columns

Despite my penchant for vacation disasters, our recent trip to Boston to see our son and his wife and dogsit the precious Penny, their 10-year-old Old English bulldog, went pretty well. Of course, we did have our rental car towed and weathered some gale force winds on Cape Cod, but...

The April 5 election is over and everyone is probably breathing a sigh of relief -- I know I am! There are people happy with the results and people who are unhappy. I am always intrigued with the April elections because they determine who will hold office in our own city, village,...

As I write this on Election Day morning, I have absolutely no idea how Hudson's school referendum will shake out. Will all three referendum questions pass? Will just one pass? Two out of three? Or will they all fail? I do know this, though, 15 hours or so before all the ballots are...

It’s funny how small the world can get some days. That occurred to me after bombs went off in Brussels. Mind you, I’ve never been to Belgium. Not even close. Yet I couldn’t help but wonder if some guys I encountered a couple years ago might have been victim to the horror. A...

The bad news, this is the first time in close to 20 years that I didn’t get to Florida for spring training. The good news -- I did get to Florida, but instead of Fort Myers, my wife and I went with my oldest son Donovan and his wife Michele and two children (Connor and John) to...

You have the right to know. Much like your right to speak freely without fear of government intervention, or your right to worship whatever deity you choose, or for the more sordid of us, your right to face due process in legal battles and have a jury decide your fate, you have the...

Should I write today about the upcoming schools referendum? Or should I write about baseball instead? Maybe I should write about something else. Maybe Friday the 13th, which arrives on Sunday this month? How about presidential politics? Nah, that would only make people depressed....

There are plenty of people of Scandinavian descent in our readership area -- I’m one of them. In fact, all four of my grandparents found their way to this country from Sweden in the late 1800s. I’ve always considered myself an American and haven’t taken the time to look into...

I remember when conservatives were the defenders of local control. That was when Democrats had some power in Madison. Now, with Republicans in charge of the Legislature and Scott Walker in the governor’s office the tables have turned. State Rep. Katrina Shankland, a Democrat from...

Well I’m back after having had a little work done -- not that kind of work -- don’t know where I’d start if it were that kind of work. No, I had rotator cuff surgery and survived it. I didn’t know anything about it before the pain in my shoulder just wouldn’t go away. Losing...

A friend writes: "Dear Chuck, I enjoy your columns, but please leave the meditations on sports and athletics to the vicarious crowd and JUST WRITE." Or words to that effect. The missive arrived almost a year ago, I think. I must've deleted it accidentally since, so I can't be sure...

By now you know the ‘Big Game,’ also known as the Super Bowl, is this Sunday. I can call it the Super Bowl because I’m writing it for news coverage (something the NFL loves). But heaven forbid if a business calls the Super Bowl -- well, the “Super Bowl.” The naming issue...

I don’t look forward to the Hudson Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau’s annual meeting and awards banquet with the same eager anticipation as my wife. She’s a past chamber member and chamber ambassador of the year. She truly gets excited about all things having to...

Well, it was only a matter of time. In the first half of the boys basketball game between River Falls and Hudson Friday night in Hudson, one of the Raider players was called for traveling and the River Falls student section started chanting, “You can’t do that!” How dare they!...