(This week’s civic education and engagement column from Danville’s The Republican newspaper.) When you’re an elected official for 23 years, you make a lot of decisions both large and small. Most of the time, you’re confident you’ve made the right call. But there are some you come to regret. One decision our school board made … Read more
As published in Inside Indiana Business, March 26, 2026 People are often flummoxed when they learn I’ve never taken a class in writing, yet somehow manage to earn a living at it. I give much of the credit for that to a salesman three decades my senior. Many writers have influenced and informed the work … Read more
(This week’s civic education and engagement column from Danville’s The Republican newspaper.) People like me who pay close attention to local government eagerly await the filing deadline. That’s the date by which people who want to run for most local government offices have to submit a petition signed by at least a specified number of … Read more
(This week’s civic education and engagement column from Danville’s The Republican newspaper.) Decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court have shaped our nation and our daily lives. When students at local high schools recently decided to join their counterparts nationwide and stage walkouts to protest federal immigration enforcement tactics, the name “Tinker” quickly became a common … Read more
(This week’s civic education and engagement column from Danville’s The Republican newspaper.) Anytime I’m talking to Hoosiers and happen to mention the fact that property tax dollars aren’t used to pay teacher salaries, their reaction is best described as stunned. There was a time when local property taxes were the primary source of classroom funding, … Read more
(As published in Inside Indiana Business 3/5/26) Education and self-improvement generally play critical roles in personal success. The more we learn, the greater the opportunities available to us, and the better our ability to take advantage of those opportunities. But is it possible to be too smart for our own good? I’m convinced that for … Read more
(This week’s civic education and engagement column from Danville’s The Republican newspaper.) One of the reasons you can sleep soundly at night is that you and your neighbors are being protected by a network of top-quality law enforcement agencies and a judicial system tasked with punishing those who break the law and deterring others from … Read more
When local government officials mention a lack of funding – such as the consequences of last year’s property tax “reform” – there’s always an immediate outcry from many in the community. “They need to learn to stay within their budgets! After all, we have to!” And they do. They’re legally required to stay within their … Read more
(This week’s civic education and engagement column from Danville’s The Republican newspaper.) We send our children to our county’s public schools expecting that they’ll receive the preparation they need to become productive, self-sufficient adults. We talk a great deal about the challenges of an increasingly global economy and often fret about whether our kids will … Read more
(This week’s civic education and engagement column from Danville’s The Republican newspaper.) Social media chatter sites are one of the worst ways to learn about local government or issues. A handful I’ve seen are well-moderated, but the majority are a consistent source of misinformation, generating unproductive hysteria and unnecessary anger. That worries me because Facebook … Read more