Columns

A mass shooting at a concert hall in Moscow killed more than 130 people. With many others seriously or gravely wounded, the number of dead is likely to rise.

Always interested in maintaining good health with the least amount of actual exertion possible, I began drinking protein shakes a few months ago.

I’m thankful that now in my 70s, I’m still able to work. I find that work provides the frame within which other parts of life neatly fits. For one thing, I surely appreciate the human interaction as I work, since my roomie Alexa isn’t really much of a conversationalist after she gives me weather and an occasional sports score.

Most people have goals for what they wish to achieve in the next 10 years, five years, five months, that day or even in the next hour. Short-term and long-term goals are a good and healthy way to ensure you stay focused, stay motivated and that you improve your overall productivity. We might not meet our goals every time, but we still can ensure that we are working towards them.

Americans may be spending more money on their Easter dinner, but that doesn’t seem to have slowed their interest in a tableful of good eats.

The saying is true, “Once a Spartan, Always a Spartan.” Little did I know that once I walked across the stage in 2001, with plans of moving off to college and not looking back, that I would be back home 23 years later, leading as school board president at the district that raised me and molded me into the person I am today.

Like many sports fans this year, I have been in awe of the on-court accomplishments of Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark. Her highlight reels on YouTube show her draining “logo threes” on the Hawkeyes’ home court combined with precision backdoor passes to set up her teammates for easy layups. The timing for Clark topping LSU legend Pete Maravich’s NCAA scoring record of 3,667 points could not have been better as it occurred in March during Women’s History Month. Clark will not only be etched in college basketball history for her incredible scoring feats but also for her overall impact on the women’s game, as current underclassmen stars like USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, LSU’s Mikaylah Williams, and Ohio State’s Cotie McMahon have already boldly stepped into the spotlight. Watching the gifted athleticism of these female basketball phenoms is no doubt going to bring the highest TV ratings ever for the women’s NCAA tourney.

As a guy who gets pooped at the mere thought of washing bird droppings off a car, I never figured I would wax poetic over my amazing ability to clean and wax my wife’s wheels. But it turns out I am a gem.

They call me a libtard simply because I care about other people. They call me a libtard as a way of putting me down because I feel for the fate of others. I have seen and read all the incendiary remarks targeting anyone who professes the idea that they may possess a caring heart for someone born into a situation less fortunate than the place that I find myself in.

News reporters, broadcasters, podcasters and all-news-all-the-time channels tell us the world is a rotten place. To quote an old adage: “If it weren’t for bad news, we’d have no news at all.”