What a week it’s been. We’ve had another memorable Chalk the Walk in uptown Mount Vernon with the perfect weather conditions on Sunday, May 4 (Happy belated Star Wars Day to all who celebrate),...

We are in a golden age of television for those like me who are comic book and science-fiction fans. We started with the “Daredevil: Born Again” reboot over on Disney Plus, which ran from March...

Americans are famously optimistic. Europeans think we’re naïve and ridiculously cheerful. As global economic indicators race each other to the bottom, Americans remain hopeful that everything will...

Let’s check our blood pressure. When celebrations of Cinco de Mayo are cancelled due to fear of our government arresting participants and attendees, everyone should understand that Americans now...

Graduating from high school or college is a major milestone and comes with new responsibilities, including managing insurance needs. Whether driving a car, renting an apartment, or planning for your...

On April 19, I attended a town hall meeting with our Iowa House Representative Cindy Golding. I attended because I am greatly concerned about how proposed work requirements for Medicaid will harm families,...

Dog walks have led me to write this letter. Dogs’ noses are like gravity, they drop to the ground to sniff. Dog paws move us forward and my eyes keep a lookout for little square signs posted at the edge...

This week is Lung Cancer Action Week. The American Lung Association said that wearing turquoise to raise awareness of those impacted by the disease is what they recommend to help raise awareness. “In...

Our neighbors have a beautiful lawn. The grass is thick and lush, soft and uniformly flat as a putting green. Nowhere is the verdant perfection blemished by yellow dandelions. No offending Creeping Charlie...

The moral question of our time is: should we say “please” and “thank-you” to artif icial intelligence chatbots? This would be nothing new for me. I routinely talk respectfully to inanimate...

Why are frogs so loud? How can they jump so far? And why do toads pee on you when you pick them up? (What would you do if some big creature grabbed you from behind and lifted you off the ground?) We...

Mount Vernon activity director Matt Thede outlined the key to Mount Vernon’s success has been focusing on giving students the opportunities to succeed in multiple activities at the district at once. The...