Columnists

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” – Chief Brody I don’t swim or water ski or go boating. I don’t go in the water … ever. Rivers and lakes and oceans cause my heart to race. In fact, the mere thought of sitting on a boat in the middle of a body of water is…

I hope to have my Big Piney Museum and Ozark Interpretive Center finished and open by this fall. One of the contents is a pool table that was made in the early 1920s, dubbed an A.E. Schmidt Victory Table. It was sent to the main street pool hall in Houston, Missouri, about 1922. My dad…

It’s never too early to start planning for retirement and our online tools can help. Go to www.ssa.gov/myaccount to access your personal my Social Security account to get an estimate of your retirement benefits based on your earnings record. Once you have an account, you can use our Plan for Retirement tool to see how…

We rolled past the first day of summer and longest day of the year, and now at the time of Independence Day, those of us connected with schools or public education in any way find ourselves rolling speedily toward the return to classrooms. But before that, the July 4 activities and traditions will have their…

The weather and school calendars have moved quickly toward summer, and that makes it a great time to think about ways we — and our families — can keep up with healthy routines while enjoying all that the season has to offer. While it’s hard to find a time of year that feels more relaxed…

I want to recommend an important book that examines what has happened to the American military during the Obama/Biden tenures. The book is The War on Warriors written by experienced soldier/officer Pete Hegseth, now a Fox News personality. Hegseth explains how progressivism has corrupted and weakened the purpose of the American military and essentially changed…

I have had no outdoor adventures lately. It has been three weeks since I came down with something called RSV, which stands for “respiratory something virus”. It took me two weeks to get over that. Right behind it was a scheduled knee operation, made necessary by the fact that I jumped off the front of…

I took part in something fairly special this past weekend, the bicentennial celebration for a Missouri church. My ancestors on my mother’s side were among the founding members of Old New Garden Primitive Baptist Church, located near Wood Heights in Ray County, Missouri. I have attended many, many services there, and it was truly inspirational…

Identity theft affects millions of people each year and can cause serious harm. Protect yourself by securing your personal information, understanding the threat of identity theft, and exercising caution. Here are 10 things you can start doing now to protect yourself and your loved ones from identity theft: 1. Protect your Social Security number by…