The ISTEP: A test that’s not passing the test
In the past few weeks we have heard horror stories from throughout Indiana about testing under ISTEP+ — particular ...
May 21, 2013

No room in the fridge
I recently did something that goes against everything I believe. I joined one of the big box discounters and actually pa ...
May 21, 2013

A heavenly life and a living hell
Call me Tom Topography. I am a longtime avid reader of National Geographic. My mother began subscribing to the magazine ...
May 20, 2013

Age just part of the story
In statistics, the median is not a strip of grass down the middle of the highway. The median is the number with half of ...
May 20, 2013

Food fight needs to stop
It’s a shame to see groups that are supposed to be helping our community through tough times going at each others& ...
May 19, 2013

Staggs’ leadership may be what boys’ basketball needs
The Martinsville High School boys’ basketball team has been through a lot in the past two years — three coac ...
May 19, 2013

Small business success vital to Morgan County
While the economic impact of large corporations cannot be understated, the Morgan County Economic Development Corporatio ...
May 17, 2013

The top 10 of top 10s
Opinions are like noses — everybody’s got one. But until a few years ago, this was not a real problem. Most ...
May 14, 2013

Are you better off since 2008? The president thinks you are
I just read that oil company analysts predict pump prices could fall an additional 20 cents over the next two months. Hu ...
May 14, 2013

Where to put your money
Snail Smith’s real name is Stanley, but his contorted windup and slow pitches gave him the nickname, Snail, during ...
May 13, 2013

Reasons I’m glad I’m not a woman
With no apologies to fellow Hoosier David Letterman, I give you my top 18 reasons I am glad I am not a woman: 18. I don& ...
May 13, 2013

Citizens Bank should continue involvement in Mooresville
It will be strange driving through downtown Mooresville and seeing a new name and logo on an institution that has been a ...
May 12, 2013

Pence starts to reveal himself
Now that the 2013 session of the Indiana General Assembly has wrapped up, a few things about the state’s new gover ...
May 10, 2013

Hurray for Buzz Aldrin
If you have read Buzz Aldrin’s article on the CNN website, you probably know why I’m saying, “Hurray f ...
May 10, 2013

Gardening ups and downs
It is only through the grace of God that you will not be opening up the paper today to this page only to find a big blan ...
May 7, 2013

Time to bust a new move girlies
As you might know, BW and I just returned from a couple of weeks in Hawaii. It was glorious. The temperatures ranged fr ...
May 7, 2013

Treat good news for what it is
I like to complain as much as anybody else. In truth, I may do more than my share of finding fault and wagging a finger ...
May 6, 2013

An iron man behind Bowen’s gentle eyes
Years ago, when I was working on a feature story about Otis Bowen, one of his former staffers told me there was a secret ...
May 6, 2013

Hoosier children deserve better protection
What could be more important than keeping children safe? It’s an awesome responsibility that a vast majority of pa ...
May 6, 2013

ISTEP results should be scrapped this year
Students agonize over it. Teachers stress about preparing their students for it. School administrators pull their hair o ...
May 5, 2013

Fans, experts wait for, speculate on new Star Trek film
Four years ago, Brown County resident Thomi Elmore was in full costume among those in the first in line at for the first ...
May 3, 2013

PetSmart helped us adopt
Growing up on a farm, dogs and cats came and went. If we wanted a pet, we just waited a few weeks and one normally showe ...
May 3, 2013

Presidents all deserve our thanks and respect
They shared the same stage, the only five men alive who know what it is like to be the most powerful human being on eart ...
May 2, 2013

Just plain coffee, please
Ever since the 1960s, when I left the backwoods of Loogootee and moved to the big city, my wife Susie has dedicated her ...
April 30, 2013

This session showed a kinder, gentler legislature
In the last hours before adjournment — as tired lawmakers debated a budget and voucher expansion and a controversi ...
April 30, 2013

Proposals are game changers
After baseball, my favorite TV watching is the government channel. Here I can see the local government in action or loca ...
April 29, 2013

Mifflin Cowboys doesn’t sound right
People disappear every day in America. Some are found or they return soon. However, sadly, some are never heard from ag ...
April 29, 2013

Teach by good example, not bad
Every year at prom time, adults look at teens and tell them not to drive drunk. We warn them of the dangers of destructi ...
April 28, 2013

This was at least one step to help our veterans
Sometimes the best ideas get the least attention. The Indiana General Assembly just approved a measure that would allow ...
April 26, 2013

Tax ‘cut’ discussions stretch the word’s definition
Lawmakers have less than a week to find compromises on the next two-year budget before state law requires them to adjour ...
April 25, 2013

A lucky toss of the dice
Infantile Paralysis — also known as polio — was a terrible disease when I was growing up. The memories of my ...
April 23, 2013

Criminal Code reform legislation will need funding to work
If the criminal code reform bill passes through the Indiana General Assembly, it’ll likely be missing a critical e ...
April 23, 2013

Three ‘Vans’ of some note in history
The 27th Indiana had the tallest soldiers of the Civil War. David of Company F was 6 feet 11 inches tall and was the tal ...
April 22, 2013

Completion rates in question
Spring is really here. Baseball is being played, the Cubs are already tragic, and Faye of the Forest reappeared on my ba ...
April 22, 2013