On a single day ”“ exactly a year before the Iowa caucuses ”“ look what happened to two Republican presidential hopefuls. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, while visiting a vaccine laboratory in London, said that parents should have “some measure of choice” over whether their children get immunized. With health officials reporting more than […]

The month of February is named after Februa, which was the Roman festival of purification. We are now halfway through winter. That point is marked by Ground Hog Day on the second of this month. Legend has it that if the groundhog sees its shadow, it will retreat back into its burrow and there will […]

America is changing. The cultural changes ”“ gay marriage, legalized marijuana, etc. ”“ pervade America from New York City to Redlands, California. What is not pervasive is economic opportunity and a middle ground in politics. By 2050, European-Americans, or whites, will be the largest ethnic minority in a nation without a racial majority. The reality […]

Gallup recently asked adults around the country a very simple question about immigration: Are you satisfied, or dissatisfied, with the level of immigration into the United States today? Are too many immigrants coming? Too few? Or is the number just about right? Before giving the results, it’s important to note what that number is. The […]

How often do you find yourself thinking about the people in your community who work to save lives? Most likely, not often enough. Recently our family was faced with a medical emergency that none of us saw coming and because of the dedicated, professional individuals working that day and the days that followed, we survived […]

It was April, 1970, opening day for fishing, the place McKay creek outside North Plains, Oregon. My great uncle Cecil had brought me to the fishing hole on the ancestral homestead. I was eight years old. As we stood on the bank he motioned to where he wanted me to cast. I lobbed a worm […]