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Teachers’ desks combine many functions into one piece of useful furniture

Columns

For as long as we have had classrooms, teachers have played many roles in them. This is especially true in the one-room schoolhouses that American students attended from the late 18th century up to, in some areas, the mid-20th century. Teaching in a one-room schoolhouse meant running an entire school, from lighting the stove in the morning to cleaning and closing down the classroom after school. And just like today, the teacher’s day didn’t necessarily end with the school day. The schoolhouse often doubled as a community center, hosting events and performances that the teacher ...

Decades later, betrayal comes to light

Columns

Dear Annie: I’m going through a difficult divorce after 58 years of marriage to an alcoholic. Recently he told me two things I never knew: that he slept with my sister the night before our wedding and, years later, when they were both in the military, with a friend of mine. I always knew my sister flirted with him. She’d tried the same with two other sisters’ boyfriends, and she and my husband spent years publicly claiming to dislike each other while accusing one another of “trying something.” I always thought it was weird but harmless. I never imagined it went that far on ...

Bridging the fresh food gap: Why supporting local farms and neighbors demands urgent action

Columns

If you were to walk through the quiet orchards of Central Pennsylvania this summer, the tangible impact of Mother Nature’s unpredictability would be plain to see. A devastating spring freeze swept across our Commonwealth, severely damaging fruit crops and leaving local farmers facing historic financial losses. As our local agricultural producers fight to recover, a second, human-made crisis has struck our regional food distribution system: a sudden loss of federal Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) funding beginning in early 2025. For the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, which ...

The king of debt sticks our kids with the bill

Columns

Trump has made billions since being reelected in November 2024. The underlying transactions are real; what remains disputed is whether they constitute corruption, bribery or merely staggering conflicts of interest. But taking the long view, all of that doesn’t count for much compared to what he’s stealing from future generations of Americans. Yes, Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in income from family cryptocurrency ventures in 2025, even while setting government crypto policy. Included in that bonanza was his $TRUMP meme-coin business: Reuters estimates the project generated ...

Eye surgeon leaves the choice of anesthesia up to the patient

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m 78 years old and in pretty good health. I walk 3 miles four times a week, bike 8 miles once a week, and lift weights twice a week. Besides eye drops for glaucoma, the only medication I take is 20 mg of lovastatin each day. Due to corneal edema, I’ll be having a partial cornea transplant. My surgeon has asked me to decide which anesthesia I want: MAC or LMA. Can you explain the difference between them? Any advice or insights regarding these two forms of anesthesia would be helpful. — C.W.S. ANSWER: MAC is monitored anesthesia care, which is used with a regional ...

Truths and omissions as US hits $40 trillion in debt

Columns

The U.S. national debt just crossed the $40 trillion threshold, doubling in less than a decade. Washington politicians have responded with their favorite fiscal game: blaming the other party. Democrats say Republican tax cuts are the culprit. Republicans say Democratic spending is the root cause. But both parties are responsible, with both hiding behind a lie of omission. And if we let them, they’ll keep driving us into the same wall together. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) recently called Republican tax cuts “the single biggest driver” of the debt across the last 25 years. The ...