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Common Thoughts, Common Sense

'The 30 nicest people you ever want to meet'

It started when former News-Press editor Mark Sheehan made a call out to the community for anyone interested in jazz. ... Read more

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A bitter pill to swallow

On July 5, 1999, I came to work that Monday morning and read this e-mail: “By the time you read this, I will be dead.” ... Read more

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Thank a good teacher

Each one had to maneuver through the crowd of tables when their names were called. Some ran. Some cheered. Some walked slowly, taking it all in. ... Read more

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Authenticity something to strive for

The old man sat in his living room surrounded by guests. A polite, mannerly, pinkie-in-the-air, pass-the-teapot type of gathering. Then he passed gas. ... Read more

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One person can stand up to hatred

Randall Morris Cox was a skinny little kid in the 1970s. He wrestled well at 98 pounds. Up against five guys, Randall knew all that 98 pounds would get him was a good butt-kicking with no change left. ... Read more

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Woman notes area memorials in book

You always look. Consciously or subconsciously. Even if for a few seconds, those handmade memorials on roadsides, highways and street corners pull your eyes and thoughts away from the road. ... Read more

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Anything is possible

The cashier wished me good luck when I bought the Mega Millions lottery ticket last week. I imagined she said that to all who had bought tickets that day, but I still felt the good tidings worked just for me. ... Read more

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Seeing the individual in everyone

Trayvon Martin looked just like most any other young black kid. He wore a hoodie, like many do nowadays. President Obama said if he had a son, he’d look just like Trayvon. ... Read more

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The terrible effects of war

By most accounts, William Allen was a good kid. Principals, teachers and his classmates at Mid-Buchanan School knew an easygoing, warm-hearted kid who wore camo everywhere and loved to play war games. ... Read more

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Scoring some Tide

In that netherworld between sleep and awake, I turned on the news Tuesday morning. The darkness of daylight saving time further confused my reality of time and place. ... Read more

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Of bucket lists and good food

From time to time, readers send in suggestions for columns they would like me to write. It’s usually never the political or controversial stuff they want. Mostly it’s stuff about my personal life or some experiences I’ve had. ... Read more

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Center was launch pad for legends

The Muchenberger Center never looked like the best place for a youth recreation center. It could be hazardous just getting there. ... Read more

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'Too much gov’ment, brotha'

Through the early morning fog I saw a familiar shape. With each step through the mist, the face came in clear. It was Bag-Head Jheri, the Messanie Street philosopher, in full effect. ... Read more

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Newspaper from past can bring new hope

When you work in the newspaper business for more than 20 years you collect a lot of stuff. ... Read more

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We're the survivors

One of the things I like about family reunions is getting to know all my relatives and about our family history. ... Read more

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Thanks, Uncle Don Briscoe

Don Briscoe had a voice made for narration. His deep, rich baritone and perfect diction made every conversation feel like it was part of a documentary. ... Read more

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Bullies never quite go away

Every few months or so, I get a call from some mother that her son is being bullied. They believe that if I write about it, that somehow the bullying will stop. ... Read more

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People must support Midtown

Where most people see decay and distress in Midtown, Carol Flury sees possibilities and advantages. ... Read more

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Lots to be mad about

After my wife began her new job, our phone service provider said we would get a discount on our bill. ... Read more

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Author argues addictive personality doesn't exist

Gary Clark found another culture he never knew existed while working in the alcohol and drug addiction treatment field. What he found was a culture that labeled every person in treatment as an addictive personality. ... Read more

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Somewhere in the middle, blessed

When my granddaughter Asia was born 11 years ago, I remember standing in the hospital nursery room window looking at all the newborns. Of course most of my attention was focused on her, but I couldn’t help but notice all the other children. There were black babies, white babies and Hispanic babies. None of them were rich or poor. They didn’t own anything yet. In fact, they didn’t even know owning anything was important. They came into this world with nothing. No possessions. No fears. No prejudices. No political views. No religion. All they needed was love and caring. ... Read more

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Ease up, it's the holidays

The woman had just bought a large item, and the retail clerk kindly grabbed a large bag to help her put it in. The woman snapped. ... Read more

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Fun yule toys

We live in frugal times. Everyone looks for a bargain nowadays. I mean, we’ve got thousands of people who get up at 3 a.m., and risk falling asleep at the wheel, just to be first in line to get a $3 toaster. ... Read more

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Sad numbers with faces to them

The Kansas City Star said it was the city’s 101st homicide of the year. Police hadn’t released the victim’s name yet, but I already knew it from an early morning wake-up call. ... Read more

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Give thanks for our modern times

Imagine if the first Thanksgiving dinner was served in today’s political and social climate. For starters, there wouldn’t have been anybody at the table wearing waistcoats and wide-brimmed hats. ... Read more

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Do they believe what they say?

