Help ensure a healthy start to school year

August 6, 2026

It always seems like back-to-school time returns too quickly after the fun and freedom of summer. Yet now’s the time to begin looking toward this busy season when it comes to your family’s health care. Clinic appointments can get filled up, so call early to schedule back-to-school preventive checkups. Most health insurance plans cover an annual preventive visit for every member of your family. If you or your family members have not yet had this visit in 2026, consider scheduling now. This visit is an opportunity to check in with your provider on several points: • Current health ...

The pain of painting

August 4, 2026

The joys of home ownership are infinite. And by “joys” I mean “pain-in-the-patootie maintenance issues.” If a wife says to her husband, “I’m thinking about painting the living room,” what she really means is, “I want you to paint the living room.” The husband might reply, ...

Preparing today for tomorrow’s success

July 30, 2026

As we enter the final month of summer, our staff continues to prepare for the 2026-27 school year. One of the most visible projects this summer has been the reconstruction of the Marshall Middle School parking lot, and the transformation has been impressive. While the original lot had reached the point where replacement was necessary, it was also designed decades ago for a high school and no longer met the needs of a busy middle school campus. The new design places a much greater emphasis on safety and efficiency. Improvements include a dedicated drop-off and pick-up lane, updated ...

City completes construction of aquatic park

July 29, 2026

The city of Marshall recently completed the construction of The Splash, a new aquatic park for the region to enjoy. The project started in the spring of 2025 and due to high anticipation and expectations for the project, some answers to some common questions that we received before, during and most recently after completing this project: Why did the city construct a new aquatic facility? In 2018, the city conducted an assessment and study on the current facility. The study determined that the structures at the current facility are deteriorating, and many areas of the building do not ...

An airborne joyride

July 28, 2026

The exotic-looking gizmo sat on the tarmac, its bone-white paint gleaming in the summer sun. It’s a peculiar gadget, with two wings that are roughly the same length. Oddly, its elevator is located at the front of the fuselage instead of on the tail. It seemed out of place sitting on the ...

Recalling the day my dad lost his right arm

July 25, 2026

Writing a column isn’t usually physically challenging. Unless you count wracking my brain. Sometimes I pull a muscle in my cerebellum. Today I’m having to work at this. Wednesday morning, I had carpal tunnel surgery on my right wrist. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to type after that. But here I am, plunking away with a giant, clompy wrap around my right hand. Credit to Tylenol. My post-op instructions mention no strenuous activity for that hand. I’m not sure writing counts as strenuous. Finding the right words and pounding them together to build a sentence are heavy ...