Nothing more

Nothing more

Melissa O'Brien

I know I have mentioned this in several different ways since I arrived back here a few months ago, but I wanted to make some things clear, believing that there are readers who harbor misconceptions about the nature of the operations of The News. As has been made abundantly clear by our recent celebratory “ads,” the paper was founded 60 years ago in the basement of the Congregational Church by several enterprising teenagers and the indefatigable Nancy Wood. This newspaper is a nonprofit enterprise, relying on advertising dollars and fundraising efforts to keep the presses rolling. Almost all of the contributors—writers and photographers—do so without compensation, and the staff members receive salaries that would probably make you laugh.

Roe vs. Wade won’t let go

Roe vs. Wade won’t let go

Edd Merritt

It has been 45 years since the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade ruled 7-2, in a decision written by Justice Harry Blackmun, that the Constitution protected a woman’s decision to have an abortion. Abortion rights have remained a newsworthy issue ever since and have come to the fore once again with the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and the conservative leanings of President Trump. 

Happy summer

Happy summer

Melissa O’Brien

It’s funny how we always think that summer is going to be a nice, slow time of year and then the season is upon us and everyone is running in ten directions and even though the days are really long it feels like there’s never enough time to do everything. Through the long, cold winter we yearn for the reprieve of summer days and then it arrives and we’re running ourselves ragged doing so much.

Truth–are we there yet?

Truth–are we there yet?

Edd Merritt

Have any of you readers ever been to Ankh-Morpork? Sounds like a craving for food, doesn’t it? But, no, it’s the capital of Disc World. Yes, and where is that you ask? Well, of course, it’s a flat world resting on the backs of four elephants standing on top of a gigantic turtle moving slowly through space. 

All the difference

All the difference

Melissa O'Brien, News Editor

I spent all last week at Fordham University where I am finishing up a degree in pastoral care. I took a class in pastoral counseling skills, and though most of the classes for this degree have been online, this one had an on-campus requirement. I lived in a dorm for the week, which was both peaceful and horrible, monastic-like and, well, suffice it to say I don’t miss that particular aspect of college life at all.

On Books

On Books

Katherine Arthaud

“History has failed us, but no matter. At the turn of the century, an aging fisherman and his wife decided to take in lodgers for extra money…” So begins the novel Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee, recommended to me by my friend Mary from the gym. I don’t see Mary often, and I know very little about her (including her last name), but whenever we see each other, our first question (both of us) is, “What are you reading?” or “What is that you’re reading?”

School taxes will increase with governor’s flat rate

School taxes will increase with governor’s flat rate

Jack Hoffman 

Vermonters know there’s a difference between taxes and tax rates. Especially when it comes to property taxes, a lower rate doesn’t mean lower taxes if the grand list value of a property goes up. It’s important to distinguish between taxes and rates as the administration and the Legislature seek a compromise on education funding for next year.

Leavitty

Leavitty

Josie Leavitt

The weather has been decidedly delightful of late. My tulips, slow at first to announce themselves, are hanging on longer than usual, making me happy every day. I love spring and its bursts of life everywhere I look. Flowers that were not there when I went to bed are waving hello in the morning breeze while I have my coffee. I love these flowers.

Sunny Side Up – Ikigai

Sunny Side Up – Ikigai

Carrie Fenn, contributor

Ikigai—such an interesting word, right? Loosely translated as “a reason for being” in Japanese, ikigai is where passion, mission, vocation and profession all intersect. It’s another way of thinking about what drives us, what provides meaning. I heard about ikigai from a Ted Talk, and it brought to mind a conversation I had with a college student about what provides meaning in his life. After my talk with the Charlotte dad who offered his take on his shifting and evolving thoughts on what brought meaning to his life, I wanted to hear what a young person, just launching into adulthood, would think about meaning and purpose.

What musical language says that other language doesn’t

What musical language says that other language doesn’t

Edd Merritt

I have long been a fan of musical words. An attempted writer myself, I look for those people who can put meaning into language that often goes beyond what she or he thought of to put down on paper. I have said before, I favor Mark Twain, who once wrote that he never knew what he was going to say until he began to write it. 

Old Home Day reflection

Old Home Day reflection

Alex Bunten, Former Editor

It’s 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, Mother’s Day, at the old Baptist Church in East Charlotte. The wide-pine floorboards creak and crack as I retrieve my second cup of coffee. The stained glass windows glow with references to the Greek alphabet in mottled yellows, greens and blues. A few early birds are running laps from the newly pruned apple trees to the feeders. My fiancée, the lovely Britta Johnson, rightly asks what I’m doing up so early. 

Grafton, Wolitzer and Tolstoy: Springtime suggestions for reading and listening

Grafton, Wolitzer and Tolstoy: Springtime suggestions for reading and listening

Katherine Arthaud

“For the record, my name is Kinsey Millhone. I’m a private investigator, licensed by the State of California, (now) thirty-three years old, 118 pounds of female in a five-foot-six-inch frame. My hair is dark, thick, and straight. I’d been accustomed to wearing it short, but I’d been letting it grow out just to see what it would look like. My usual practice is to crop my own mop every six weeks or so with a pair of nail scissors. This I do because I’m too cheap to pay twenty-eight bucks in a beauty salon.

A Posture of Peace

A Posture of Peace

Melissa O’Brien, News Editor

I am composing for you my bi-weekly missive from the eastern end of Long Island. My daughter Coco and I traveled out here with my former brother- and sister-in-law, Mark and Margaret, to visit with members of the family to which I belonged when I was married the first time. 

It takes a village

It takes a village

Josie Leavitt, Columnist

This February I was diagnosed with early stage, highly treatable breast cancer. I will be fine after the treatment, which began in earnest two weeks ago. In my case, cancer comes with an incredible village of friends who want to help me through this.