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(2008/07/08)
Most of my vacations end up being almost as much work as work. There’s always a long list of home improvement projects to do if we’re not going out of town, and if we do hit the road, well, that can be work, too.
(2008/07/08)
While I was at work early Sunday morning, I was listening to Sporting News Radio on WKTY. It was about 6 o’clock when I heard a report of a new sport lobbying to be added to the Olympics by 2020. I thought this one might be too big of a stretch to make it, but the sport, if you will, is competitive yoga.
(2008/07/08)
In recent weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its final opinions on several important cases. The nine justices that comprise the highest court in the land decided that neither rape nor any other crime aside from murder should merit the death penalty. They also decided that it was indeed our Second Amendment right to own firearms.
(2008/07/08)
I don’t know which is worse, Barack Obama’s change of stances on issues or the mainstream media’s desire to ignore it. Take the Washington, D.C., gun ban that was challenged recently in the Supreme Court.
(2008/07/02)
Maybe it was because my first driving experience came at the wheel of a quarter midget, a pint-sized race car, whizzing around a banked oval track and trying to get to the checkered flag first. Or maybe it was just a character flaw that compelled me to always need to be in front of any cars going the same direction I was. Whatever it was, I have been a speed demon most of my life.
(2008/07/02)
I was somewhat surprised on a recent trip to Washington, DC. When I was there in May 2000, I counted five anti-Clinton demonstrators along with more than 30 burnt-out hippies commemorating a battle of the Vietnam War with all the familiar slogans and chants of their era. Two years later, Lisa and I witnessed more than two dozen anti-Bush demonstrators picketing along Pennsylvania Avenue, protesting the No Child Left Behind Act, among other things.
(2008/07/02)
When students learn about our system of justice in civics class, they’re told that every American has a right to his or her day in court. Yet, people from all walks of life often unknowingly sign away their right to a trial when they sign a contract.
(2008/07/02)
Last week, the White House renewed pressure on Congress to allow oil drilling offshore and in protected areas. This idea makes no sense. As a nation, unconsciously, we have chosen to follow a developmental route over the last century that makes all aspects of our civilization highly dependent on crude oil. We are paying the price for this choice and will pay far more in the future.
(2008/07/02)
As I leave this area, I wish to say to the entire community that it has been a privilege to live and pastor here. This is a wonderful area to raise a family and enjoy “God’s Country.”
(2008/06/24)
It’s staggering to think that as we march toward a seventh year at war, Iraq (let alone Afghanistan) is hardly an issue on the campaign trail. Of course, nobody has forgotten about the war. But there’s been no substantive debate on it, either.
(2008/06/24)
There’s an unpopular wartime Republican president, a federal lawmaker from New York losing in a fierce battle and people protesting the progress of the war? This scenario is all too familiar to us in 2008.
(2008/06/24)
If you have read the book “All the President’s Men” or saw the movie, you might remember a part which shows Woodward and Bernstein watching Vice President Spiro Agnew making some comment about something and saying “that’s a non-denial denial.”
(2008/06/24)
As the possibility of a statewide smoking ban comes and goes in the consciousness of Wisconsin residents, it is imperative that we keep in mind the wide-reaching effects of such a ban on our health. A study published earlier this year highlights the benefits of a smoking ban in public areas.
(2008/06/24)
When is it going to end? The men and women dying in the war, the excuses for gas to go up, and the amount of drugs that young people are able to get. It is bad enough that gas is close to $4 a gallon, but sending thousands of teens off to war is too much! We need a president who can put a stop to all of this.
(2008/06/18)
This year marks my 25th year in the newspaper business, which has proven to be a very interesting career choice.
(2008/06/18)
“Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” n Second Resolution adopted by Second Continental Congress June 14, 1777.
(2008/06/18)
I ask that citizens of La Crosse County consider applying for a seat on the Criminal Justice Management Council. In September 2000, the La Crosse County Board authorized the creation of the Criminal Justice Management Council to advise the County Board on correctional policies for juveniles and adults.
(2008/06/18)
According to what I have read recently, the 2008 Farm Bill was a bad bill and President Bush was correct in vetoing it. However, Congress has overridden that veto and so now the bill is the law of the land. Ugh!
(2008/06/18)
We have a chance to get someone who actually understands what the people of the 94th Assembly District are experiencing. Someone who understands that if you can’t afford to pay for an office call to a doctor to begin with, then health savings accounts are not going to do you any good. Someone who understands that education is not just another political chess piece.
(2008/06/11)
Did you happen to watch the fight on TV last Saturday? I’m not talking about EliteXC, the beat-your-brains-in mixed-martial-arts fights that aired on CBS. I don’t recall any significant fights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup finals.
(2008/06/11)
It was no fun paying high prices for gas during the Memorial Day Weekend (it was $3.929 per gallon Monday), but Americans are finally being confronted with the high cost of mobility. Since 1974, the number of vehicle miles driven in Wisconsin has outpaced its population by a factor of five, and it’s becoming clear that such mobility can’t be sustained, either economically or environmentally.
