Editor, Times-Union: The evolution of the Democrat Party’s identity has morphed drastically over the years. Thought of as “liberals” for decades, it was around the time Barack Obama exploded onto the political scene that they then started calling themselves “Progressives.” Webster dictionary defines progress as “to move forward” or to “reform,” which begs the question, what is it the Democrats want to reform?

Editor, Times-Union: We would like to thank Rural King and Runnings for allowing us to pass out poppies. Also to the public for their donations that go to support our local veterans.

Editor, Times-Union: I am writing today to ask my fellow delegates to reelect Diego Morales for Indiana Secretary of State.

In late 2024 I worked two different events at high school sports venues outside of our reading area, closer to or in Fort Wayne.

Qualified Charitable Distribution (“QCD”) is a financial strategy that can potentially offer significant benefits to holders of Individual Retirement Accounts (“IRAs”) who are over the age of 70.5. Unlike other distributions, which are taxed at ordinary income tax rates, QCD allows for a tax-free distribution from the IRA, provided that the distribution goes directly to a qualified charity.

New things usually don’t work perfectly, but I think baseball has gotten the Automated Ball-Strike system (ABS) just right.

The Brethren Church frequently held its national denominational conferences in Winona Lake.

There is a more profane term easily interchangeable with “jerk” and there is also a cute, little book titled, “No [Jerks].”

In financial planning, we spend a lot of time thinking about, talking about and working toward long-term goals that are integral to attaining the life we want to live. An important aspect that sometimes gets overlooked is protecting your assets - and all that you’ve worked for - from unexpected events.

The IHSAA executive board met last week, and there were two headline-making items on their agenda.

It was the water gushing out of the hillsides that first attracted the three Beyer brothers to the property on the eastern shore of what is now Winona Lake. They purchased a large tract of land containing those springs in 1881, planning to build springhouses over the natural springs and artesian wells to provide natural refrigeration for their egg and dairy business.

College costs have risen much faster than inflation over the past 30 years, and as a result, a dilemma that many parents face is how to finance college and still save for their own retirement.

This is one of those weeks where I could write three columns about stuff going on in sports, but I’d rather meld them all together into a single offering.

Elwood Haynes (1857-1925) was a brilliant metallurgist and industrialist who developed an alloy he named Stellite, co-invented stainless steel, and in 1894 invented one of America’s first automobiles.

Plenty is happening among area high school athletics already. Moving parts include area athletes currently in college sports transferring, coaches moving to other programs or resigning, and even some high school students transferring.

The Sandwich Generation is defined as adults who have a living parent aged 65 or older and are either raising a child under 18 or supporting a grown child. Caring for both parents and children at the same time creates pressure on the ones who are left with those tasks, both in terms of time and money.

Thursday, May 7 will mark the 75th Annual National Day of Prayer in the United States of America.

The hardest season of the high school sports calendar is the spring season and it’s not even close.

During the height of the Chautauqua popularity at Winona Lake, a crowd favorite was Col. Herbert Petrie’s White Hussars brass ensemble. The White Hussars performed in Winona eight out of ten years, something of a record on the Chautauqua circuit. Petrie (1917-1994) was a World War II veteran who played first trumpet in the Army Band. He and his wife Mildred later founded the Wagon Wheel Playhouse in 1956, along with another couple.

I’m launching this weekend’s thoughts on the Ohio State Buckeyes popping up in the first round of the NFL Draft Thursday evening. Four of the first eleven draft picks were Buckeyes. Transfers-in among those notwithstanding, the program will reload again in 2026.

We are often asked about the trials and tribulations of the market, up one day and down the next. However, market difficulties pale in comparison to the pain of losing a loved one. It is always difficult to lose someone, especially a spouse. Few things compare to the difficulty of losing one’s spouse, and that difficulty is often compounded by the immense pressure to make decisions at precisely the hardest possible moment.

College sports has run amuck.

Homer Rodeheaver’s biography, titled “Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry” by Kevin Mungons and Douglas Yeo, begins with “Just before the start of World War I, Homer Rodeheaver reached the pinnacle of his national fame ... Rodeheaver played the trombone and led mass singing for the revivalist Billy Sunday, a gig that vaulted both men to national prominence.”

NBA attendance at its current levels is arguably at an all-time high, but my ambivalence during this season and the precious year’s campaign has resulted in my choice of not watching any NBA broadcast in its entirety.

There have been many improvements in the world since I graduated from Warsaw Community High School in 1987. Back in those days, we didn’t have the internet or cell phones or flat screen TVs. I got an Apple IIc computer for graduation as I headed off for Indiana University. The Apple Watch I wear today is literally 8,000 times more powerful.