Kamryn Bridges doesn’t have to attend Boys and Girls Club. As a 15-year-old incoming sophomore, he’s mature enough to take care of himself through the summer months. Kamryn, however, chooses to come to the club’s teen program daily, which has been beneficial for him and the club’s members an…

The other day, I almost ran a red light in town. The speed limit is 40, and if you get caught in the wrong spot when it turns yellow you have to make a choice. Break hard and risk getting rear-ended, or slip on through. 

Last summer, Max and I visited my cousins in Spokane, Washington. While we were there, Patty showed me a little book that belonged to my father. She wasn’t sure how she got it, but she wanted to give it to me. It was one of those little “autograph books” we had when we were in grade school a…

When Goliath stood against the Israelites, the soldiers all thought, "He's so big, we can never kill him." David looked at the same giant and thought, "He's so big, I can't miss."

In the years during and after the Civil War, political parties, though they carried the same names as they do today, held very different beliefs. The Democratic Party then was the party primarily of the South, supporting the continuation of slavery and the rights of the states to secede from…

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“Why can’t we be friends?” This was a song that was released on June 16, 1975, by a band named “War” as the Vietnam War came to an end. 

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For three decades, “Racecar Bob” Hiller has been driving home the importance of the Sedalia Police Department’s D.A.R.E. Program.

Weird glasses and slicked-back long hair. That is how I remember Robert McNamara, Presidents Kennedy’s and Johnson’s Secretary of Defense – the Architect of the Vietnam War. He looked to me, an eighth grader, like a throwback to the Roaring Twenties. All he needed was a bowtie and a black bo…

(Author’s preface: This is a Bible-poundin’ sermon on hellfire, so hold onto your hats, ladies and gents.)

I’m a little late getting this column filed, with the primary election already upon us. But maybe it will be useful to candidates in the general election.

If you follow the Lectionary Based Readings for Services on Sundays, you’ll notice we’ve been reading from the 14th chapter of Matthew where Jesus uses parables to explain the Kingdom of Heaven. We’ve heard six parables in the past two weeks: 1) the wheat and weeds; 2) the mustard seed; 3) y…

Oh, the irony of it all!

Charles Dexter served in the Union Army in central Missouri during the Civil War. After the war, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service in small central Missouri towns, including Sedalia. While doing this, he became affiliated with a bookstore as he advanced money to a friend who was in …

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In her work life, Ashley Bates loves to lift up her students.

Aside from February, late July into August is my least favorite time of year. The heat is oppressive. The lawn is crunchy. There are few holidays to celebrate. The only creatures that are happy and thriving in late July are the ragweed and the raccoons. That should tell you a lot. 

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Well, we didn’t have the first installment of our sale this week. Why? Because COVID-19 reared its ugly head. No, Max and I are well. Emily and James, who came last weekend for an outdoor wedding, are well. However, we found that we all could have been exposed.

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Have you not known? Have you not heard?

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As a former member of the Sedalia School District 200 Board of Education, I would like to share several things with the community about the inside workings of the district that many have never heard about. Today I would like to tell you about “the gap.”

It was not unusual during the 19th century for a man to engage in many occupations over his lifetime. Sedalian Charles Dexter exemplified this situation in that he held many jobs before settling into the mercantile trade with a bookstore in Sedalia.

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Jackie Oliphant may work at a library, but at times, language escapes her.

“Did you hear me say put on your shoes? Ok, put on your shoes. Your right, not your left. Nope. Other right. No, you absolutely cannot bring a crayon in the new van. Ok, in the van. DID YOU HEAR ME SAY PUT ON YOUR SHOES? What have you even been doing?! No. You can’t bring permanent markers e…

We are where the rubber meets the road – at least I think that’s where we are. I’ve never quite figured out that saying literally. Are we talking about cars moving? A strip of rubber on a road?  Let’s put it this way: We’re finally doing what we’ve been saying we’re going to do. We’re downsizing.

As we all know, the coronavirus hasn’t been just a serious health threat, but a wrecking ball for the economy as well.

I love listening to children. They have an interesting perspective. They may hear things differently than you and I. For instance, a Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments; they were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie r…

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Information about John Dalby, a merchant, banker, and real estate developer, is provided in the 1882 History of Pettis County and in Becky Imhauser’s “All Around Downtown.” The information given differs from that given about other Sedalia merchants in that the sources provide information not…

It must be very difficult to live as an angry person.

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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ...”

Toward the end of Disney/Pixar’s “Ratatouille,” food critic Anton Ego tells his server, “You know what I'm craving? A little perspective. That’s it. I’d like some fresh, clear, well-seasoned perspective.”

I believe that wearing a mask in public places helps slow (not stop) the spread of the coronavirus.

What does it really mean to celebrate our freedom in America? This past weekend we celebrated that we are a nation that was liberated from tyranny. Our forefathers had enough of empty promises and taxation without representation. 

We have become so divided as a nation that it frightens me. I’m not afraid of people attempting to cause harm to me personally; I am frightened for my children and grandchildren. What will the world look like 10 or 20 years from now?

The Missouri Constitution ratified shortly after the Civil War under the leadership of Charles Drake mandated that each community maintain separate public schools for both Black and white children. If a community had fewer than 15 Black children, those children were to be provided, at commun…

I find it hard to imagine anyone who is not affected by this awful pandemic, either directly or indirectly. Even if we do not have the virus it has kept many of us from doing the things we usually do at this time of the year. 

Frankie Vanderpool has been storm spotting “pretty much since the day I could drive.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal ...”

“Every man Jack of us a free and independent citizen of God’s country, the only country on earth where a man is free and independent. Today’s the Fourth of July when this whole thing was started, and it ought to have a bigger, better celebration than this. We can’t do much this year. Most of…

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Probably like most Americans, I was inclined to think of Black Lives Matter as something I could support. I believe that Black lives do matter, along with all lives regardless of color. I also believe strongly that unborn lives also matter, but there BLM and I part company.