Budget season: It’s the best time of the year

More than a few times I’ve joked that the first day of county budgeting hearings is my favorite day of the year....

Angelkeep Journals: Define ‘invasive’ please

At the very northwest corner of the home built at Angelkeep grows a waist-high spiraea bush. It anchored the north end of...

Transparency, superstition and a little PTSD

This is my second attempt at maintaining transparency on problems we run into at The News-Banner.  A few weeks...

Angelkeep Journals: Let there be entomology, and it was good

Chores at Angelkeep necessitated nearly a daily trip outside to feed some form of wild critter. With numerous bird feeders on two...

These phrases are dead giveaways you’re from the Midwest

One of my favorite magazines to read has long been “Reader’s Digest.” I admire how the writers put their stories together in...

A cursed prognosticator takes a swing

A number of years ago, a good friend and I were commiserating, perhaps over a brew or two, about how to advance...

Exactly who is ‘making the rest of the country miserable’?

J.D. Vance has been making headlines lately. I first encountered him in grad school when I read his book. No, I didn’t...

Angelkeep Journals: Angelkeep mid-summer rules

Angelkeep will soon be seeing school buses passing by the driveway without a stop. No need at this location. Plenty get onboard...

Kathy Tyson’s bold but ignored warnings

The story of 1963 Lancaster graduate Kathleen Tyson Heslop and her plunge into national politics was one of those that landed on...