Opinion

Almanac for Sept. 17, 2026

Today is Thursday, Sept. 17, the 260th day of 2026. There are 105 days left in the year. On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Also on this date: In 1862, more than 3,600 men were killed in the Civil War Battle of Antietam (an-TEE'-tum) in Maryland. In 1908, Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge of the U.S. Army Signal Corps became the first person to die in the crash of a powered aircraft, the Wright Flyer, at Fort Myer, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The ...

Remembering September 11

We had no idea what was about to happen. The setting is Starker Gym, Fort Hood Texas. Our son, a 3-year Iraqi war vet, was coming home after his first tour and we were going to Texas to greet him. The soldiers were supposed to be at Ft. Hood by 4 p.m. Steve called us from Maine, explaining the plane was having mechanical problems and they wouldn’t be there until 1 a.m. We didn’t care… he was coming home! We were one of the first to walk into the gym at midnight. Our first surprise was when we noticed all the signs posted all around the gym. They were everywhere! As the gym began ...

The lynching epidemic that wasn't

Even paranoiacs have enemies, they say, but sometimes they are just paranoid. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a founding member of the Squad, organized 59 fellow Democrats to co-sign a letter demanding a federal investigation of a spate of supposed lynchings that never happened. The document ...

Editorial cartoon for Sept. 17, 2026

Editorial cartoon for Sept. 16, 2026

Once again it will be about turnout

Republicans are holding a unique midterm combination rally, get-out-the-vote convention in Dallas this week. The GOP hopes to raise enthusiasm (and money) for Republican candidates in the November election. One indication they are in trouble are polls that show Republican Senate candidate Ken ...