One of the most prominent human emotions that has been on display in the last year or so is fear.
Last year was one of tremendous challenges, and we still face significant obstacles to overcome on behalf of all Michiganders.
A rite of passage for many first-graders is coming in breathless and chatty from a long lunch recess and settling in to listen to your teacher read from E.B. White’s “Charlotte’s Web.” I remember sitting at my desk as the story unfolded about Wilbur the pig and his dire situation.
For families looking for something to do without leaving the house, the Tri-Cities Historical Museum is offering a new online digital exhibit, “The Imagination of Winsor McCay,” about the famous cartoonist from Spring Lake.
As a retired journalist, I still like to keep up with the news. Every day, I view various news websites to read about the latest breaking stories.
As an emergency room physician, I was fortunate to receive my first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine within days of its approval. And for this I am grateful.
A house is only as strong as its foundation. In our case, we are blessed to have the people of our Northwest Ottawa County home as our foundation – enforcing an incredibly strong groundwork for generations to come.
Like most kids, my brother and I mercilessly made fun of our mom. We constantly rolled our eyes, teased and laughed at her, all of which she seemed to just take in stride. I now know that’s because she knew something I didn’t – that in time it would all come back to haunt me. In time, my kid…
Have you taken time to think about how much the world has changed in the past 30 years? You are probably thinking, “Forget 30 years ago; the world from a year ago is almost unrecognizable today.” Sure, we need to wear masks and can’t gather in large groups. However, 30 years ago, cellphones …
To appropriate an old phrase, I never thought I would see the day.
The mob violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was deplorable and disgusting. It is the antithesis of a free society that wishes to remain free. Any supporter of President Trump and his policies must denounce this horror with even more vehemence than they denounced the riots of…
During the last presidential election, in 2016, I was walking up a stairwell in my office building on the college campus where I teach. A colleague, seemingly out of nowhere, asked me: “But seriously, Tim, who would Jesus vote for?”
Well, 2020 has been quite a year. And it is finally over – thank God for that!
This might have been the longest week that I can remember in decades, coming off a year where I have worked harder in broadcasting than I ever have in my 30-plus-year career.
In the thousands of books certain to be written about President Donald Trump, the first chapters will almost surely begin with the climax, his last days in office, his refusal to concede electoral defeat and a rally that led to a riot, a Washington, D.C., horror show. It was an attack on the…
House Democrats keep coming up with ideas that are bound to sink their already low approval ratings to new depths, possibly giving Republicans a majority in the 2022 election.
In 1783, Russia’s Prince Grigory Potemkin, in an effort to dazzle Empress Catherine the Great, is said to have erected facades that looked like beautiful houses along her route when she visited his province. Historians have cast doubt on the tale, but the term “Potemkin village” has lived on…
I am starting this year by claiming defeat. Last night, I fired off an email to my kids’ principal, begging the school to take them back.
Today marked the next public step of the 2020 public election, as Congress meets to count the electoral votes and officially declare the winner of the election. Then, 14 days later, we will witness the peaceful transfer of power as Joe Biden is inaugurated as president of the United States.
Ever since a U.S. missile killed Iran’s most important general almost a year ago, the regime has been vowing revenge, with the latest threat coming two weeks ago. Yet aside from a barrage of missile strikes on an Iraqi base last January, causing traumatic brain injuries for U.S. soldiers sta…
This is the 21st century, so far a frightening age, and we’ve just had an act of modernistic war, a hacking attack through which Russia now knows gobs about our government, such as useful details about our nuclear weapons.
I read a book several years ago called “Skipping Christmas.” It was an enjoyable short novel by John Grisham, usually known for legal thrillers. The gist of the plot was a couple who were fed up with all the commercialism of the season and the high cost of buying all the presents. So, they d…
Sometimes getting into the Christmas spirit can be tough, especially in a year like 2020, so I thought a real Christmas tree might help.
A long overdue antitrust push is gaining steam. But it’s focusing on large technology companies like Facebook Inc. and Google-parent Alphabet Inc., which present complex problems that classic antitrust approaches won’t always solve.
