The Spectrum/Confidential sources lead to sloppy journalism (02/16/07)
Watching a "Frontline" special on PBS the other evening, I started to feel my blood begin to boil. The television program was a look at the current perjury trial of "Scooter" Libby, a marching soldier in the Bush administration. Libby is charged with lying to a grand jury about how the name of a CIA agent ended up in the public fishbowl that passes for national news these days...

The Spectrum/Super Bowl XLI: Bears to ruin Peyton's party (02/02/07)
If you have been living under a rock -- a chilly, snow-covered rock, mind you -- you have no clue about this weekend's festivities. Or, if the sporting world or the advertising world or the need to attend a really good party with all your friends (and some relatives) doesn't rank high on your needs list, you have no clue about this weekend...

Editor is a member of a new fraternity (01/19/07)
Colten Gage Talarico came into this world at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Jan. 15. He was six pounds and 13 ounces and 20 inches long. He's my third grandson. My daughter, Cari, saw her third boy delivered by a nurse's assistant. My daughter, you see, never waits for the doctor when she's ready to have a baby...

Spectrum/Escalating the war in Iraq is the wrong decision (01/12/07)
The war in Iraq is beginning to feel like another Vietnam. That's not a good feeling. You would think that America's military and the politicians learned through Vietnam that it's not the might of the United States of America that's crucial in the rebuilding of Iraq, but rather the will of the Iraqi people to want to re-build their own country...

Spectrum/Once we get peace, it will be time for a nice nap (12/29/06)
To end the year, I thought it would interesting to see how readers of www.marshallnews.com, our Web site, felt about two subjects. The first was a simple request. "What would you like for Christmas?" The second was, "How will you celebrate the start of the new year?"...

Spectrum/Ah, Christmas memories -- even the jaded have a few (12/22/06)
All of us -- even the jaded -- have favorite Christmas memories. One that stands out for me is when I lived in West Virginia, had just moved into a new house with a new job and the first Christmas was coming. The tree that year was live -- a rarity for me since I usually go with the artificial ones because of allergies, the mess, potential fire hazards, etc. -- and it literally took up one whole corner of the living room, the top grazing the ceiling...

Spectrum/Valley football brings back mental, physical toughness (12/15/06)
As Dick Butterfield of Marshall told me the story, Dave "Ox" Ochsenschlager, a football player for Missouri Valley College, did not want to come off the field although he was in a world of hurt. His Dad, David W. Ochsenschlager, from Aurora, Ill., was sitting in the stands at the game which took place in the 1950s. He and his wife attended every Valley football game, home or away, to watch Ox and the other young men compete...

Spectrum/Sixteen hours is too much time to think about life (12/08/06)
Some things I think while riding 16 hours in a bus to South Dakota and then back to Marshall. -- Now that the Democrats have taken back control of Congress, will their party be beset by scandals? -- Does President Bush have a clue about the real world?...

Spectrum/Let's go 1-0 one more time on Saturday (12/01/06)
Perfection. Many strive for it. Few ever achieve it. Missouri Valley College's football Vikings are perfect in the 2006 campaign. Thirteen wins, no losses. That incredible season has brought these young men to this weekend's NAIA Champion Series semi-final game with Sioux Falls (S.D.). Ending the game with a win Saturday, Dec. 2 -- the 14th win in a row -- will put Valley in the NAIA Championship game in Tennessee in a couple of weeks...

Spectrum/'Wake-up call' leads to another call (11/17/06)
Lettuce and I are becoming fast friends. I will admit that I've eaten my share of salads over the years, but lifestyle changes strongly recommended recently by my doctor mean I have to shape up or I might ship out prematurely. For anyone who is my age, 51, or above, the litany is quite familiar; quit cigarettes, change to a more healthy diet, exercise, etc...

Spectrum/Please exercise your right to vote on Tuesday (11/03/06)
Had enough? I know I have. Election 2006, the fall version, has been the most aggressive, mean-spirited and all-pervasive campaign I've seen since I covered the political wars in northeastern Ohio several years ago. In some ways, I feel right at home. In others, I am totally disgusted by the barrage of negative advertising that has surrounded me for several weeks -- whether it is the hotly-contested U.S. Senate race, Amendment 2, the minimum wage proposal or our local judge's race...

Spectrum/Dad's an eternal 54 on Halloween 2006 (10/27/06)
Dad was born on Halloween. How many kids can say that? William Arthur Mason Sr. was a tall, thin man with an iron grip and a razor-sharp mind for mathematics. He also had a great laugh that lit up his face. "Art," as he was known to just about everyone, liked to golf and enjoyed Lawrence Welk's music programs...

Spectrum/Do not restrict access to the two books (10/13/06)
Happily, a solution has been reached in the book controversy at the Marshall Public Library. Unhappily, the solution, in part, sets a dangerous precedent. This past week, the library board of trustees on a majority vote decided to remove "Fun Home" by Alison Bechdel and "Blankets" by Craig Thompson from the shelves while a "material selection policy" is developed...

