"When a shoelace advertisement manages to trigger forgotten memories" by: Jessica Shepard

I saw a local boutique advertising “ribbon” shoelaces on Facebook over the weekend and for some reason, it seeped into some long-lost crevasse in my brain to unlock some forgotten core memory.

"The more information, the less I know " by: John Sample

A holiday-shortened trading week that finds indexes and averages close to all-time highs.    Last week, we had the CPI and PPI reports revealing that the inflation rate is at 3% instead of 2%.    The market seemed to shrug and move on.

PSA: What to know before ‘reversing’ your retirement

After working for decades, you may have been looking forward to retiring.  But what if you decide to “reverse” your retirement?

"Reel Reviews: ‘Back in Action’ isn’t memorable despite A-List leads" by: Jessica Shepard

Every once in a while, I’ll come across a movie that makes me wonder why it was even made.  Due to some scheduling overlaps, I ended up viewing Netflix’s “Back in Action” last week.  Honesty, I find nothing worthy of reporting outside of how annoying the children are.

‘Embracing emotional intelligence’

We’re living in a highly charged, politically motivated environment that’s been brewing for the last decade with a socio-economic impact that we’re watching unfold right before our eyes in 2025; not to mention, on  the tail end of a  pandemic.

"I wish council would support transparency over closed meetings" by: Mike Reddell

There seems to be a lot of moving parts in what City Council is trying to do with the City Charter and it seems this doesn’t end well for public transparency.

"Due diligence, proper research affect everything in life" by: Jessica Shepard

As a teen and young adult in college, I wasn’t a fan of research papers – especially the kind that were super restrictive.  It wasn’t necessarily the amount of required sources or even the type of sources, I really disliked having to write on a topic I didn’t believe or have interest in.

"It’s difficult to decide nowadays whether to be optimistic or not" by: John Sample

The next phase of tariffs were announced this week to impact steel and aluminum.    We shall see if this is just a bargaining chip or something we are going to have to live with for some time.    We made it through the Mag 7 earnings which were as expected but not greater than.

"Letter to the Editor: Steven Reis: Honor your relationships with people in your life, not in memory of them"

Dear editor,  I heard of the death of my best friend from law school.   Without thought, I set other things aside to make the long drive for visitation.   I didn’t know his family nor his friends - they were from a different time in his life.

"Letter to the Editor: A suggestion for City Council member to share quick meeting summary in newspaper"

Bay City Sentinel,  I just wanted to say how much I appreciated your recent piece on the proposed city charter change.   Your thoughts on why one monthly meeting isn’t enough struck a chord with me.