On Sunday, dads and children everywhere will break out the pancake mix and gift-wrap and offer breakfast in bed and tokens of appreciation for the most special people in their lives — their mothers. Not to brag, but as of my wedding in October, I now have four mothers — my biological mother, my step-mother, my mother-in-law and my step-mother-in-law (phew!)...

In my years as a journalist covering news and sports, I have conducted thousands of interviews, but none of them have made me as nervous as the one I did on Tuesday afternoon on a metal bench by the Pierce City softball field. For those of you who have never met or seen me in person — I have one hand...

Thursday provided us with an opportunity to show some love on a small scale for a large entity — the earth. Earth Day, celebrated every April 22 and regarded as the largest secular event in the world, began in 1970 thanks to action from Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson, who aimed to turn the youth’s anti-war movement toward instilling a public consciousness of water and air pollution in the country...

Almost a month ago, I trepidatiously wrote about a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, and this week marked another optimistic benchmark in the pandemic recovery. For the first time in nine months, Barry County’s active cases have fallen into the single digits. Numbers have been below 20 through the last month, and this week, only six new cases were reported, bringing the county’s active total to seven...