Quick-fire topics on a lovely day

Normally this space is accustomed to taking a deep dive into one particular topic or problem to address. On this occasion, it’s time to fire off some quick hitters for a change.

Thankful for property renovation work

Dear Editor: On behalf of my husband and myself, we would like to say “thank you” to the City Council, Toby Anders, Johnny and Tina Dixon, and their crew for the work put into the properties of 405, 405.5 and 407 S. 10th St.It has been an amazing transformation!

The ‘fire first, figure it out later’ strategy

President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have been rapidly firing federal workers with little consideration for which ones are critical to government functioning. So now, the Energy Department is scrambling to rehire people abruptly let go from the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Re-entry takes on a whole new meaning

All over America that Friday in November 1963, college football teams boarded airliners for their Saturday games. They took off in one country, where John F. Kennedy was president and where optimism and idealism were in the air, and some hours later they landed in another country, where Lyndon B.

Respecting the Constitution

Dear Editor: The United States Constitution is as good today as it was when our founders wrote it. It just needs to be followed carefully, not changed. There are ads in the mail suggesting we need to change it.Constitutional Convention, or Con-Con, is exactly that: a dangerous con game.

It takes a calling

Not everyone is cut from the same cloth. People are different with many various skills to offer their fellow human beings. One such skill is to leap into action when things get a little hairy.Those traits are shared by the local first responders.

Withdraw from Europe would be mistake

E uropean allies knew their relationship with the second Trump Administration would be challenging. Even so, the shocks they’ve received from Washington in recent days constitute a crisis. The warning, more or less: Shape up or the Americans are shipping out.Start with the Ukraine war.

Co-worker shares too much on the job

DEAR HARRIETTE: I need help dealing with a co-worker who shares way too much about their personal life.Every day at work, they corner me with long-winded stories about their relationship drama, family conflicts, financial struggles and even embarrassing medical details.

Who are Donald Trump’s role models?

Theodore Roosevelt modeled himself after Ulysses S.Grant. Franklin Roosevelt was a great admirer of his fifth cousin, Theodore Roosevelt.Lyndon Johnson and Joe Biden aimed to be latter-day Franklin Delano Roosevelts. Now Donald Trump sees himself as a modernday William McKinley.

Ice will always create problems

E arly Wednesday morning there was a loud boom ringing through the ether in Clinton, as a rare thunderstorm knocked loose freezing precipitation from the sky. This was the worst kind of moisture falling – ice.Nobody in their right mind has an affinity for ice.