By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher At my house, the forsythia has burst into bloom, and under the birdfeeder, a Baltimore oriole has been frantically scratching through the sunflower hulls in search of a tasty bug. Orioles are not keen on birdseed, much...
Rural crime appears to be on the rise
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Here at the County Line, we have accumulated quite an archive of local history. Folks clean out the attic, bundle up the stuff that is hogging space but is too good for the landfill, and deposit it here. And we also have stuff...
Anonymous comments can ruin lives
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher The newspaper business has no shortage of annoyances, but right up at the top of the list are the anonymous letter writers. They come in the mail, and, at times, we get a call first asking if we will print a letter about this or...
NCAA has trademarks on the commonplace
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher No one would characterize me as a devoted sports fan, but even I watched the last minutes of the matchup between Wisconsin and Kentucky and felt a pang of sadness when the Badgers lost by one lousy point. Of course, I can't...
AWOL County Line issue arrives on April Fools Day
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher To rephrase an old Kingston Trio folk song, And did they ever return, No they never returned And their fate is still unlearned In the song's case, it was a "he" who was condemned to ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston on...
Medical crises pose range of pitfalls
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher First, a mea culpa: I am the reason this space has been empty the last few weeks. But I am NOT, repeat, NOT, the reason your papers are arriving late. The reason rests with the United States Postal Service, which evidently is on...
Say farewell to Avalanche. Maybe.
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Vernon County is littered with unincorporated towns. Wikipedia lists 23, some of them familiar to most of us, such as Rockton, Bloomingdale and my all-time favorite, Bud. Others like Folsom, Fargo and Purdy are less familiar....
Assumptions lead us down a dangerous path
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher "About Time" is a cute British movie about a young fellow who learns he can travel back in time. As an awkward teenager he attempts to seduce his sister's friend and fails miserably. Several years later, he encounters her at a...
My own winter of discontent
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher "The Winter of our Discontent" is not only a John Steinbeck title, but also an accurate summary of the way most of us must surely feel these days. The 1961 novel was the last of Steinbeck's career before his death in 1968. It's...
Let's get rich by browsing the Web, right?
By KAREN PARKER | County Line Publisher Money, money, money. It's a subject of never-ending interest. How do we get more, save more and earn more on what we have? The Internet is the solution. At least it must be, considering the number of emails that flood my mailbox...
