October 1 is National Homemade Cookie Day!!!! Bakers everywhere rejoice as they fire up ovens around the Nation to bake a few batches of cookies to celebrate. Ok, maybe not so many, but I was so excit...

“God created babies to entertain people,” says Jacob, age unknown. “They entertain by looking cute and talking baby talk. For some reason, people find it entertaining. Personally, I think it is silly....

DEAR ABBY: I took exception to your response to “Former Friend in Oregon” (July 1), who vaped marijuana while visiting a friend in the presence of the friend’s 12-year-old future stepdaughter. The fri...

Over the past two months, the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy has had the pleasure of traveling to different venues around the state to learn about programs supporting children and families. The...

I’m hoping that most of the residents of Okmulgee County know that the Okmulgee Area Development Corp. (OADC) is your local resource for economic development services. I know many of the residents thi...

DEAR ABBY: When I found out a few months ago that my husband of 24 years had been having affairs with several men, it devastated me. I have gone to counseling to try to deal with the pain and depressi...

I don’t know if levitation is exactly the right word. I’m looking for a word that fits with something that happened to me one day that is kind of a wondrous thing, at least to me. You see, we were on ...

I’m not completely sure what caused me to pray a certain prayer. But through my young adult years, I routinely came to God with this one request. “Lord, please increase my desire for you.” There was o...

Fall really announced itself nicely this week with a cool down. It was so nice Tuesday and Wednesday. The evenings were just beautiful. I opened the door Wednesday morning and it was so crisp and cool...

We are now less than one month away from 202 Fall Forum, the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy’s annual conference which develops our legislative agenda. This gathering of our members and advocate...

DEAR ABBY: I was deeply hurt after going to a barbecue at my oldest daughter’s home. It was to celebrate my granddaughter’s fourth birthday. My daughter’s husband is from Thailand. He barbecued beauti...

It was Christmas. The family had gathered. The presents had been opened and preparations for the big family dinner were underway. We had planned a simple worship time at the church for that morning, f...

DEAR ABBY: I am a guy who is 27. I have always been somewhat shy and reserved, but I do like people and I like mixing. After more than a year of being “locked down” during the COVID-19 pandemic, altho...

Who on earth wants to enter a profession or trade they will come to hate? Training for a life as a bull rider when you are wired to work with spread sheets for an accounting firm is a path that just m...

Fall is just around the corner and the days will soon be cooling down. Fingers crossed because it’s supposed to happen next week! YAY! People walking by the windows of our downtown office will go from...