columns

Here's a column about a movie, but it's not exactly a movie review; instead it's a warning. The warning: don't always believe what you read in the newspaper. No, I don't mean THIS newspaper. I mean OTHER newspapers.

The state Senate completed work on the state budget late last week and the bill now goes to the governor for his final approval. The budget prioritizes education, holds the line on income and property taxes, and continues to invest in workforce development. In order to protect taxpayers,...

"Policy is who pays, who doesn't pay and where the money gets spent," said the president of the NAACP in a recent speech. Policy making was center stage at the State Capitol when the long delayed $76 billion two-year state budget was rushed to passage just days after a majority of...

To paraphrase the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens): "It was the best of houses; it was the worst of houses." As I prepare to leave a home of 37 years and move to one smaller, newer and more convenient, but still in walking distance to downtown River Falls, good...

A last-minute budget amendment has folks in western Wisconsin very worried. Locals have spent seven years negotiating with large sand mines to reach agreements that allow neighbors and mines to co-exist. In some cases, locals decided certain sensitive and tourist areas needed protection...

Here we are at the end of the gardening season. My Beautiful Wife's thumb has been unusually green this summer. My thumb has been unusually sore this past year, so I've kept out of the garden and watched from the kitchen as B.W. worked with her magic trowel.

We have two great authors for you coming up in the next few days! New York Times bestselling author Kyle Mills will be here on Friday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. As well as his own characters, he has continued series for both Vince Flynn and Robert Ludlum. Don't miss this! On Sunday, Sept....

Recently, I filled you in on L'affaire Sidewalk and told you that an angel named Michael came down and agreed the square of concrete was amiss and had to be replaced. It was removed post haste and replaced with an orange cone for three weeks, which gave pedestrians the fun of throwing...

I have always loved to gaze at atlases and discover town names and sometimes even find out how they got that way. One wonderful book is about Pierce County and environs' names and how they came to be. But I've already written about that, so let's go further afield.