John Derby

Brain Drain is a big problem for our valley communities. Many of our best students go off to college and never return. They find college sweethearts, high-paying jobs, more excitement, get married, and that is the last we see of them. It is like a curse. Here in the valley, we need the best and the brightest; however, all too often,…

At the rate this summer is going, it could be rated as the "Not-So-Hot" summer. The weather man is certainly throwing some unusually beautiful weather at…

The wedding was planned for Sept. 18, and the groom had waited six years to marry his bride. The bride's father was reluctant to give his daughter in…

"I used to own the place where you work," said the man at the Atwater Restore Store. "I am sorry you must be mistaken," I replied. “I know the complete history of the place where I have worked as a newspaperman for so many years. It was once a church — the First Presbyterian Church of Winton — and it was originally built in 1918 with the…

As the publisher of this grand newspaper, and turning 85 this week, I look back at the more than 60 years of being a newspaperman, and I can’t think of a…

The last figure we saw was over 65,000 Afghans were being flown out of Afghanistan to somewhere; however, it did not say where. Are we willing to have some of them live in our town? Many of us are Christian, God-fearing people. The right thing to do is to welcome them into our community and our homes. After all, they were there for the…

We do not know what it was like during World War II, only what we read in books; however, today must have many comparisons. First of all, the war went on…

There was a time when COVID-19 was at its peak and businesses were shutting their doors at a rapid pace. Paying people a bonus when they lost their job was…

This is the first time in my life I have had to depend on a well for my water, and I have been seriously thinking of letting my lawn go dry. However, it would be the only lawn on the whole block which would be dry. Then as fate would have it, the Saturday of July 4th weekend, I woke up, and there was no water. The well had gone dry. At…