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You can help save a life by asking the question

Community Voices

Saving lives may sound like the job of first responders or emergency room clinicians. Yet saving a life from suicide can begin with a caring conversation. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and the courage you show when you talk to someone who’s struggling might be lifesaving to a friend or family member. Many people think about suicide; in fact around 12.8 million people report having seriously thought about suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Close to 50,000 people die by suicide in the U.S. every year. Professionals in behavioral ...

What we learn from history

Local Columns

What was your favorite class in school? It doesn’t matter what level of education you’ve achieved — it’s the class that sticks with you that’s important. Yes, we’ve all had to go through some uninteresting, frustrating or boring classes, but if you still remember them, doesn’t that mean you have learned something from that bit of history? I sat through multiple math classes and English classes, but the subject that always piqued my interest was history. Oh, I sat through many boring history classes, and I got tired of regurgitating dates and events for those history ...

The marks we’ve made

Local Columns

On this morning’s walk in the pre-dawn darkness, I looked up to catch sight of a line of stars I had never seen before, and while I’m not an avid astronomer, I knew upon my first glance these were something out of the ordinary. Streaming in an evenly spaced queue to the east of Orion’s belt, I paused and looked at them harder, remembering one of my favorite quotes about the wild world: “Nature doesn’t often work in straight lines.” It took a couple of seconds (as I had only consumed about half of the day’s first tumbler of coffee) to realize the line of stars were the ...

Salsa time

Community Voices

“Your everlasting summer you can see it fading fast / So you grab a piece of something that you think is gonna last.” — Steely Dan, “Reeling in the Years”, 1972 My wife and I have been doing a bit of salsa recently. I mean the sauce, not the dance. Her new titanium knee is much better than her original one, but not to the point where she’s ready to sashay to the beat of a peppery Latin tune. Turning our homegrown tomatoes, peppers and onions into salsa is a way to preserve a smidgen of summertime. In my imagination, we’ll open a jar of salsa on a subzero winter day, ...

On the Porch

Local Columns

According to the United States Department of Labor, “Observed the first Monday in September, Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers. The holiday is rooted in the late 19th century, when labor activists pushed for a federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.” On the front page of the News-Messenger of Lyon County on Sept. 2, 1921, there is an article about a big celebration to be held in Tracy for Labor Day. Below are excerpts from the ...

Disposing batteries and chemical jugs

Local Columns

Batteries seem so innocent, but yet they can cause some pretty hazardous situations not only at home but also with our trash and recycling. Recently, we have had some issues surrounding battery packs that are made available to the public to purchase. These battery packs can break open and can cause fires if they are thrown away. It is important to note that batteries that are rechargeable are becoming so common that as residents, we need to be careful on watching for those items that they may be used in. Rechargeable batteries can come from the tiny AAA lithium batteries all the way up ...