.