Opinion

It starts with the sound of a crying baby. A woman’s voice trembles as she tells whoever answers the phone that her newborn hasn’t eaten since last night.

Family is the thread that stitches our lives into something meaningful even when those stitches aren’t always neat or perfect. If there’s anything this past year has taught me, it’s that time with the people we love is the most sacred currency we’ll ever hold. Once it’s spent, it’s gone. No rewrites. No do-overs. Only the memories we carry forward.

After my dog Percy died earlier this year, the house turned quiet in a way that settled deep. Food bowls stayed lined against the wall, still clean, the couch cushion he claimed kept its dip for months and silence filled every corner once full of sound and movement.

Falling in love never announces itself with fireworks or grand gestures. More often, it slips quietly into ordinary moments – the laughter lingering in the car after a long drive, silence somehow feeling full instead of empty or a steady rhythm of another person’s presence that starts to feel like home.

As Domestic Violence Awareness Month comes to a close, many may remember last year’s viral question: “Would you rather be alone in the woods with a bear or a man?” For countless women and gender-diverse people, the answer remains instant – the bear.

Parenting doesn’t always break your heart in loud or dramatic ways. Most of the time, it’s quieter. It happens when the house is still, the workday feels endless and you suddenly realize your child has been waiting for you to notice the time slipping by. It’s the kind of heartbreak that doesn’t come from a single moment but from the slow awareness that love, no matter how strong, sometimes gets buried beneath responsibility.

I don’t normally write about sports, as my usual stories focus on city council meetings, court proceedings or features about community members. However, for the third year in a row, I happily found myself at Chiefs training camp with my press badge on, notebook ready and my heart open to whatever I might learn, and I do mean learn.

It didn’t used to feel like this. Somewhere along the way, the ability to disagree without destroying one another slipped through our fingers.

Dear Editor, We are a group of concerned citizens, some of whom live in Clay County and some of whom live in the City of Mosby. We have attended several Mosby public hearings and regularly scheduled council meetings wherein the topic of the annexation of the additional 89 acres to be leased to Ideker Inc. by David Rhodus and family has been discussed. It is well known the Rhodus family intends to lease these 89 acres to Ideker Inc. for quarry operations.

As I near the end of my second term as Chief Justice, I would like to share the incredible journey I’ve had visiting all 46 judicial circuits in Missouri over the past two years. My statewide tour was one of the most meaningful experiences of my career, aimed at showing appreciation to the hardworking court staff who keep our judicial system running smoothly every day. These individuals often work behind the scenes and don’t receive proper appreciation. They are at the forefront of addressing many challenges facing our local communities and work diligently to help address these issues. Their contributions are vital to serving the people of our state.