It sounded like roll call when my grandmother used to call me to dinner. She’d go through the whole list of uncles' names before finally remembering mine. When she finally hit on my name, she’d sort of yodel out her success. ... Read more

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Put away the belt

Where most people feared lions, tigers and bears, I feared straps, switches and belts as a kid. ... Read more

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Happy birthday, Chevy

Chevys are scattered throughout my life, My first car was a 1962 Chevy Impala. ... Read more

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Did Cain forget his roots?

My grandmother believed in hard work. Like many of the people in my family and my neighborhood growing up, she believed in the American work ethic. I often wonder if it’s what killed her. ... Read more

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Dressed to the nines with Bag

The large hulking figure moving through the Occupy St. Joseph crowd in front of City Hall Saturday afternoon looked like Bag Head Jheri, the Messanie Street Philosopher. ... Read more

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Redistricting roller coaster unsettles some

St. Joseph is pretty tribal for a town its size. We come real close to matching New York City with our many neighborhoods, enclaves, communities and territories. ... Read more

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Stand up to Wall Street bullies

You can have anti-bullying assemblies and bully hot lines. You can have strict anti-bullying policies. You can deluge the system with all the anti-bullying programs you want. ... Read more

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Bubble bursts for soaps

Mom used to need a new VCR about every two years. Too much soap opera drama wore them out. ... Read more

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'There is a light, there is a way'

The Rev. Robert Warren has seen his share of difficult times in 45 years on earth. He’s had financial troubles and health issues. ... Read more

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The solution is a matter of the heart

During the tea party debate, moderator Wolf Blitzer posed a hypothetical question about what to do with a young, uninsured American in a coma. ... Read more

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The world changed after 9/11

I can remember being 13 years old and thinking that things would never be the same after 1968. ... Read more

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Recognize those who do the work

I once worked with a guy who always said goodbye to his machine before going on vacation. He sounded as if he were saying goodbye to his wife. ... Read more

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With age comes flood of memories

A group of young people I know play this macabre game where they try to guess which celebrities will die this year. ... Read more

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Recognize differences without partiality

Some of my relatives and friends’ mothers used to be “The Help.” ... Read more

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Dreaming of fields minus friend

At 73 years old, Gilbert “Jeep” Kirby still has the slim, angular build he carried to the softball mound for more than 40 summers. ... Read more

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Gay or not, it doesn't really matter

The first time I saw a gay man was in Henry Matthew’s Barbershop down on Messanie Street in the early 1960s. ... Read more

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The extreme becomes routine

Little green orbs are just now beginning to form on our tomato plants. Tiny balls of cabbage are taking shape inside the leaves. ... Read more

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'Greed is the creed now, brutha'

Still groggy from all the Fourth of July smoke, food and revelry, the last person I wanted to see Tuesday morning was Bag-Head Jheri, the Messanie Street philosopher. ... Read more

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What would God really say to GOP?

It amazes me how some Republicans carry the Bible around, yet apparently never bother to read the New Testament. ... Read more

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All fashion faux pas are equal

Some might believe there’s a trend in attacking black fashion, from reading two unrelated news articles last week. ... Read more

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Knowing is the best present

Day by day, my father lives in Chicago. He lives there in a hospital bed until someone calls and tells me different. ... Read more

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Annual jazz event set for St. Joe

Somebody recently asked me what I liked about St. Joseph. The person was a newcomer who had relocated here from Chicago a few months ago because of his job and wanted to know what kind of a place he’d gotten himself into. ... Read more

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Making education a priority

While covering the St. Joseph public school graduations a couple of weeks ago, I looked for the class valedictorians and salutatorians at each school. I was surprised when I found out that both the valedictorian and salutatorian at Lafayette High School were black students. ... Read more

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Museum is a labor of love

When I asked Frank Flesher how the National Military Heritage Museum was funded, he reached for his back pocket. ... Read more

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Awaiting the end — again

The world as we know it will begin to come to an end this Saturday. I ask why Saturday? Why can’t the world end on Monday so I can have a real long weekend or on a Sunday when I’m dressed for it? ... Read more

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The boogeyman lives on

Our mothers used to tell us that the Boston Strangler would get us if we stayed out after the streetlights came on. ... Read more

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Hitting close to home

I finally watched the movie “The King’s Speech” last week. The movie, based on the true story of King George VI of England and his struggle to overcome a stuttering problem, won several Oscars this year. ... Read more

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A sick ‘reality’

All it takes is a stroll through the George Glore Psychiatric Museum to see how far we’ve come in treating the mentally ill. ... Read more

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All dogs go to heaven

The picture on jazz guitarist Bill Frisell’s CD, “Good Dog, Happy Man,” shows him sitting in a chair in the backyard with his collie. The photo illustrates the pastoral blues inside. The title says a lot about what it means to have a dog. ... Read more