(2008/06/11)
First-time-in-a-generation achievements don’t happen often. But that’s the news Wisconsin heard last week: our state dropped out of the top-10 worst taxed states in the nation for the first time since 1980.
(2008/06/11)
On behalf of the board of directors of the Onalaska/Holmen Emergency Food Basket, I would like to thank the U.S. Postal Service letter carriers,especially the Onalaska branch, for once again sponsoring the 2008 Postal Food Drive.
(2008/06/03)
Richard Lawrence of Holmen recalls the horrors he went through in August 2005 when he was diagnosed with liver cancer and essentially given a death sentence by his doctors, who declined to even consider chemotherapy or radiation because of the rapid growth and spread of his tumors.
(2008/06/03)
I read the recent letter from Joseph Upton with great concern, as we in Congressman Ron Kind’s office go to every effort to respond in a timely and substantive fashion to the hundreds of constituent contacts we receive every day through phone calls, e-mails and letters.
(2008/06/03)
For the past 15 years, those involved with the St. Clare Health Mission in La Crosse have witnessed the problems facing the poor and uninsured in our community. We also have been witness to the difference that the giving of one’s time and talents can make in the life of someone in need.
(2008/06/03)
Here is what the Center for Rural Affairs, a nonprofit rural advocacy group, said about the federal farm bill:
(2008/06/03)
Two weeks ago, I used this column as a vehicle to write about my depression. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to listen to a few people share their stories about themselves or their loved ones diagnosed with clinical depression. I want to thank those of you willing to share your experiences with me.
(2008/05/27)
This Memorial Day is a day of national observation and remembrance for those soldiers who never came back — those who have truly sacrificed everything for this country.
(2008/05/27)
There is nothing more fundamental in our democracy than the right to vote. This primary tenet of political freedom, however, is undermined when people engage in unlawful voting or unqualified electors cast ballots illegally and undetected.
(2008/05/27)
I have written to Rep. Ron Kind on many occasions and basically was ignored or sent responses that did not address any of the issues I asked about.
(2008/05/27)
I recently became aware of a situation that bothers me.
(2008/05/27)
The year was 1992. I had my driver’s license for one month. I thought I was pretty cool for having my recently granted freedom. But what I saw as a freedom or temporary reprieve from my parents acting as my chauffer, my parents saw it as an opportunity for me to be useful.
(2008/05/19)
It was no doubt destiny that caused a cute black Labrador puppy to slide a wet, pink tongue across the face of my 10-year-old daughter on an August day in 1995.
(2008/05/19)
I wanted to die. It was that simple. I prayed to God every day that he would take me out of this world, but still provide for my wife and kids. I thought I was a burden to them. I felt I let them down because I wasn’t successful, in my opinion. I wanted my life to be over, but not at my doing. Suicide was not an option for me. That’s why I prayed for God to end my life.
(2008/05/19)
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. That good advice, usually attributed to humorist Will Rogers, is apparently lost on Wisconsin’s legislative leaders.
(2008/05/19)
Has the Holmen Village Board endorsed a religion? Would the board allow an alternative group, say neo-Nazis or perhaps a satanic organization to display their sacred symbols on public property? If the answer to the second question is “no,” then the answer to the first question is “yes.”
(2008/05/19)
On Saturday, May 17, our nation will celebrate Armed Forces Day. At Fort McCoy, we will observe the day by hosting an Armed Forces Day Open House from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. I welcome you to visit Fort McCoy that day to learn more about Fort McCoy’s vital role as a Power Projection Platform and its role in supporting the training and readiness needs of all branches and components of the military services.
(2008/05/19)
When is it going to end? The men and women dying in the war, the excuses for gas to go up and the amount of drugs that young people are able to get. It is bad enough that gas is close to $4 a gallon, but sending thousands of teens off to war is too much! We need a president who can put a stop to all of this.
(2008/05/14)
In the late 1930s, when I was a middle school student in West Salem, we were subjected to the last vestiges of the totally discredited corporal punishment practices for the management of student behavior.
(2008/05/14)
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen issued a strong and important opinion this week favoring the public’s right to know about traffic accidents and crime in local communities.
(2008/05/14)
After a winter like the one we just had, sometimes it feels like spring and summer will never arrive. For me at least, one of the most welcome dates on the calendar finally got here this past weekend: the start of fishing season. Between that and the excitement of turkey hunting season, it’s a wonderful time to be in Wisconsin.
(2008/05/14)
Early in my first year as a teacher at Rhinelander High School, one of my sophomore English students inhaled the cap of his blue Bic pen and quickly turned his own shade of indigo. I remember his name, but I won’t mention it here.
(2008/05/14)
The Holmen cross should stay on public property. Here’s why.
(2008/05/14)
This past week was Cover the Uninsured Week. Cover the Uninsured Week is a national effort that seeks to bring attention to the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance.
(2008/05/14)
Al Gore mystifies me. He works tirelessly to raise environmental awareness, yet he continues to ignore evidence that eating meat is the No. 1 cause of global warming.
(2008/05/14)
I was a little nervous about being a chaperone for my kids’ field trip earlier this week. How would the kids behave? The only way to find out was to pray for the best and go.
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