My grandmother handed me a nickel, pointed toward the road, and sent me to buy an ice cream cone at a store named Grammy’s. I was 4 1/2 years old. It was a hot, humid summer night, the kind where the porch screen door sticks and even the neighbors’ dogs are too tired to bark. The memory ...
Once, a Marine from Fayette County was laid to rest in a Connellsville cemetery, with his family, including his grieving mom and dad, beside the open grave. Earlier on the day of the burial, the pastor at the funeral service eulogized the young leatherneck as a warrior in the service of God ...
Q. I just got my first job. I’m excited because I can use the money. Imagine my surprise when I got my first check and all sorts of deductions were taken out. Why do I need to pay taxes? I’m too young to vote. Doesn’t that equal the “taxation without representation” that started the ...
One of my education professors built an entire course around one uncomfortable idea: too often, we are not taught how to think. We live “stimulus-response lives.” He said most people walk into a room, hang their brains on a hook, and don’t question anything. In retrospect, he might have ...
In April 1861, following the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, S.C., and the start of the American Civil War, Edward G. Roddy, editor of the Uniontown Genius of Liberty newspaper, wrote, "Amidst the civilizations of the 19th century, we are on the very brink of ruin, despotism, and ...
When I first wrote this column in 2005, I ran a feature where I shared wonderful teen activities. It was a vehicle for me to show our community a side of teens they may be missing. It’s been a while since I did so, but this week I feel our current teens have earned the affirmation. This ...
