Fess Parker, 85, died Thursday... What we read Thursday reminded us of one wonderful evening in 2004, when we had several hours of great food and wine, good songs and stories with, can you believe it, Davy Crockett and Daniel ...

Suppose friends tell you they are working to defeat all 435 members of the US House of Representatives in November. Your reaction — “Are you nuts?” or at least, “Yeah, right.” However, more than 65,000 Americans have said, “Sign me ...

Way back when, say two or three years ago, which is way back when in our big screen and small screen digital world, we had an informal rule for cocktail parties.

“At first we thought it was just a little tremor,” said Rebecca Fleming. She was in a hotel room in Santiago, Chile’s capital, at 3:30 a.m., having flown there earlier that day in her role as a Delta Air Lines ...

The term T.G.I.F. resonates in offices, shops and other workplaces around here, but in some banks, employees and managers are more likely to whisper to themselves on Friday nights, T.G.F.O., or “Thank God Friday is Over.” And for good reason.

Some people try to have an impact on public issues in a positive way and some don’t. Marco Island has some of both. It’s tempting to call it a good guys/bad guys story but it’s not that simple. It’s more ...

Fox News correspondent Jim Angle jokingly describes his job in moderating the former President George W. Bush and former Gov. Jeb Bush appearance here on Feb. 16 as “the Barbara Bush” role. “My job will be to say, ‘Now, now ...

Darn it! How does one write a column about foul language without using any? Cursing (aka “cussing”) and other nasty talk seems an increasingly normal part of the national patois these days. Patricians, peasants and the rest of us too ...

We can call them misers, bean counters, penny-pinchers. Or skinflints, tightwads and cheapskates. Whatever the name-calling in the wake of the Marco Island City Council elections, the point is clear: The council has two new members who promise to make ...

The “I’s” have it in American political life right now, but it’s not clear how much of this churning of the system is at work in our local and state elections. Nationally, all eyes are on the two “I” factors ...

Now that Sarah Palin has become a FOX News contributor, a fun winter season is assured throughout America, including us here in Southwest Florida. Bloggers, columnists and other bias-blathering media types have been sulking, having had only minimal chances lately ...

Something happens to self-esteem when it becomes obvious that your grandsons, ages seven and 10, are better golfers than you are. But for a couple of reasons, it’s not the ego buster you might imagine. First, I never picked up ...

Predicting the future is a growth industry. From Madame So-and-So’s palm reading parlor to bloated Washington think tanks to Nostradamus, telling us today what will happen tomorrow is a way to make money even in a down economy.

About this time 39 years ago I observed my most unusual Christmas ever. Not the best, but unique and memorable. ABC News assigned me to spend December in Cairo, Egypt, to cover whatever might happen there. Absolutely nothing was going ...

Once every couple of years I get an itch to have a garage sale. I’ve had a few, enough to know not to try it again, but something draws me back. Garage sales are popular, part of Americana, perhaps more ...