By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher I was rummaging around last week for information on the now-gone Ontario dam and thought to look at an old copy of the Kickapoo Pearls. If you are too young or too new to the area or have a lapse in memory, four editions of the...
Municipal boards should consider taping meetings
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Woe to the Wilton Village Board, which prepared a "thank you for your service and goodbye" letter to Wilton-Norwalk Police Chief Steve Johnson based on a story in last week's County Line, and woe to the Sparta Herald, which...
Fourth of July a uniquely American celebration
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Here comes Independence Day, and I think we all ought to take a moment to recall our second president, John Adams, who was so annoyed with the July 4 date that he absolutely refused to take part in any celebrations. The...
Teen on quest to help the hungry
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Readers often tell me this corner of the paper is the most read, so pardon me while I use it for my own devious ends. In Ontario, we are in need of a few items for the educational exhibits at the Palen Park renovation. One is a...
Country life gives close-up view of nature's inequities
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Living in the country is hard on us softies. The flat cat on the highway, the alfalfa field that froze out, the death of a favorite tree all occur with enough regularity to make one feel that living on the 10th floor of a high...
Visitors remind us of region's beauty
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher 'Tis the season for road trips, at least for some people. I like a good road trip myself, but it's almost as fun watching the swarms of people passing through Ontario on a summer weekend. Like bugs on a windshield, there are too...
Is Post Office declining by design?
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher It is an improvement. A few months ago, the County Line disappeared into the USPS black hole for two weeks. This time it was for only five days. It would be nice if we could print each newspaper with little legs so that each one...
Local government goes beyond the mundane
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Pity the poor headline writer thrashing about for a catchy phrase that would draw the reader into a story that, at its core, is just plain dull. Board meetings are often like that. Most months consist of necessary but tedious...
State report offers insights on rural life
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher I was killing time the other day, reading customer reviews of local hotels on the Web, when I came across several that made me chuckle. In every instance, the writer was simply appalled at the offerings available to a visitor to...
Wisconsin GOP needs to review history of secession attempts
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Those darn Republicans: They certainly know how to ruin journalists' dreams. Last week at their state convention, they voted down a resolution to retain the right to secede from the United States under "extreme circumstances."...
