• It seems nearly impossible to fathom that someone as brilliant and funny as Robin Williams could be so tortured emotionally that he takes himself out of the human race. Yet, last week, one by one, each of us across the whole globe, fixed our attention on the sad news of this beloved actor’s suicide. Sometimes, a blip of news in the vast sea of information we are bombarded with daily, seems to slap us so hard in the face that we can almost hear the collective groan rippling through space and time. Then we all try our best to reckon with reality. And what a devastating reality Robin Williams’ death reveals - that someone who, by his very nature, brought

    Aug 26,
  • Kids.gov is “the official kid’s portal for the U.S. government”, and is chock full of fun facts and activities geared to youngsters, all categorized by age group. There's a  section for educators as well. Featuring games, projects, brief articles, and great links to other kid-centered learning pages, this is a site you might want to recommend as a "first-stop" resource for young people during the coming year!

    Jul 27,
  • Once upon a time---one year ago, in fact---a Poplar Bluff man bought a bicycle in the hope of getting a bit of exercise. Little did he know that his purchase, along with a recent move to a new job, would position him in the best way possible for the economic nosedive the nation entered several months back. “I did buy a bike for fitness, and so I could ride it to work sometimes,” he recalls. “At the time, it was five miles, one way---doable.”

    Jul 23,
  • Mike Malone of Poplar Bluff became American Taekwondo Association World Champion, Weapons Division, in competition at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, Arkansas late last month. Little Rock is world headquarters for the ATA, and competition was held in a broad range of categories for 2008 honors. Malone’s victory was especially sweet since he had placed second in the same category in the world championships last year.

    Jul 22,
  • When this 70-something man was but a wee lad, his father made a prediction of the sort a little boy wouldn’t be expected to understand. But my good friend remembers his father’s words to this day, and he has marveled over the years at his father’s foresight. “We were in Neelyville, farming with mules,” says my friend, who retired some time ago from a colorful array of occupations, including key posts in the floral and furniture-manufacturing industries. “One day, my father saw that a neighbor had bought a small, one-row Allis-Chalmers tractor,” he continues. “He said to me then, ‘Son, one of these days, we won’t have enough gas to run those’.”

    Jul 17,
  • In our previous column, Neelyville’s MSG Jeffrey Pennington did not mention the exact drill involved in gassing up vehicles at Patrol Base Kaufman, Iraq, but if his operation’s entire electrical system is powered by fuel regularly hauled in along roadways where sniper-fire and explosives are an ongoing threat… Well, that kind of revelation could lead to a serious homefront reality check, couldn't it?

    Jul 16,

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