Opinion

Sometimes this column just writes itself. That usually occurs when I see something that is so teeming with potential that even the humblest writer can explain it. That happened earlier this year when retired Senator Doug Eckerty showed me to the work he was doing at the Family Scholar House in Anderson.

The Republican caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives is in a tizzy.

While women have regularly held statewide office and Indiana has had four female lieutenant governors, Hoosier women have struggled to break through to the top office.

Over the past 20 years, I have written many humor columns about the holiday season. This is my favorite one, because not only is it based on something that really happened, but it’s pretty much exactly what happened. In December of 2016, a UPS truck pulled up to our curb and, as always, we were eager to see what was in store for us. Actually, nothing was in a store. We bought everything online that year.

Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go.

I will admit to having a mild case of World Cup fever. As is true of most Americans, I had seen soccer, or what the rest of the world calls “football” or “futbol,” played before. But my passions when I was growing up were basketball and baseball, and I am positive that my high school didn’t have a soccer program.

Poor Eric Doden.

“O, Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things. Come, and teach us the way of prudence.”

A principal recommendation of the recent Governor’s Public Health Commission report is the urgent need to increase state funding of public health. It‘s an essential component of their plan to improve Indiana’s health. In fact, it recommends that funding increase from the present $55 per person to the national average of $91. That’s not enough, but it’s a good start.

Are you in need of the perfect gift idea this holiday season? A gift that can entertain, comfort, and even enlighten? If so, give books a try!