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Kingfish politics are bad for everyday Americans

Our View

No matter how we may try to sanitize the past, the fact remains that history is an ugly place filled with sporadic wondrous people doing great deeds. They are, however, the exception and not the rule. We are left to grapple with this in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court ruling, which will, in effect, return swaths of the country to a time of voting rights prior to the Civil Rights era in the 1960s. We all want to believe that we — as an American people, and as an American country — are better than to use racism in the year of our Lord 2026. Unfortunately, there is a ...

The evolving role of nurses — and why they deserve our thanks

Letters to the editor

Teresa Conyers Williamsport As we celebrate National Nurses Week (May 6–12), I’m filled with deep pride and gratitude for the nurses who care for our community every day. Nursing has always been the backbone of health care. It’s built on long days, sleepless nights, and countless hours on foot, often in moments when patients and families are facing some of the most difficult experiences of their lives. While nursing can be incredibly rewarding, it is also demanding, and it requires both resilience and heart. That’s why it’s so important that we continue to support and ...

The political rift widens

Columns

Politicians and political parties, when unconstrained by constitutional guardrails or statutory limits, have long demonstrated a remarkable ability to manipulate electoral rules to their advantage. Gerrymandering is among the most enduring and consequential examples of this practice. The term itself dates back to 1812, when then-Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed legislation redrawing legislative districts to benefit his Democratic-Republican Party. A newspaper, the Boston Gazette, famously mocked one contorted district as resembling a salamander, giving rise to the term ...

How to help a person who’s experienced a tonic-clonic seizure

Columns

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband suffered a grand mal seizure about six months ago. He was in the hospital for seven days. When he came out of the seizure, he was very combative and experienced memory loss. He still deals with short-term memory loss, and his neurologist says that it could take a year for him to get back to normal. My question is: Is there anything I can do to help him? — L.H. ANSWER: Seizures can happen for many reasons, and there are different types of seizures. When a person has the type of seizure that is often shown on TV or in movies, where they have uncontrollable ...

Dear Annie: Neighbor’s dream home is being built at my expense

Columns

Dear Annie: My husband and I have lived in our modest home for many years in a quiet, beautiful neighborhood where the houses have always felt gracious and in scale with one another. We are not extravagant people, and our little house has never been the biggest or fanciest on the block, but it has always been our sanctuary. We worked hard for it, raised our family here and treasured the peace, charm and natural beauty around us. Recently, a very wealthy couple bought the property next door and began building an enormous house that feels completely out of proportion to the neighborhood. ...

Marriage: The inequality gap we should be talking about

Columns

The most consequential inequality in America is not the wealth gap or the wage gap. It may not be the racial opportunity gap. The marriage gap is wreaking havoc. And unfortunately, it’s the gap that gets the least attention. I’m a libertarian. I don’t care whom, or if, you marry. Yet I’m reminded that there is a problem by a new report from the American Enterprise Institute. Edited by Kevin Corinth and Scott Winship, “Land of Opportunity: Advancing the American Dream” covers a broad range of challenges facing the country today, from the cost of living and workforce ...