Commentary: Words matter and last Tuesday the Fernandina Beach city commission chambers were witness to the most hateful three-minute rant likely ever uttered during the meeting's public …

My father had the ability to talk to anyone anywhere. Color, status, clothing, education or religion meant nothing to him. He valued each person. He would endlessly embarrass me, calling me over to …

I am relocating in a few weeks. My mind is as messy as my garage. My thoughts are piled like my things. They mixed up in a variety of “to-do” lists. I haven’t moved in 12 years. …

I would never make light of the destruction and heartache caused by the compound storms and political chaos of our time. I had scheduled an art tour to our nation’s capital and I was fortunate …

My home of 12 years is for sale. I supervised the building of it from New Jersey as I was concluding my ministry of 13 years in that location. I was excited to have a home of my own in a beautiful …

Piles of debris line our streets. Chainsaws roar and hammers bang. We are cleaning up. The howling wind was scary. We were brushed by the outer bands of Hurricane Helene as it tore northward on its destructive path.

I had a busy day and was tired. I took a nap. I slept longer than I had planned. I had to go to the grocery store before the day’s end. I got myself together and set out. I got what I needed …

This time of year, health journalists typically write stories focusing on the upcoming cold and flu season. We ask about predictions for various respiratory illness outbreaks and detail changes in …

My old glasses were pranksters. They hid on an obscure shelf in the garage, snickering gleefully while I looked for them in the house and in the front yard. It wasn’t until I went searching for …

Fernandina Beach property owners dodged a bullet Tuesday night over a proposal that, if approved, had the potential to devastate the tranquility of city neighborhoods. PUD is the acronym, and you need to care about the peril that changes to requirements of a planned unit development would have on our town.

I got new glasses. Getting new glasses was not a fashion decision. I needed to see more clearly. My prescription had not changed much after last year’s checkup. I postponed the expensive …

In 1986, the popular singer-songwriter Billy Joel released his album’s title song, “A Matter of Trust," as a single. It was an instant hit. Listeners related …

It's not rocket science. Mayor Badley Bean has said RYAM building a bioethanol plant in the city is "a no-brainer."

As the Fernandina Beach city commission election approaches, Mayor Bradley Bean's rhetoric has taken a troubling turn. While it is typical for election campaigns to highlight …

If you have traveled around Florida, and especially if you have traveled State Road 200/A1A, you know what these are: Bob’s Barricades! These highway icons come in all shapes and sizes. They …

While reorganizing an endless flow of paper, I came across old files I had saved. As you might guess, I stopped cleaning and looked through them. I found a file of poems I wrote in college in a …

Earlier this week, I listened to an episode of “On Point,” on WJCT called “The Intelligence of Orcas.” The marine scientist, Dr. Naomi Rose, spoke about the huge increase in …

A comfortably full crowd gathered in the Peck Center auditorium to listen, talk and learn together about the issues involving the connection between church and state on Wednesday evening August 7. …

I recently started watching the TV series “The Bear”on Hulu. You have to put up with a lot of yelling and cursing (I mean A LOT) to get into the story and learn about the ensemble cast. …

My cousin who is a pastor here in Florida recently posted on Facebook something I made reference to in my commentary of June 23 -- the Slave Bible. He found out more about it than I had known. …