Columns

Do you still communicate the way you did when you were growing up?

When I was a child…Oh my goodness, I must be getting old even to think of starting a paragraph with a line like that.

But, when I was growing up, our family was on a party line. Our number was 8020, which meant when the only phone in the house rang, it was not for our family unless it rang two “longs”. Longs were different than “shorts.” We used the operator if we wanted to talk with someone who was not on our party line.

In recent weeks, I have been accused on more than occasion of being a closet Republican and running a print outlet for Fox News.

While most of those accusations stem from my decision to run a clearly GOP-slanted editorial cartoon (located to the right), I can’t help but laugh a little when I hear these comments.

Sept. 27 marks my 17-year anniversary in the newspaper business. Never, ever, before I started running that cartoon, have I ever been called a conservative.

With deep sadness we announce that the annual Charles Steinbrecher Memorial Ale and Cheese Tasting gala was cancelled due to a severe lack of interest. 

This year’s offerings included a reproduction of Steinbrecher’s 1870 Red Oak Special, an IPA, a Petite Saison D’Ete, and my wife’s favorite, a multi-grain light called the Speckled Heifer.  

The cheese selection was a choice block of aged Velveeta.  Anderson Park was to have been the site. 

I was a 5-foot-2, 140-pound, not-particularily-athletic freshman that wanted to do everything I could to play varsity for my school’s state-ranked football team.  I would do anything, including jump into the nose-guard position on the scout-team defense against an all-conference center and in front of a backfield loaded with award-winning stars.
As the ball was snapped I charged straight ahead into the center.  He stepped hard to the right, giving me an easy pass to the left.