Columns

The electronic cigarette or vape industry has recently come under fire with the United States Food and Drug Administration, and many states are passing sweeping bans and other sanctions. A study of 11,000 people conducted by the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information survey found that positive public opinion of vaping has sharply declined. The information creates a few questions: are we witnessing the death of an industry or an outburst of public hysteria? We first need to understand how the problem developed. In the last two decades, the vaping industry has rapidly gone mainstream. Companies like Blu and Juul have taken the world by storm by promising a safe alternative to...

Okay, what happened to fall? We are not ready for winter so we have fun things going on at the library to take your mind off of the cold.   On Thursday, Nov. 7, Angela is hosting a Downton Abbey themed tea and coloring party. Refreshments will be served and supplies will be provided to make place car...

By Deborah Sogge-Kermani for the local Bahá’í community Dear Friends! We stand at the edge of a precipice. In our community and in localities around the world, vulnerable children and disheartened youth are falling over the cliff. Driven by hopelessness and misery, abandonment and abus...

As a kid, I took Halloween seriously. I mean, heck, there was only one day out of the whole year where candy was free and Halloween was it.  Making the most of the night was paramount to sugar success. We had a limited amount of time before our neighbors shut off their porch lights and went to bed, s...

OK! Ever questioned why we use it without a second thought? As a native English speaker, certain words are spoken habitually; such is the case with the word OK. Where did it come from? Why do we use OK so much? OK’s story begins in the late 1830s in Boston when the fad of using misspelled abbreviati...

I buy him treats because I can (my teenager who now looks down on me by about eight inches). My teenager thinks he doesn’t need his mom anymore, and he’s probably mostly correct, sigh. So, I surprise him with treats. Small things I know he likes. I leave them in places where he will find them:...

Once upon a time, having a job at a newspaper meant working in one of the most imposing buildings in town, inhaling the acrid aroma of fresh ink and the dusty breath of cheap newsprint and feeling mini-earthquakes under our feet every time the presses started to roll. For those of us old enough to remember t...

For centuries, citizens have turned to their local news publication for local breaking and investigative news, as well as to learn about hot-button issues in their communities. In the last 15 years, with the rise of digital communications, many readers have changed their preferences to digital formats and so...

Life has not always worked out like I planned. And here’s the thing – the more unplanned it becomes the more I learn, the more I grow – and trust. The better everything becomes. I haven’t always embraced this concept. What can I say? I have control issues. But the more you try to harn...

Fall is upon us and with falling leaves come rising program opportunities. There is so much going on at the library in October, we hope you will be able to attend at least one of our exciting events. On Thursday, Oct. 3, at 5:30 p.m., the library is hosting an author reading and signing for the book, &ldq...