Pittsburgh has a different feel than any of the other American cities I have gone to in the course of building a news service. It is old, yet modern, busy but not too much, hip but not overly so. It is a steel city that lost its steel but found its way.
Read moreAccomplishing chrysalis in reverse, the court in Youngstown was caught at the moment it was metamorphosing from a traditional box-on-the-counter paper access court to a delayed access efiling court, a terrible sight to behold.
Read moreJust like the drink it holds, the flagon is emblematic of Ishigaki, as the islanders are considered according to themselves to be too laid back to get much accomplished. They drink and talk and play music, especially the samisen, a three-stringed instrument that has evolved from a 13th century Chinese ancestor.
Read moreThe hike was over steep and smooth volcanic outcropping and on for a couple miles to where a set of footholds in a smooth face allowed the nimble to climb into the slot canyon. I had seen plenty of pictures of the glorious red sandstone rendered by desert rainstorms over thousands of years into ovals and curving, liquid shapes.
Read moreA road trip to one of the national lands the president is doing his best to desecrate takes you to a place that is vast, stark, empty and stunning.
Read moreWhile pols and pundits remain in the thrall of a conspiracy story about Russia and Trump, a race is being run out in the heartland that will decide the course of the nation.
Read moreWith the day’s first cup of coffee in my hand, and about to take a swim at a Hilton in Sonoma County, I happened to walk by the FOX screen in the lobby and saw our ever-present president delivering his two-hour CPAC stemwinder. I paused. And then I was hooked.
Read moreWhile he is undeclared and maybe too far left for all of America, Courthouse News staff in Texas see a candidate who rocks the house.
Read moreThe vines had decided spring was in the air. And if I waited much longer at all, the sap would be rising in them. And then trying to prune the shoots is a form of mayhem, with the life-giving liquid dripping rapidly from every cut.
Read moreAs the year comes to a close, we can look back on a tumultuous and, in the long run, calamitous year. But we can hope to see a glimmering of better and more just times in America in the New Year.
Read moreThis time around, we were determined to do a better job on our election coverage. Two years ago, it was pretty pathetic.
Read moreAs I stood at the table to sign in for my ballot, an elegant, middle-aged black woman was just ahead of me. Her voice was subdued but clear, with the deeper timbre of age and experience, her diction betrayed a practice of speaking and a college education. With a sculpted face that had been beautiful and still was, she wore a tailored, perfectly pressed, deep-gray skirt and jacket of fine wool.
Read moreThere was a reason why my mother would never allow anyone to speak a word of German word in our house.
Read moreIt was a bright summer day in the tiny Breton town of Cuguen where my childhood family friends own a small country house, handed down through the family. The air was crisp and light, with an almost sensual quality, infused with the scent of flowers and the sweetness of thick grass and forest.
Read moreVisiting a Breton family brings back a memory of family tradition. Fresh bread from the boulangerie starts the day and a simple but delicious dinner winds it up, all accompanied by conversation and a glass of wine, around the kitchen table.
Read moreIn Moëlen-sur-Mer, I pushed open a wooden door opening onto a narrow walkway that lead to a stone house from the 16th or 17th century. High on a stone wall that abutted a small, very green backyard, lay an enormous cat, its dark gray and white colors very much like a Cheshire cat. It was staring straight at me. At my feet arrived a small dog whose name I later learned was Merlin.
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