Time to advocate
This is a first for me. In all the years we’ve been publishing the Beacon, I don’t recall ever asking readers to take a specific step in support of a particular cause. But today I am. In part, it’s because I believe this is a very important cause. But it’s also in part because I want to see for myself if grassroots advocacy efforts can work. The issue concerns the future of ... READ MORE
We’re all in this together
The number of older Americans is increasing at a far more rapid rate than previously due to rising longevity and the aging of the 78 million baby boomers (now starting to turn 65).At the same time, our struggling economy and persistent joblessness are threatening the quality of life of Americans in general.Both of these factors portend tremendous effects on Social Security and Medicare, not ... READ MORE
Back from Branson
There are a number of observations I could share with you about my recent trip to the “Live Music Capital of the World” (a.k.a. Branson, Missouri) for a national newspaper convention.But the main news I’d like to share here is that I came back from Branson loaded down with 20 awards for writing, photography and general excellence that the Beacon won in the 2010 national... READ MORE
Going live
Our website — this website — went "live" a few hours ago. After more than a year of planning, months of designing and deciding, and weeks of tinkering, we are now out and about in the world of cyberspace.Before last night, I had not given much thought to the concept of "going live" as applied to websites. But I get it now.Without belaboring the analogy (no... READ MORE
Burn, baby, burn?
Perhaps you saw (or heard) this news short a few weeks ago: Firefighters responding to an alarm in a rural area of Tennessee’s Obion County stood back and allowed a mobile home to burn to the ground because its owner hadn’t paid an annual $75 fee for fire protection services.But when the fire threatened a neighboring mobile home whose owner had paid the fee, they finally put out ... READ MORE
My storied life
One of my clearest memories from childhood is a leaf-crunching fall day in Ohio when the sky was bluer than any color Crayola could conjure. My third-grade teacher taped magazine pictures to the chalkboard and asked us to create a story about one of them. I don’t recall all of the details of what I wrote about, but I do remember the delight of sculpting words into a story.And in a... READ MORE
Make your vote count
As I write this, we are just weeks away from this year’s potentially momentous elections. For some time now, candidates for county and statewide positions, and their supporters, have been knocking on doors in my neighborhood, sometimes stopping by more than once, to discuss their positions, invite discussion and ask for votes. When they’ve asked me if I have any particular... READ MORE
