Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Sorted by date Results 977 - 1001 of 2504
....
The announcement by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew that Harriet Tubman will take the place of Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill has caused some grumbling. Senator Lamar Alexander, who like Jackson is from Tennessee, expressed grave misgivings about the swap. Donald Trump said the change was “pure political correctness.” But there’s one major political figure who would be thrilled by the news: Jackson himself. Jackson’s presence on the notes of the Federal Reserve has always been a slap in the face to the seventh president, who unequiv...
This probably will beggar belief for the millions of Americans struggling to meet this year’s April 18 deadline to file their income tax returns, but the IRS says it has gotten better at handling taxpayer questions. Two years ago, only 38 percent of the taxpayers who called for help got the assistance they needed. Last year, the number went up to 70 percent. That the IRS counts this as progress is not exactly reassuring. But it’s very much in keeping with the long and vexed history of what is known as “taxpayer assistance.” For seven decades...
....
At the ripe old age of 70, Highlights - that magazine staple of pediatricians' offices and often the first piece of mail a kid used to get - is moving into the digital age. But with a brand as notable and recognizable as Highlights', the magazine didn't want to simply slap its articles and puzzles onto a mobile screen. So it took its time, said Kent S. Johnson, chief executive of the Highlights for Children Inc., which prints the beloved magazine with the tagline "Fun with a Purpose." It also...
It wasn’t the hardest phone call I’ve ever made, but it was certainly awkward. I was cold-calling the National Rifle Association. Because the NRA is well-known for offering gun safety training, I wanted to know whether the organization had ideas on how to reduce the number of firearm suicides. Half of all suicides in the United States are by firearm, and roughly two-thirds of all firearm deaths are suicides. Given the NRA’s opposition to virtually all gun regulation, I knew this was a touchy area. A far harder call was the one I received from...
For more than a century, boys and girls with an abiding curiosity about harvesting corn and raising cattle found refuge in their local 4-H Club, which developed deep roots in America's farming communities that make up the fruited plains between the country's coastal population centers. But a new effort, slated to begin this month, is seeking to broaden the group's traditional scope beyond agriculture, aiming to push it into the 21st century by forging more of a connection with the nation's...
Dear Editor, On behalf of the After School Task Force, we want to thank the many volunteers who contributed to a very successful After School Pilot Program which concluded on March 31, 2016. There is no doubt that the program would never have happened without the countless hours of preparation and facilitation on the part of our volunteers. A total of 50 youth, grades 3 – 6 participated in art, dance, gardening, soccer, basketball, football, and granola making. We want to thank the following volunteers for their commitment to the program: S...
When members of Manhattan’s media elite come to Mark Halperin’s home for dinner, Halperin likes to ask his guests whether they have spent more time in Paris or Staten Island. More often than not, his guests select the destination that does not offer regular ferry service from Battery Park. Halperin’s dinner quiz provides a glimpse into what conservatives have long mocked as the cloistered existence of liberal elites who report on a nation they don’t understand. Republican critics have long complained that these media elites are schoole...
During my interview with Representatives Terry Nealey and Maureen Walsh on March 24, we spent more than half our time talking about the supplemental state budget the legislature failed to agree on during this year’s regular session. That discussion was covered in-depth in last week’s issue. Since then, the legislature has passed a supplemental budget that adds $191 million in spending for such things as homelessness, mental health and alleviating a state-wide teacher shortage. The House and Sen...
A Google Maps error has been sending tourists seeking “Mt. Rushmore, SD” to the wrong location for nearly five years now. Storm Mountain Center, a retreat center located some 13 miles from the real Mt. Rushmore, has repeatedly asked Google Maps to update the Mt. Rushmore address. But whatever fixes proved temporary for unknown reasons -- and as of this writing, the address is still wrong. Eventually, the center has resorted to installing a large sign at the front of their driveway instructing travelers that their electronic devices are wro...
Dear Editor Thank you to the Citizens of Waitsburg for your support in the recent Mayor City Election. Your confidence in my ability to do the job is greatly appreciated. I am proud to serve as Mayor of this One of a Kind City. It is a special city and we are proud to reside here and be involved. Thanks to all of the candidates that were willing to step up and declare their willingness to serve this city. Congratulations to those that won! And thank you to all that were willing to serve. Waitsburg has many opportunities to serve, so if you...
