Bonds like this don’t come along often

March 27, 2022

It’s never good when the telephone rings at 4 a.m. My mother reminded me of that fact when she called me later on Monday morning to tell me that she and Dad had received a dreaded 4 a.m. telephone call informing them that my uncle had passed away. My dad’s older brother, Stanley — affectionately known as “Stush” — would have turned 84 next month. The news truly was startling to me. Yes, he was getting up in age and, frankly, he was not well. Still, none of us believed his death was imminent. And then came that phone call. Three days later, my husband and I were on ...

No argument here on permanently saving daylight

March 20, 2022

Hopefully, by now, your body’s internal clock has gotten acclimated to rising an hour earlier each day after “springing forward” last weekend. That one measly hour sure seems to require many hours of readjustment. When my boys were babies, the beginning and end to daylight saving time was always a struggle. Just when you’d get them into a good sleep routine, along would come the time change, and suddenly they were not wanting to go to sleep at bedtime — or worse, they were waking up at 5 a.m. Nowadays, the family member who most misunderstands the time change is my ...

New, more despicable meaning of ‘fake news’

March 13, 2022

“Fake news!” is the frequent frustrating chant we, in my business, hear too often. Often, the allegation comes from people who disagree with or choose not to believe verified news reports. Sometimes, cries of “fake news” come from people actually in the news story who, for obvious reasons, might be attempting to discredit news reports about them. Other times, journalists are accused of fake news because we’ve made honest mistakes that could be construed as “fake” because, well, it is. That is, incorrect information has been reported unintentionally. When that happens ...

Almanac returns to Tribune Chronicle today

March 6, 2022

Each spring for about a decade now, the Tribune Chronicle has published one of our largest special sections of the year, a two-part series that we call “Almanac.” The publication evolved from earlier special sections that predate my employment here, but that I know focused on our region’s rich history in industry and business. Just like our Valley has evolved from fully integrated steelmaking, stamping auto parts and assembling General Motors vehicles to a future that now will involve manufacturing electric vehicles and the batteries that will power them, so, too, have these ...

Still waiting for legislators to play ball

February 27, 2022

Every year, right around now, this newspaper and most other media outlets become deeply entrenched in the election process — and well, a few other things. It’s not uncommon for the newsroom to start ramping up for election season right around the start of Major League Baseball spring training. This year, I’m not so sure about either. Normally, this would be the election cycle when candidates would be seeking federal and state legislative seats for statewide offices like governor and U.S. senator, and for countywide races like county commissioner, county auditor and a few ...

No one seems to play like the old days

February 20, 2022

Many of us probably can remember pickup softball games on a neighborhood sandlot, getting together for an impromptu game of “kick the can,” “snap the whip,” or just going for a bicycle ride around the neighborhood with friends. I recall riding my bike with friends on summer days — or even on warm evenings during the school year — to gather at one of our houses. We had fun doing any of those types of things, or jumping rope, practicing our “gymnastics” or creating contests to see who could swing a hula hoop around our hips the longest. I had to be home by the time the ...