Breaking News

Opinion

Parkinson’s patient gets mixed advice on surgery for cancer

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband, who is 78 and about 100 pounds overweight, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in July 2022. In November 2025, he was diagnosed with stage I pancreatic cancer. He’s currently getting chemo treatments that started in early January of this year. He has two options — get surgery or get radiation treatments. His pancreatic surgeon seems to be discouraging the surgery, saying that he could end up in a nursing home for the rest of his life. We saw his Parkinson’s doctor yesterday, and he told us that he didn’t think the surgery would be a problem. ...

Men don’t have to suffer in silence

Columns

While we have traditionally celebrated Father’s Day in June, this month has also been set aside to highlight awareness of men’s struggles with mental health and depression. The National Alliance on Mental Illness continues to advocate for breaking the cultural stigma that men have to “tough it out” on their own while wrestling with internal issues. Current statistics show what many mental health professionals are calling a “silent crisis.” Many men do not like to talk about how they are weighed down emotionally, and this suppressed affliction often leads to anxiety, stress ...

Happy Birthday America

Letters to the editor

Robert Rodkey Julian This fledgling nation a mere 250 years ago has arisen to be the most powerful nation in the world, both militarily and economically. The United States of America is the economic engine that pulls the world’s economic train. The USA is the greatest country with the most freedoms of any land on the face of this planet. How can this be? Terry Prachett said, “If you don’t know where you came from, then you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know where you are, then you don’t know where you are going.” The point being in relation to our ...

Is removal of Trump’s name from Kennedy Center a metaphor?

Columns

In what could be a metaphor for things to come, workers removed President Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center in Washington. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled the rebranding of the Kennedy Center as the “Trump Kennedy Center” violated the law, writing, “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.” Is America growing tired of Trump’s nonstop appearances? His disapproval ratings suggest overexposure could be a contributing factor. He goes on sometimes for more than an hour in his frequent Oval Office appearances and often repeats ...

Patient isn’t given adequate pain medicine after shoulder repair

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m frustrated that my physicians aren’t giving me adequate pain relief. I had a shoulder repair with three severely torn tendons and a torn labrum, and the surgeon cut and moved my biceps tendon. I was given 20 mg of hydrocodone and APAP 5/325 mg for pain! Are the doctors legally prevented from giving me pain medication? — J.F. ANSWER: This makes me frustrated to hear. There aren’t legal barriers to giving a patient medication to reduce pain, but opiates such as hydrocodone should be given cautiously and with consideration for its potential for abuse. There are ...

Dear Annie: Drama at the gym

Columns

Dear Annie: I love the gym. It has really helped me gain confidence and strength. I have been going to the same gym in our small town for roughly 10 years. I know all the people there and enjoy my time there — until lately. There is a woman who just started going to the gym who is toxic. She really hurt a dear friend of mine, whose child was in the same class as her child, by spreading vicious rumors that she was having an affair with a tennis instructor. This was not true. She is the typical mean girl from middle school who we all choose to forget — the girl who never grew ...