If you haven’t checked your calendars, the Fourth is on a Tuesday this year, so the annual Festival of the Bells in Hillsboro will be held July 6-8. While you’re enjoying the festival, be sure to check out Pioneer Day, sponsored by the Highland County Historical Society, at the Scott House on Saturday, July 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You’ll be glad you did. 

Who is authorized to tax the income of a commuter who doesn’t commute? This question—born of the pandemic and currently pending before the Supreme Court of Ohio—could be coming to a tax bill near you, and soon.

“The committee has acted in good faith with participation from both Democrats and Republicans, as the issues raised this week ought to be a bipartisan concern. Hopefully, we can find a path forward to continue to go where the facts lead us."

From the Wright brothers, to American heroes like John Glenn and Neil Armstrong, the story of modern aviation was written in Ohio. Today, our state continues to lead the country in aerospace innovation, and in military service.

Hope you don’t have any exciting weekend plans. By the time you read this, humanity has already been wiped out. Hasn’t it? On June 21, 2018, Greta Thunberg tweeted that “climate change will wipe out all of humanity unless we stop using fossil fuels over the next five years.”

The Constitution clearly articulates that Congress holds lawmaking power. However, President Biden and his administration have circumvented Congress over and over again. In fact, President Biden finalized regulations adding more than $200 billion in new regulatory costs in his first year as president, which was more than quadruple the costs added during President Barack Obama’s first year.

Most notably, President Biden announced an executive order to mandate vaccination for Medicare and Medicaid providers; Federal Contractors; Employers with 100 or more employees; and Federal employees, among others. These mandates were unscientific, did not consider previous infection, and were most of all unconstitutional. The President never had the authority to issue such a directive.

Donald Trump may get what he deserves, but America cannot endure as a great nation if the rule of law does not apply to all. To all. Fairness to all. Justice to all. That is the hallmark of our great democracy, which is built on the people’s trust in our institutions. That trust is eroding as our leaders brazenly weaponize our legal system. Benjamin Franklin warned that our founders had given us “A republic, if you can keep it.” We are losing it day by day.

The Department of Homeland Security is giving anti-terror funding to a university program that compared Republican and Christian groups to white supremacist groups and neo-Nazis, according to the Media Research Center.

The conflicting storylines underscore how various data sets and definitions can be used to politicize and spin the problem of violent crime in the U.S., proving again Mark Twain’s caution about “lies, damned lies and statistics.” Depending on the framing, accurate sets of numbers can be assembled to tell starkly different stories about mass shootings, school shootings, and the overall correlation between gun ownership and gun violence. 

Have you ever wondered how God handles all the prayers He receives? With billions of people praying to God, does He hear mine? According to Jesus, the Father hears them all.  

The revelation of China’s “spy base” in Cuba caused Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher to remark that “This is an attempt by the CCP to turn the Monroe Doctrine into the Mao doctrine.”  

Well, it is said that a cattlewoman is a person of female gender who looks after or owns cattle. I am certainly a female, and if you happen to stop by the creek valley, you will see two cattle contentedly grazing in the middle pasture, so I suppose that I might be considered a cattlewoman, though I truly have my doubts. 

I woke up the morning of June 18 with a surprising thought. The Hillsboro High School class of 1968, of which I am a member, had its 55th reunion the previous evening, June 17 at the Orpheum in uptown Hillsboro. The thought was this: How are you supposed to feel when your 55th reunion is now in the rearview mirror? Old? Over the hill? Washed up?  

I will continue to advocate for policies to enhance the future of this great nation, because our children and grandchildren deserve a future filled with prosperity and success. I wish everyone a safe and happy Father's Day.