Spectrum/Don't delay -- get a mammogram today (10/06/06)
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the observance hits home for me. I can't emphasize enough the need for everyone to get mammograms -- men and women. I thought I had breast cancer several years ago, or at least some kind of cancer. And the thought chilled me to the bone...

Spectrum/We're here for you -- five days a week (09/29/06)
National Newspaper Week is Sunday, Oct. 1, to Saturday, Oct. 7, and I find that a time to re-emphasize the importance of newspapers in your world. The Marshall Democrat-News is your best source for local news, sports and news of the Saline County communities...

Spectrum/Of dams, lofty lake dreams and teamwork (09/22/06)
One of the side benefits to this job is the people you meet and the places that you get to go to. I was honored to represent The Marshall Democrat-News at the Missouri Press Association newspaper awards last week in Lake Ozark. The area is beautiful and the drive there was relaxing, well, except for that traffic jam leaving Jefferson City due to the road work. (Funny, they made us all go into the left lane when the right lane wasn't even blocked. Go figure.)...

Spectrum/A question from 1931 -- 'Are We Air-Minded?' (09/15/06)
Ellie Butterfield a while back dropped off a copy of the 1931 Sabiduria, the yearbook for Missouri Valley College. In the yearbook on page 77, there is an interesting essay titled "Are We Air-Minded?" accompanied by a famous poem. I reprint them here. I think these words apply today just as they did in 1931. Enjoy:...

Spectrum/Pearl Harbor, JFK, 9/11 -- We lost our innocence (09/08/06)
It has been five years, come Monday, Sept. 11, since the day that defined America as much as Pearl Harbor and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. We simply call it 9/11. As the United States takes stock of the No. 1 question following the tragedy of 9/11 -- are we safer now than we were five years ago? -- another question comes to mind...

Specrum/Time to put up summer things, open Autumn box (09/01/06)
Labor Day. Yep, it's finally here. Pack away those swimsuits and flip-flops. Stow the SPF 60 and the Hawaiian shirts. The shorts, too, go in that "Summer" bin, along with other flowery, feathery, light-colored and lightweight clothing. Let's reach in the other bin. You know, the one marked "Autumn."...

Spectrum/A picture can launch a monument, personal fame (08/25/06)
Maybe you didn't know Joe Rosenthal. Maybe you did. I never met the man. However, I suspect that you are aware of the famous photograph of World War II servicemen raising an American flag over Iwo Jima -- which later became the model for the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial...

Spectrum/A resume can say many things -- look at this one (08/18/06)
Sometimes, the most obvious things are the funniest. A friend of my recently e-mailed me the following. Although I'm much too young to retire, it's interesting how the writer of this resume came to the final conclusion. Enjoy. Try not to cringe on the bad puns...

Spectrum/We're closer to tracking down the 'Mystery man' (08/11/06)
This past week The Marshall Democrat-News published a picture of what appears to be an old pilot at the Nicholas-Beazley flying school. The picture, given to the paper by Ed Richards of Marshall (who is also a graduate of West Virginia University, my alma mater, and there aren't many of us in Marshall), shows the man standing in snow, his boots laced up and his flight jacket and hat on to bundle up against cold weather...

Spectrum/It's the Midwest, right? History tells us otherwise (08/04/06)
That's what I like about the South. Or, maybe, that's what I like about the Midwest. In the final analysis, readers of marshallnews.com definitely think we are in the Midwest. Here's what I'm talking about. One of our poll questions this week was one suggested by a reader. The question read, "A Web site reader says Marshall is in the South. Another reader says it is in the Midwest...

Spectrum/Internet polls are snapshot of our Web site readers (07/28/06)
The Internet is a wonderful thing. On www.marshallnews.com, our Web site, we ask readers a poll question on the home page. It's my job to think up these questions. I'll admit to scratching my head a few times trying to come up with possible questions. Since mid-May, the Web site has hosted more than 20 such questions -- everything from corn on the cob to a possible peace in the Mideast. I've reprinted the information here in the space allowed...

Spectrum/There was a hot time in the old town, wasn't there? (07/21/06)
Wasn't that a nice sticky blast furnace we hosted this past week? The last time I remember consecutive days where the temperatures hovered around the century mark I was in Dallas, Texas. That Texas city experienced an entire MONTH of days where the mercury soared to 100 degrees Fahrenheit or better. Thirty-one straight days of hostile heat. It was oppressive...

Spectrum/Brother American League, can you spare a win? (07/14/06)
Did you hear the buzz in the trees at courthouse square Thursday evening? Yep. Fall is coming. I know you must think I'm crazy, but when baseball holds the All-Star Game and you can hear the insects in the trees, it means summer, that just began in late June, is already on the wane...