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A restorative dose of Lincoln

When I’m at a loss for a good book to read, I go to the library in our basement and scan the familiar titles on the wide floor-to-ceiling shelves. When I did this late last night, my eye rested, as it often does, on the long row of Lincoln books. I chose a slim volume, “The Wit and ...

The damp cool of my morning garden

Around the roots of each stalk of sweet corn I see a little circle of wet dirt, a gift of the morning dew, a drink of water conjured out of the air. The corn plant itself seems designed to capture and funnel this free air water to itself; my cabbages even more so, their wide leaves a ring of ...

America at 250: A reminder that all are created equal

As our country celebrates not just any Independence Day, but the 250th anniversary of one of the boldest declarations in human history, the festivities give us an excellent opportunity to look back on two-and-a-half centuries of this American experiment and check ourselves against what the founders hoped they were setting in motion. Draped in red, white and blue and surrounded by flags and fireworks, it is easy to forget how we got here and why we are free to celebrate as flamboyantly as we’d like. Richard Henry Lee made the motion to declare independence in June 1776, but not ...

Easter Islanders mulched with rocks

Gardeners around the world throw stones out of their gardens. The residents of remote Easter Island carried stones in to use as mulch because rock mulch works. Also, because they had nothing else. Anyway, they were used to moving incredibly heavy things like those strange, iconic statues they ...

Ohio cannot afford a cap on credit card interest rates

Earlier this year, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. Since then, other U.S. Senators have put forward additional proposals to cap rates. As a longtime elected official in Columbiana County in Appalachian Ohio, I can say with certainty that any cap on interest rates misses the mark on what members of our community need. Over the last several years, Columbiana County has been a hotbed of new investment and economic development. Main Street storefronts that once sat empty are being filled. Small businesses are the backbone ...