“My life is really quite conservative. I’ve been married nearly 50 years. I don’t have hobbies or children. I don’t much care to travel. I’ve never had a big social life. I really just stay home, except when I go to work.” – Christopher Walken “I remember in grammar school the teacher asked if anyone […]
“Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody.” – Scott Hamilton, U.S. Olympic gold medalist in figure skating “The best kids are going to become the best. But the best thing about it is that you’re going to learn lessons in playing those sports about winning and […]
By Paul Lockwood “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” – Ben Franklin Was Ben Franklin right? Am I healthy? Somewhat. Wealthy? Not really. Wise? A little bit smart, maybe, but wisdom has typically eluded me. I’ve always been kind of an early bird. Not in the sense […]
By Paul Lockwood “Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.” – Mahatma Gandhi I grew up as the son of a United Methodist minister, but for over 15 years now, I’ve been an active participant at Grace Lutheran Church in Woodstock, part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). I’ve sung solos, […]
“…somewhere out there a lucky person is moving closer and closer to the most sought-after prize in history. Though we cannot help but envy whoever he is, and we may feel bitter, but we must remember there are more important things, many more important things. Though offhand I cannot think of what they are, but […]
“The problem with winter sports is that – follow me closely here – they generally take place in the winter.” – Dave Barry “A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.” – Carl Reiner “Snow and adolescence are the only problems that disappear if you ignore them […]
By Paul Lockwood As I write this column, it occurs to me that Wednesdays this month have ranged from: Horrifying (the deadly assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6), to … Sad, but unfortunately appropriate (the second impeachment of Donald Trump on Jan. 13 for incitement of the Jan. 6 insurrection), to … Reassuring and […]
“The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.” – Meryl Streep “When you show deep empathy toward others, their defensive energy goes down, and positive energy replaces it. That’s when you can get more creative in solving problems.” – Stephen Covey “All leaders, male or female, innately possess feminine qualities like […]
“Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire.” – John Roberts, Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court “This […]
Black Lives Matter. “I can’t breathe.”It doesn’t matter which of those three-word phrases causes the most vivid images to come to mind. The first sentence should be a given. And yet, in the 57 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., there are still many people who […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
