Intervention

Editorials

Written by Don Ratzlaff Wednesday, 31 October 2007 13:15

The idea of Marion County law enforcement agencies conducting a training exercise to take out an “active shooter” in one of our schools would have been an unimaginable scenario 20 years ago. Maybe even 10 years ago.

The 1999 massacre at Columbine High in Colorado—the most notable of a sad series of in-school shootings—changed our way of seeing the world. Then, the shooting of Amish school children in Pennsylvania last October taught us that the danger to the most innocent of kids comes from beyond as well as within school walls.

It only takes one unbalanced person to spread terror. Only one.

Even as courageous officers train to save us from the unimaginable, each of us must grow more proficient at recognizing and breaking down...

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Free papers subsidize your stamp

Partly Nonsense

Written by Joel Klaassen Wednesday, 07 November 2007 13:50

Most people probably haven’t stopped to think about the value ofreceiving free publications like the Free Press in the mail, inaddition to the content. The latest figure I read was that thecircu­la­­tion of free papers in this country is about 90 millioncopies per week. A majority of these are sent through the U.S. mail.

 

What that means is that your first-class postage stamp is subsidized a great deal by saturation mailers like us. The average family doesn’t spend thousands of dollars per week on postage stamps yet is able to send a birthday card to grandma anywhere in the United States for only 41¢.

Couldn’t happen without the revenue from the big mailers.

We recently ran a front page story about the feral cat...

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Editorials

Editorials

Written by Don Ratzlaff Wednesday, 24 October 2007 11:15

A new call

The news that Tabor College has found its next president is good for the institution and those of us who see the profound importance the college plays in the economic, cultural, educational and spiritual health of the Hillsboro community.

We are familiar with the search committee’s selection, Jules Glanzer, from past associations. His professional career has taken new directions during the ensuing years. We have confidence in the judgment of the search committee to know how he has been shaped and now equipped for the presidency. But from past connection, we know the president-elect to be a man of rock-solid character and a compassionate heart. We look forward to his service in our community and beyond. —DRWinners 

Fall...

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Cancer was unexpected challenge

Partly Nonsense

Written by Joel Klaassen Wednesday, 31 October 2007 13:10

I never expected to hear the words, “you have cancer.” Not in a million years. But I heard them on Sept. 11—and that it was prostate cancer in the early stages and would be curable with surgery.

I don’t share this story looking for sympathy. I want to share it because I learned that prostate cancer will affect one in 11 men during a lifetime and that the knowledge I gained might be helpful for someone else.

It’s been quite a journey since July, when my regular blood work showed my Prostate-Specific Antigen was slightly elevated but had spiked quite a bit since the last PSA. The PSA is the bench line for gaining clues to the possibility of prostate cancer—and it doesn’t hurt one bit. From here on, though, it does hurt a...

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