Breaking News

Columns

Liberty without strings

“Freedom has more often been lost in small steps by progressive incrementalism, than it has been by catastrophic upheavals such as violence or war.” — James Madison (1751-1836) Last week, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, ruled that the problem of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. is so acute and vast and the Fourth Amendment so burdensome and time-consuming that it should cut some constitutional corners. The federal judiciary is supposed to be in the business of protecting the rights of individuals from ...

‘Deplorables’ were so right about the elite — but so wrong about Trump

In 2016, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton found herself in hot water after declaring that half of Trump’s supporters were “a basket of deplorables... racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it.” Ten years later, we’ve discovered an overflowing, handwoven silk basket of another species of deplorables. They are members of the elite class, the politicians, royal figures, billionaires, intellectual luminaries and media moguls exposed as pedophile predators, compliant cowards and money-motivated mercenaries. Many of those Trump supporters Clinton ...

I never feel like I’m doing enough

Dear Annie: Lately, it feels like I am failing at everything, even though I am constantly running. I work full time, try to be present for my family and friends, and still keep up with all the texts, emails and group chats. I’m the one people come to for help and advice, yet my own life feels like it’s held together with coffee and to-do lists on crumpled sticky notes. No matter how much I do, there is always something I’ve dropped. I’ve forgotten close friends’ birthdays, missed my mom’s call three days in a row and RSVP’d “maybe” to so many invitations that people ...

Trigeminal neuralgia causes shock pains in woman’s lower jaw

DEAR DR. ROACH: I am a 73-year-old female who is in above average health. I have recently been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia after many trips to the dentist and finding out that my pain wasn’t dental-related. I experienced electrical shock pains in my lower left jaw when I talked, when I ate, and sometimes when I brushed my teeth. I am on 300 mg of gabapentin, and after a month, I can say that I’m about 95% better. I still feel some sharp sensations for a few seconds when starting to eat. In the previous year, I was on Fosamax for osteoporosis for one year. Since this ...

Applause, Applause

Each Saturday, The Express community newspaper highlights people, groups and activities our readers deem worthy of applause. Liz, Marg and I were pleasantly surprised when we visited The Second Cup on Friday, Feb. 6. A kind gentleman there treated us all to a free lunch. When we asked his name, he simply replied, “I’m your Guardian Angel.” Although we thanked him there, we wanted to give this man a big THANK YOU and let him know again that we really appreciated his sweet gesture. — Joyce, Liz and Marg THANK YOU to the Susquehanna Valley Big Twins Motorcycle Club for the ...

Losing irreplaceable community assets

I don’t drink coffee, and yet I’ve been wanting to write about Viennese coffeehouse culture for quite a while now, and even wrote the first paragraph a couple of months ago. Because Viennese coffeehouses are so different from your typical American cafe, and because their many different coffee drinks have really cool names, I thought exploring them with you, dear Reader, would be fun. However, I just found out that both the Derrick/News-Herald in Oil City/Franklin and the Clarion News will be shutting their doors for good, and so I want to take this sad opportunity to remind us ...