COLUMN

Who said I wanted this?

We want what we want—I get that—but if someone takes the effort to give us a gift, we should accept it with gratitude. It doesn’t matter if it something you don’t want. That’s not a license to casually rid yourself of another’s gift., Suck it up, buttercup.

The promise of a new year

Opinion The turn to a new year is as much psychological as it is temporal. The calendar flipping to a new year has always been cause for celebration. The new year means making resolutions, plus it is the start of a new tax period. Not everything is new: for many[Read More…]

The importance of the local newspaper

Reading the newspaper every day was an instrumental part of my childhood. As early as the age of five, I was wrestling my dad for the sports section every morning. I wasn’t allowed to stay up late and watch SportsCenter and we didn’t have internet access when I was young,[Read More…]

America: A work in progress

The American experiment is 244 years old this year. The nation, created by uniting 13 very different colonies, was developed our Founding Fathers who borrowed from other governing systems in history—the Magna Carta, the Romans and the Greeks, to cite a few. After two and a half centuries, America is[Read More…]

The legacy of Kobe

When I was younger, I hated Kobe Bryant. I didn’t actually hate him as a human, I just hated that he would continuously torch my favorite team. As a Portland Trail Blazers fan, Kobe and the Los Angeles Lakers ripped my heart out of my chest more times than I[Read More…]

Holiday shopping, meet small business

The day after Black Friday is Small Business Saturday. Some may consider it a frivolous event, but that is not true for the many small brick and mortar retailers, not just in Keizer but across the nation. Small Business Saturday was established in 2010 as a counter to Black Friday[Read More…]

Arboretum honors one man

One day in the future, visitors to Keizer Rapids Park will see a stand of trees in the southwest part of the park.  The visitors won’t have to wonder why they are there; there is a sign to mark the Keizer Rotary Arboretum in honor of Wilbur Bluhm. A long-time[Read More…]