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AgriShop was a Saturday morning program that grew out of the daily syndicated AgriTalk broadcast. Both shows were originally hosted by Ken Root. AgriTalk tackled a wide range of agricultural issues during the week, while AgriShop was a buy-sell-trade call-in program. Folks could call in, visit briefly with Ken and tell a little about what…

We moved to St. Joseph in the late 1990s, into a house built in the 1950s. The previous owner, Suzy, was only the second person to live there and had stayed for decades. She taught swimming lessons at the local Y and had a pool built in the backyard. It became the center of neighborhood…

When our grandson was 5-years old he asked me if I would play football with him. Without any thought I told him sure, let me put your sister down for a nap. It was a beautiful October afternoon. I laid the little one down, took her monitor out on the porch. Jase got the football…

Before I tell this story, I will first admit that when I think about it, I wonder if I have some deficit in my attention span. In fact, while typing that little introduction, I forgot and had to make myself remember what story I was about to tell. Here goes. I remember frequently hitting the…

Fellow Americans, I know it sometimes feels like we’re screaming into the void. However, NOT saying anything feels like a betrayal to those who don’t have a voice or a seat at the table. Speaking up is my duty as a woman, a mother, a wife, a friend, a co-worker, a community leader and a…

As a people, we are a self-righteous bunch. Though each of us enters the world riddled with imperfections, our monds bend themselves daily upon finding the faults of others. We distract ourselves from thinking about our own troubles and shortcomings by seeking the opportunity to criticize others. And when others practice their hypercritical musings upon…

I had wanted a bulldog for a long time. Maybe it went back to Grandpa’s Boston Terrier, or maybe it was those old paintings of dogs sitting around a poker table, solid, serious, unimpressed. Something about those dogs stuck with me. We brought Gency home in the late spring of 2015. Her name came home…

The Christmas Season is my favorite. I enjoy baking Christmas cookies, the joy in giving presents, time away from work and family gatherings. I relish the anticipation of the time together with my favorite people. But I will be honest, decorating for the holidays is much more fun than taking down all those decorations. Once…

The radio was always on when I was growing up—in the house or shop, on farm equipment, and even the hog house. More often than not, it was tuned to KMA radio out of Shenandoah, Iowa. That signal carried market prices, weather forecasts, voices we trusted and information that mattered long before I understood why.…

I want you to feel my shame as I make a confession to you, one that’s probably about 26 or 27 years overdue: When one of my college American Literature professors assigned the class to read Moby-Dick, I never read it. I tried. I did. I bought it. I started it. I tried starting it…