Columnists

This past week I have been in Texas seeing family. Can I be honest? It is HOT and DRY in Texas. The grass is brown and many plants are suffering under the high heat and drought. One night my friend Sam invited me to look at a tree stump in her yard. She said, “Laura,…

For professional baseball players, hitting .300 is a magic number in the game today. However, there are not many professions where successfully doing your job 30 percent of the time is considered a resounding success. First off, this is not a slight against professional athletes by any means, that would be a whole other topic…

Social Security is committed to reducing barriers and ensuring people who are eligible for our benefits receive them. We provide income security for the diverse populations we serve. This includes people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. Many parents and caretakers of children with disabilities lose work hours and income because of their…

I have a hip that’s out, so if I sit too long and try to walk, it hurts; if I stand too long and try to sit, same story. But my hip is not the main reason I know I’m getting older. The evidence is clear, and it has nothing to do with aches and…

America isn’t going to disappear physically, but the left is working every minute of every day to force this country to become what it was not intended to be. I hope that never happens, but there’s no guarantee. Decay and indifference can be hard to mitigate, and the skid is greased with leftist corruption, arrogance…

Missouri’s history offers a stark contrast to the limited criticism by Republican members of Congress to Donald Trump’s criminal charges. The defenses by Republican officials to Trump’s indictments are quite different from Missouri’s legislature during the last several decades when there was strong support for removal of officials from the same party who faced charges…

Maryville is a special place. That is phrase I have heard repeated and referenced over the years. Heck, it’s something I often say to people new to the community, individuals we are recruiting to work at the hospital or simply describing Maryville to people who have never been here. But, what does that really mean?…

We’re going to have to start seeking the positives in our civilization. If we fail to do so, I fear we will have very few civilized moments left to celebrate after a few more years of this. Why can’t societies stop zooming too far in and too far out? It seems so often our people…

Did you know we have a new audio series, SSA Talks? You can learn more about our top priorities by listening at www.ssa.gov/news/audio-series.html. In our first episode, Acting Commissioner Kilolo Kijakazi and Janet Walker, Associate Commissioner for Operational HR Services, discuss how our current hiring initiative is central to improving customer service. The 17-minute episode…

I had already written a column for this week’s edition when I abruptly scrapped my plans for topical discussion in our newspaper. What caused this sudden pivot? It’s the possibly unconstitutional raid of a fellow newspaper office and residence in what appears to be retribution and a preemptive attack against the owners and staff for…