Editorials

We live in the greatest country on Earth, one whose founding message of freedom and equality has given hope to people across the globe. Our nation was also built on an imperfect foundation, a truth that echoes through the centuries to the present and shapes many of the challenges of our future. But over the…

This week, we say goodbye to our friend and colleague Tony Brown, who died after a long bout with cancer. As anyone who ever interacted with Tonyduring his decade reporting at The Forum can attest, he just looked the part of a newspaperman — and he didn’t disappoint. In many ways, Tony was the link…

Whether just to themselves or out loud, every parent and everyone who works in a school has, at some point, found themselves asking the same question since a gunman killed 19 students, two teachers and injured 17 others last month at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas: Could it happen here? The uncertainty — that…

Summer is upon us, if not astronomically, then at least by the feeling in the air. School is out, the weather is warming up and the days stretch longer and longer into the evening. It’s the perfect time for getting out and about, whether it’s to play sports, go shopping, head out on vacation or…

Band-Aids have gotten a bit of an undeserved bad name. When they were invented in 1920, it was to solve a simple problem: Josephine Dickson wasn’t exactly Emeril in the kitchen. Her husband, Earle, a cotton buyer at Johnson & Johnson would return home at the end of the day to find supper on the…

Wilbur Francis Newton died in defense of our nation and freedom worldwide during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He was also very good at cracking coconuts and enjoyed popcorn. Elsewhere in this newspaper, you can read Wilbur’s story, a Mound City man who finally returns home to rest this weekend. This…

When state Rep. Allen Andrews officially leaves office in January, northwest Missouri will lose one of its greatest advocates and best representatives. While it’s cliched to say that we live in a particularly polarized society and that we have never been more politically divided, during his eight years in the Missouri State House of Representatives,…

Graduation, whether from high school or college, marks the day in our society when graduates begin to leave behind childhood and take a big step into a more complicated, adult world. And it’s a time for looking forward to the joys and tribulations of navigating that new world and figuring out your place in it.…

The Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents must outline a clear vision for the university’s future, or risk a muddled presidential hiring process that could hurt the institution for years to come. It’s clear that when current President John Jasinski announced last month that the board had not offered him a contract for next…

When our water crisis began in January 2020 with the closing of Mozingo Lake, it jolted our community leaders into action, but it didn’t spur them to rash action. Instead, the city of Maryville and Public Water Supply District No. 1 have taken a considered, collaborative approach to the long-term future of our drinking water…