ODESA, Ukraine — One year ago, just as I arrived in this historic port city, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to stop blockading Ukraine’s grain exports and fueling a famine in Africa and the Middle…

Just as we are feeling we must shield our children’s eyes from unintended exposure to news screens that gush the nonstop, hate-based latest — this just in from quiet, bucolic Cooperstown, New York. The National…

It’s been a week of celebration on top of catastrophe in Iola.  Late last Saturday I was never so happy as to hear the drone of our electricity come online in the south end of…

It is a recipe to make strongmen salivate. Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, has worked out how to chop away democratic restraints while keeping an approval rating of 80-90%. One ingredient is his mastery of…

Dying younger. Living harder. Going broke. It is difficult to overstate the longitudinal effects of excess weight in America. An estimated seven in 10 Americans are overweight or obese. The combination, according to the National…

July 18 was one of the hottest days ever in Iola. However, it wasn’t Tuesday. Rather, on July 18, 1954, the mercury nearly blew off the top of the thermometer when it hit 115 degrees.…

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — For at least 80 days, ever since drought and mismanagement sapped the drinking water supply of my country’s capital, the water that has come out of our taps has tasted terribly of…

The United Auto Workers just launched contract negotiations with the Big Three North American automakers, and few will be surprised if the result is a strike. It almost doesn’t matter if Stellantis, Ford and General…

One day in the spring of 1954, J. Robert Oppenheimer ran into Albert Einstein outside their offices at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. Oppenheimer had been the director of the institute since…

Friday night’s powerful storm demonstrated the valuable service of our city and county employees. It was all hands on deck by the city’s electric department and other city employees who helped clear roads of debris…