Nothing says Happy Valentine’s Day like a fresh bouquet of flowers. Make sure your gift provides many days of enjoyment by selecting the freshest flowers and providing the best possible care.

Love them or hate them, you’ve got to admit Adam Sandler comedies can be really dumb. That’s exactly why “Billy Madison” sucked me in and why “Big Daddy” references come up in conversation from time to time.

All I first knew about Mardi Gras in high school was one of my friends had a pair of tan Timberland boots that came back a light gray because of everything he walked through in the French Quarter.

I know how to make a cup of coffee specific enough to my liking. I haven’t been electrocuted (yet) jumping off another vehicle. One time I even changed a broken part inside my washing machine so it could drain water again.

Maybe you needed to check a second, third or fourth news source Sunday afternoon when you heard the news that Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash. You definitely weren’t alone.

To the Editor,

As much of a thing as my grandparents not having to lock their doors back in the day was, being worried about falling prey to a scam is as much of a thing now. The past couple, three decades have taught us to keep our doors locked tight, but how do you keep predators out of your life?

If you read into this week’s 1A story about the transition of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office into a new term, you can see the message of people coming together for a common cause.

Improve your indoor and outdoor container gardening success with a quality potting mix. This can be more difficult than it sounds since you can’t see or feel the product you are about to buy. Ask your gardening friends for recommendations and once at the garden center, check the package and …

There are things we all want to run from and run towards. For so many people, both of these things meet somewhere in the middle two or three weeks a year when cashing in on vacation time.

Strawberry, lemon, mango, blueberry, cinnamon and cheesecake all sound like great flavors of your favorite sweet treat. The bright colors and smells can make your mouth water for a snack or give you the urge to take a drag from an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette).

I was born on the tail-end of the disco days and raised on the glam and glitz of the next decade. Life experiences started to trickle in as grungy and loud as the following decade could be and ever since the millennium rolled over, not quite as much has stuck out through life stages or pop culture.

Define the holiday season from Halloween to New Year’s Day however you’d like – turkey, fireworks shows or church services, and you get joy. Think back to this time of year any other month and you get the same thing – joy.

To the Editor:

Editor’s note: This column was written days before registered Amory voters decided if their town would allow alcohol sales or not.

To the Editor:

To the Editor:

I love telling the story about one day my junior year in high school when one of my Aberdeen friends happened to be in West Point for something and came to my school to hang out in the parking lot during break.

Wedged between a spike in Halloween activities and the onslaught of Thanksgiving and Christmas events, it’s assuring to know Monroe County stands behind its veterans by offering an increasing number of Veterans Day events.

Politically speaking, about this time next year is going to feel like you’re five leftover turkey sandwiches into wanting to forget about Thanksgiving food for a while. The way national politics is already tracking, it won’t take long for most of us to be just as burnt out by the time Electi…

We all take way too much for granted. Technology has led us to expect instant results at the touch of a button. A few times in my life, I have been reminded how important it is to have a “Plan B.” Times do come when the conveniences we take for granted don’t work for us for one reason or another.

I spent many of my formative and awkward years growing up in a great neighborhood surrounded by friends my age working out their awkward years too. It’s hard to believe all that peaked nearly 30 years ago before we got our driver’s licenses and slowly drifted in our separate directions.

Earlier this year we thought it would never stop raining, and here we are now a few months later wondering if it will ever start raining again. Dusty roads and fields and brown grass are the results of dry conditions. However, remember these conditions can also result in one, seemingly small…

“We’re just like y’all and we try to make sure we’re holding our releases to a higher standard and not sensationalism or politics.”

Last week the Mississippi Department of Education released its annual letter grade ratings for school districts throughout the state.

Since the beginning of my caregiving days with Hopson, I plotted to solve situations that were beyond my control. I wanted to be as content and peaceful as possible in spite of this terrible tragedy.

The best my memories serves me, it was once a month while in junior high when I’d go the High Street Community Center to help unload boxes of food from an 18-wheeler trailer, sort items into other boxes and take them to people’s cars a few hours later.

Fire is a useful tool when it comes to removing unwanted vegetation from a piece of land. However, fire is also one of the most destructive and uncontrollable forces on the planet. Even with extensive training, fire is difficult to contain and suppress once it reaches wildfire status.

We all get burnt out from time to time. You could grill enough grade-A steaks for the week on Sunday and be dying for just a peanut butter sandwich for supper by Friday. You can think you can handle one workload after another but eventually realize you miss not having the sensation of 100 po…

There has been a lot of talk lately about whether the newspaper should be allowed to post arrest pictures. I’m not sure when the media started posting press releases of people on what was definitely one of their worst days, but I know it was long before I got here. For me, posting mugshots t…

Back in the early ‘90s, MTV helped launch the acting career of a comedian named Pauly Shore. Had I been the age I am now then, his California-inspired accent and slang and stupid antics would’ve turned me away pretty quickly.

You’ve grabbed your water bottle, sunscreen and hat for a hike in the park or some gardening. Add a bit of tick protection to your must-have items when you head out the door for an adventure, to garden or play.

In the process of writing a story about kindergarten assessments last week, I had a strong sense of déjà vu. As soon as it hit, I explained to a co-worker that I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about work and whenever I fall back asleep, usually have dreams about work. It’s a vic…

There are certain times of the year such as graduation, New Year’s Day and autumn when I usually take a reoccurring topic and give it a rewrite. Whereas I usually write a few words to motivate students in late July/early August, this year’s back to school column is targeting a different grou…

Complain if you must, but we’ve got a lot going for us here in Monroe County.

I made another weekend trip during June down to Baton Rouge to do more work on the condominium property where our son lives while he’s in graduate school at Louisiana State University.

I live across the road from a pine tree farm cultivated from the late ‘80s to what is now a Mecca for forestry and wildlife management. Although I don’t know much of anything about prescribed burns and attracting turkeys, I know there’s 200 acres’ worth of learning opportunities up there.