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Better with age

Louise La Jeone gets tired of all the prejudice and discrimination. When she and her husband go to a fast-food restaurant, the clerk always asks her what her husband wants. Sure, she’s 69 years old and he’s pushing 89 and a walker, but his mind works fine and so does his mouth. ... Read more

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Sitting where a legend sat

The Billy Goat Tavern & Grill on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago looks like it belongs in a 1960s movie set. ... Read more

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Ruled by the wealthy

While driving home down Messanie Street last week, I saw a familiar figure. He was dressed a flannel shirt and baggy jeans with a plastic perm-keeper-bag on his head. Gone were the usual trash bags full of aluminum cans hanging from his hip. But no one looks like that except Bag-Head Jheri, the Messanie Street philosopher. ... Read more

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The right to spew hate

There’s a plastic magnet on my desk that has the words to the First Amendment on it. ... Read more

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Miracles stand like steeples

Genea Weston came home Monday. Family members and friends held a welcome home party for her at the St. Francis Baptist Temple, two blocks east from where she was shot in the head on Oct. 25. ... Read more

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Repeating mistakes

History doesn’t please everyone. There are parts of it many of us would rather forget. There are parts many of us don’t want to forget. ... Read more

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An outpouring of love

When I saw my cousin Genea Weston’s familiar bright smile on the front page of our paper last Sunday, all I could think of was God. ... Read more

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Please spend wisely

Some years ago, I heard a comedian at a Kansas City comedy show say he went to a black mall and the only thing sold there was tennis shoes, baby clothes and hair care products. Audience members, some in hair weaves and Air Jordans, responded with self-recognizing laughter. ... Read more

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Our history begins next door

Martin Rucker lived on Messanie Street back when it was considered a bad area. Martin, his mother and little brother lived in a small house on 17th and Messanie right next to the East Side Cafe. ... Read more

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Still fit after all those years

It makes sense that Jack LaLanne would die in January. That’s when the gyms are most full and everyone is on a diet. Most of America was still working on its No. 1 New Year’s resolution when the founder of the modern fitness movement died at the fit age of 96 last Sunday. ... Read more

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A thank you to Uncle Dave

Uncle Dave was the one with the cool reverb car stereo system and the box load of rhythm and blues eight-tracks. ... Read more

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Don’t just read it — understand it

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” ... Read more

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Sister doesn’t want anyone else to suffer

Jennifer Bonea saw her brother, Justin, suffer so hard with lung cancer before he died that she doesn’t want anyone else to go through it. ... Read more

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Christmas means family

The Christmas season began as soon as we put up the aluminum Christmas tree. Uncle Bunny set the colored light wheel just right, so as to make it look like the tree truly did turn red, yellow, green and blue. ... Read more

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Don’t take Christmas for granted

I went shopping last week and couldn’t find what I wanted. Sure, I got my wife, kids, mom, granddaughter and family dog gifts I hope they will like. I even got in on a few good sales and a Merry Christmas or two from folks not afraid to say so. ... Read more

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Some toys are just for fun

Come one, come all, St. Joe kiddies big and small, gather ’round and make a Christmas wish list. Yep! It’s that time once again to thumb through the exciting, colorful pages of the Alonzo Weston Catalog of Fictitious St. Joseph Toys. ... Read more

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Dancing bear bests Bristol

The rotund do-rag-wearing figure strutting toward me in the Ninth Street parking lot looked all too familiar. The two clanging trash bags full of aluminum cans fastened to his belt gave him away. ... Read more

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Pop offered reasons to give thanks

Pop just had to put out Christmas decorations last year. After all, it’s what he’s done right after Thanksgiving for the past several years. Every year he’d drag the dusty Santas, reindeers, elves, nativity scenes and tangled tons of lights out of the garage and create Christmas in his yard. ... Read more

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Wanted: Male leaders

Our heroes lived in the neighborhood. We didn’t consciously know them as heroes, but we looked up to and respected them as such. ... Read more

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Stress disappears by age 50?

I read about a recent study that claimed after age 50, daily stress and worry plummet and happiness increases. The study also said that on the flip-side, young adults experience more stress and anger than older people. ... Read more

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There's more to Midtown than bullets

My cousin, Genea Weston, lies in a Kansas City hospital today, fighting for her life. Her once-bright smile now covered by a respirator; her once-vibrant life sustained by tubes. ... Read more

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We're all in this together

I woke up a few months ago to some woman on our bedroom TV, screaming that we’ve got to take our country back. ... Read more

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Lights dim for one local rivalry

The Wathena High School football stadium never looked this crowded. ... Read more

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Doctor served with quiet dignity

It’s been several years since I’d seen Dr. DuMont. That’s why I didn’t know what to expect when I knocked on his door in Country Squire Residence retirement village Tuesday morning. ... Read more

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