Village Life:  one day of coronavirus means milk and bread, MiracleGro, Jesus and a cello
Mar28

Village Life: one day of coronavirus means milk and bread, MiracleGro, Jesus and a cello

By Jan Worth-Nelson Not surprisingly these days, I’d had a restless night’s sleep.  Sometime in the darkest time before dawn, my mind started obsessing on two things:  bread and milk. Bread and milk, bread and milk.  We have to get some bread and milk, my mind said, badgering me repeatedly, an urgency just shy of panicked.  We can’t run out of bread and milk. I’ve got a really great comforter my niece sent us last year — a faux...

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Village Life: New life as community journalist opens up hard realities about Flint
Feb11

Village Life: New life as community journalist opens up hard realities about Flint

                      By Tom Travis I have attempted to dissect the reasons why I chose to leave my job at 50 years old after more than 10 years. I think I’ve figured out the reasoning but it is deeply personal. And I’m more likely to tell you over a cup of coffee at Good Beans Cafe than in a published article. So let’s have coffee. In the meantime, I’m taking on a new adventure, as a community journalist here at East Village...

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Commentary:  An open letter to my Republican friends
Jan20

Commentary: An open letter to my Republican friends

By Paul Rozycki To my Republican friends: While we may disagree on many things, there is no doubt that the Republican Party has a long and honorable history. It led the nation through a brutal civil war, ending slavery. It was an early advocate for civil rights and racial equality, in the years following that war. It has been a strong supporter of fiscal and personal responsibility, both within the government, and in personal lives....

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Village Life:  Every day, I dream of Down Time
Dec05

Village Life: Every day, I dream of Down Time

By Jan Worth-Nelson Every day I keep dreaming of Down Time. I used to crave adventure, no day complete without a conscious tablespoon at least of risky business, a routine to kickstart adrenaline, an agenda to keep me in the loop – the loop of life, baby.   I aimed to be a player.  If I didn’t push my limits a little bit, I lost a dram of self-respect.  One time I had a lot to prove and I had a drive to Be There, wherever that was. I...

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Village Life:  The Flint River dumped us, but we got a story (or two)
Aug29

Village Life: The Flint River dumped us, but we got a story (or two)

  By Jan Worth-Nelson I told Sarah Carson the river would give us solace—that was how I talked her into it, for my part always wanting an accomplice in my adventures. Two writers who revel in sedentary hours alone. Two writers—one young, one old—rampantly hopeful but almost comically expecting the worst. Two writers who’d never been in a tandem kayak together on an end-of-summer Wednesday. What could go wrong? Ha ha! Here’s the...

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Book Review:  “American Dialogue” offers indispensable conversation between “then” and “now”
Jul13

Book Review: “American Dialogue” offers indispensable conversation between “then” and “now”

By Robert R. Thomas In assessing the here and now, history offers an indispensable perspective. American Dialogue is an enlightening example. As author and historian Joseph Ellis puts it, “The study of history is an ongoing conversation between past and present from which we all have much to learn.” Subtitled The Founders and Us, his book’s focus is a dialogue between America’s founding fathers and our current historical state. “We...

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