Back in the fall, when Donald Trump dubbed Jeb Bush “low energy,” Carlos Gimenez grew a little concerned. By last month, when Marco Rubio and Trump engaged in childish name calling, the Republican mayor of Miami-Dade County thought the GOP presidential race had gotten “out of hand.” Now, after a tawdry week that has focused on the wives of Trump and Ted Cruz, Gimenez is certain that the race has moved totally “out of bounds.” “Politics is a contact sport,” Gimenez said, “but there should be contact in other ways.” Gimenez is watching with di...
Dear Editor, Those running for national office could learn much about civility and actually answering constituent questions from candidates for Waitsburg mayor and city council. At the candidate forum held March 25 at The Q, the candidates stated why each was interested and willing to run for office. Each candidate also clearly answered questions asked by audience members. During the question and answer portion candidates gave their opinions, in response to a question, on what is needed for Waitsburg to survive and evolve in the future. The...
Here at The Times we sometimes complain to ourselves that there’s not much news in Waitsburg. It often seems like not a whole lot is going on, and so we must get our lazy selves off our behinds and venture out in search of news. Don’t get me wrong. A lot of what qualifies as news you don’t want happening in your town. “Quiet” and “laid-back” are often virtues, not faults. But the last few weeks here in “The Burg,” our job has gotten easier. The news is coming at us at a rapid pace. And that ne...
Suddenly, the whole world has burst into bloom and started to turn green. The abrupt transition happens every year, even if the miracle of it always seems to take us by surprise. Sometimes you just have to state the obvious: Spring is joyful. In a dynamic, temperate plant world such as ours, the burgeoning of the leaves and blossoms stirs a corresponding growth in our spirits. There is also work to be done in the spring, but amid this natural reawakening, it doesn’t seem like real toil. If you want to channel this ebullience into something more...
Two years ago last month, I filed a public-records request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of my reporting into the flawed response to Hurricane Sandy. Then, I waited. The Freedom of Information Act requires a response within 20 business days, but agencies routinely blow that deadline. Eight months later, ProPublica and NPR published our investigation into the Sandy response, but it did not include any documents from FEMA. The agency had simply never gotten back to me. Finally, this Feb. 10 -- 492 business days past the law’s...
It would be easy to look at Facebook’s recent acquisition of the startup Masquerade and scratch your head. Why, you might wonder, would a company worth roughly $300 billion want to buy a company dedicated solely to putting goofy animations over people’s selfies? But the answer is there if you look at how Facebook has evolved over the years. The social media network is dominant, but it’s also in a constant battle to be cool -- or at least just cool enough to stay relevant without being confusing for the older people on the network. Snapc...
....
Dear Editor, Thank you to the mystery person who left the large bowl of flowers on my front porch. It was a wonderful surprise and cheers me every time I see it. Jan Cronkhite Waitsburg...
We share widespread concern over the influence of money in politics. This is a far cry, however, from believing that the system has been permanently rigged by the “billionaire class.” Ironically, this year’s presidential campaign, fueled so powerfully by such accusations of total corruption, has done much to disprove the claim. We understand the distortion of policymaking that the symbiotic relationship between candidates and donors engenders. Those pernicious consequences are often most pronounced not at the presidential level, but in corne...
In 1948, when Diane Howard was 4, she was learning to play ring-around-the-rosie. In 2004, when Christian Magnuson was 4, he was teaching himself to install games on his dad's computer. On Wednesday, Howard, 71, sat in a classroom where Christian, 16, was the teacher. His class: an introduction to smartphones for residents of Westminster at Lake Ridge, a retirement community in Prince William County, Virginia. Christian began volunteering at the facility a year ago, helping at Tuesday night...
....
Dear Editor, Allison Bond’s letter to the editor in the March 3 The Times shows she interpreted Mayor Gobel’s comment differently than me. I was at the same council meeting when he made the comment. My interpretation is that his comment was made in regard to a single topic—lack of suggestions as to uses for the fairgrounds/race track facility. Many people opposed the car race idea for various reasons. Mayor Gobel mentioned some of those folks made comments to the effect there are plenty of other ways to use the facility. Mayor Gobel’s comment...