Damage due to high water, severe storms (including heavy rainstorms, windstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes) and from wildfires has increased dramatically in the past few decades. The frequency of such storms and fires may not be increasing, but the severity is more extreme nearly every year. …
Michigan lawmakers passed a temporary income tax hike in 2007 that’s still with us. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the governor’s insistence on raising taxes, Michigan’s finances are looking good. Lawmakers can afford to lower the income tax if it is important to them.
As we continue in the grip of a horrific pandemic, I thought it would be a good time to broach a subject that is more uplifting – an interview with Santa Claus.
What will we remember when we look back on 2020?
For as long as I can remember, we’ve cut down a real tree for Christmas. When I was young, this was a full day’s adventure that started with my mom putting dinner in a crockpot, packing our lunch and filling a great big thermos full of hot chocolate. We bundled up nearly to the extreme of Ra…
For quite a while now I have been concerned about what some Christians seem to think religious freedom entails in our country.
Since my family lived through World War II under the Third Reich in occupied Holland, I grew up on stories of the years of war, Nazi occupation and extreme deprivation. My immediate family survived through a combination of grit, determination, and the sustaining provision and protection of A…
I wrote about the “12 Days of Christmas” previously in this column. I know the string of bizarre gifts actually are said to represent Christian themes, such as the partridge representing Jesus the Christ child, and two turtle doves representing the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” We’ve all probably heard those words before. They are the words of Jesus found in what has come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount. But they may seem bit mysterious to us. What does it mean to be “poor in spirit.”
I’m sitting here at the radio ranch while Gloria Estefan sings “Christmas in Your Eyes.” It’s such a great song and really had a lot of meaning when my twins were born. We’re playing all Christmas music right now and it’s amazing to me how one song can conjure up so many memories.
‘Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” – Paul Theroux
The Michigan Board of Canvassers did the right thing last week when they certified the results from November’s general election. I do not believe this election was executed flawlessly; however, I have not seen evidence that suggests the results of any statewide election will be overturned.
I am shopping for Christmas pajamas to outfit our crew – again. I’ve already done this once. About a month ago, I bought matching sets. They were delivered and shoved in the back of our basement until this weekend, when I pulled them out and was struck by a very obvious thing – the jolly San…
In totalitarian societies, governments suppress the church and religious worship. That’s because dictators believe citizens should worship them as the highest authority and not a Higher Authority, which they view as a threat to their power and position.
I’ve been lucky, for the most part, with bosses. I worked at Pizza Hut when I was in my late teens and early 20s, and knew that if our area manager, Tom Lanoue, stopped in and we were busy he wouldn’t hesitate to take off his suit jacket, don an apron and wash dishes in the kitchen. Tom woul…
Traverse City has been rolling out a government-owned broadband network. But like most municipal internet systems across the country, it’s running behind schedule, over budget and attracting fewer customers than projected.
Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and in preparing the turkey, stuffing and green bean casserole, it is normally easy to get lost in the traditions of family time and the fond memories of years past.
Watching Rudy Giuliani dance with disgrace as the loser president’s lawyer pressing claims of fraud in the 2020 election, I thought of a fictional attorney played by Paul Newman in the 1982 film, “The Verdict.”
2020 has been a year of cancellations. School got canceled. Surgeries got canceled. In-person worship was canceled. Large public gatherings were canceled. Parties, concerts and sports events were canceled. And now we hear that Thanksgiving may have to be canceled this year.
If the 2020 presidential election were an athletic contest, Joe Biden’s apparent conquest of Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes would signal its definitive end.
This year’s holiday season will be unlike any we’ve ever experienced.
In the July 28 edition of the Grand Haven Tribune, the Board of Light & Power provided an update on the closure of the coal ash impoundments at the recently retired J.B. Sims Power Plant on Harbor Island. However, Harbor Island was not really an island 100 years ago; it was more a delta …
The Senate Bill 241 was introduced on March 21, 2019, by state Sen. Stephanie Chang (D) amongst other senators. According to the copy of the bill, it is used to “prescribe the powers and duties of certain providers of water and sewerage service in this state, to prescribe the powers and duti…
I am confused. Who won the presidential election? The news media and unofficial national election results have declared that Joe Biden will be the next U.S. president.
I was riveted to my TV on the day of the election through the following weekend, just like most of you. Now, after a week after the election, we all can play Monday morning quarterback.
Wow, November sure has started out crazy, huh? We saw more voters than ever before – but, unfortunately, more coronavirus cases, too.
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