"Local graduations serve as reminder of personal growth" by: Jessica Shepard

As the local classes of 2025 start graduating high school, I’m reminded of my own almost 20 years ago.  Recently, I’ve had conversations with former classmates on how our lives have progressed, and have heard that I haven’t changed much since then.

"Perhaps the tariffs were not as negative as advertised" by: John Sample

What a difference a week makes yet again.  On the news of advancing trade talks with China and a deferral of tariffs for 90 days you had the S&P 500 climb back over the 200 day moving average.  This came on the heels of an outline to an agreement with the UK.

PSA: What comes after, ‘I Do?’

The month of June is near, and that means a lot of weddings are planned.  If a marriage is in your future, think about it as the union of your families and your finances.  Begin with conversations not so much about money itself, but about the things that matter to you.

"Reel Reviews: Netflix’s ‘Havoc’ falls short of being noteworthy despite well-known lead" by: Jessica Shepard

I don’t know how many other folks have specific actors and actresses that they’ll follow across movie genres, but I’m pretty guilty of doing that myself.Most of the time the movies turn out fairly decent or at least don’t make me regret the time spent watching them for too long.

‘Emotional Reconnaissance’

Reconnaissance is a term primarily used in the military signaling the intention to seek out a target’s proximity and landscape revealing hidden weaknesses and vulnerabilities during the fact-finding stage of a mission.

"Hailstone size once a measure of credibility" by: Mike Reddell

That was quite the five-minute storm Monday afternoon.    Began with darkened skies to the southwest and moved through Bay City.    It was the first time many of us had seen hail. Marble-sized, but hail nonetheless.

"May always seems to feel strangely bittersweet, nostalgic" by: Jessica Shepard

It’s still hard to believe we’re already into our second press week of May.    In the office, our coverage calendar is filling up with events – sometimes doubling up to two or more a day!

"Just when you were sure the economy tanked you woke to a bright new world" by: John Sample

If you are looking for things to settle down, good luck.      We did have a nine-day move up in the S7P 500 for a 10% gain. We moved up to almost 5700, almost up to the 200-day moving average.      It is good not to worry about the bottom falling out.

PSA: Be alert for caregiver financial abuse

Do you have a parent or other elderly relative who may soon need a caregiver?    You’ll need to be diligent about finding the right person for the job - because choosing the wrong one could lead to financial problems.

"Reel Reviews: Thunderbolts* brings MCU morally gray antiheroes together" by: Jessica Shepard

I don’t know if anyone else has started experiencing “superhero fatigue” due to an oversaturated market, but I sure am!    Superhero fatigue was coined in 2019 and seems relevant when anyone looks at the box office and television show lineups since then.