Columns

By Ken Begley

There aren't many things that annoy me as much as when we travel in our van as a family. We have seven people in our family and the van holds exactly seven. It doesn't matter how close we are to where we're going, someone is always unhappy with the seating positions.
Cindy and I are always up front.
The rest of the seats are a free-for-all.

By Joberta Wells

As I get older I am more aware of the seasons and things that define them. Songs of the burgeoning fauna fascinate me, especially after a long hard winter.
In late February or early March we begin to hear one of my favorite songs, the song of the spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer), otherwise known as frogs. They inhabit every pond, every ditch, and every low-lying marsh and they inhabit my heart with joy.  I love these little guys and their song.

Last week, the Republican party held its national convention. This week, the Democratic party is holding one, too.
Once upon a time, the conventions meant something. The parties sometimes did not know who their candidate would be until the week of the convention. Today, the nominees are known several months ahead of the conventions, and that turns the conventions into nothing more than glorified infomercials.

Overcoming obstacles can be a challenge for anyone. Creating them, well, that's something else all together.

Yet, that's exactly what Marion County JROTC students were doing this past weekend. On Saturday, students and their instructors constructed the first part of what they plan to be an obstacle course.

They started with a 15-foot rope climb, a low crawl, a balance beam series and a six-foot wall. The plan is to add another dozen obstacles before the course is complete.