Breaking News

Local Columns

First AI glance didn’t measure up to the art of writing

In the past week I had my first chance to experience AI (artificial intelligence) through my email server. Messages from my sister and friends now come with a suggested AI reply. All it takes is one click and you can reply to the message. There’s nothing wrong with the messages the computer suggests. They’re very well-rounded reactions. Still I don’t use them. I feel that I as a professional writer can do better than a machine. I can make a message more detailed and more descriptive. I can introduce new subjects that a computer can’t anticipate. Letter writing used to be a ...

A number of administrative priorities in 2026

While there are many capital park, street and wastewater projects happening in the city this year that were highlighted in my monthly column a couple of months ago, there are also a number of administrative priorities and work that also will make up a big part of city’s year ahead. While certainly not all, below are some of the work priorities that Administration and our city leadership are working on: Finish the completion of a master park plan. This year the city hopes to complete a master park plan. A master park plan is a road map for planning and completing park improvements ...

Country School Kids – Bonnie Jean Davis – Beginning on a Lynd farm

Bonnie Jean (Madden) Davis was born in July 1935 in the old, Dr. Ford hospital on South 4th Street in Marshall, but her story begins on a farm in rural Lynd. Her life journey brought her back to Marshall and a career teaching kindergarten in the Marshall Public Schools. Bonnie identified ...

Stocking up on fun


For those of us on the prairie, stocked trout provide perhaps the best introduction to fishing for the species. Once my brother and I, along with a select number of friends, had learned of a population of the salmonids that had flown under the radar stocked in a lake near my hometown, I was ...

Why pay the price?

How would you handle the following situation? I wanted to buy a new pair of hiking boots, and went to a local shoe store. Walking through the store, I saw a pair of boots costing $200, and a similar pair costing $80. Both pairs looked very sturdy and felt comfortable. Why the difference in price? Was there some hidden item in either boot or was the quality of the boots the reason for the price difference? Why pay the higher price? The rest of the story will soon be revealed. Have you wondered why you played a sport or a musical instrument in school? Well, I played basketball, but ...

Timeless icons

I’ve discovered that some things age better than others. Bourbon and cheese are examples of things that improve with time while bread and my short-term memory have fleeting … um, what are the words? Oh, yeah! Expiration dates. Many things are deemed useless once they attain a certain ...