The sojourn up to T.C. to squeeze in some quality holiday family time began uneventfully on Thursday to avoid the holiday traffic. About forty minutes in, the cell went off. Having forgotten to take it out of the trouser pocket, and remembering that Smoky was ticketing those who drive and work ...

How is it that the "Saxophone Colossus" Sonny Rollins lived to 95? Aren't jazz musicians supposed to die at tragically early ages? Actually, that's a myth that Rollins and others proved flawed. It's true that Bix Beiderbecke, king of the cornet, was gone at 28, Charlie Parker at 34, Dinah ...

The reported end of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" marks more than the cancellation of a television franchise. It represents the collapse of an era in American media where political outrage replaced entertainment, ideology replaced humor, and audiences were expected to applaud lectures ...

As an Alpena County Commissioner, today I participated in a regularly scheduled bi-monthly board meeting to conduct county business. On every meeting’s agenda are the public comment periods. I am not sure how many Alpena County citizens are aware, but there is a very controversial issue ...

This summer, the United States celebrates its 250th birthday. In 1776, few people believed this new version of self-government would last. After the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government the Founding Fathers had created. "A republic," he replied, ...

Here in Washington, D.C., we endure slights of the president's barking, his constant use of capital letters and his ever-present red ties. These are forms of shouting, weapons of psychological warfare that he wields as the master of repetition. Then there's the 250-foot Arch he plans to build, ...