Ross Rambles: Meteor Destroys Cherokee County (07/23/08)
In a recent Chronicle Times, I displayed wisdom gained from many years as a journalist as well as skills gained from a first rate university education when I wrote the headline, 'Supervisors have routine meeting.' That is the most important part of writing an article, creating an exciting headline that will make people want to read the article...

Ross Rambles: High court is attacked from both sides (07/17/08)
The U.S. Supreme Court has offended both liberals and conservatives with diverse opinions, including a decision to clarify second amendment rights and another to extend habeas corpus rights to Guantanamo detainees. These two decisions are less shocking than regarded by liberals in the first case and conservatives in the second case...

Ross Rambles: We need more gas tax (05/22/08)
During a visit to Cherokee this week, Maureen Wilson, aide to U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, underscored the deterioration of highways and bridges across America. Wilson's visit was primarily to gather input prior to finalizing language on a transportation bill that Harkin is sponsoring. She heard from Larry Clark, county engineer, that the bridges in Cherokee County are getting old and she commented that she is hearing the same story across the state...

Ross Rambles: Journey into the wasteland (05/16/08)
I've spent a lot of time during the last couple of months lying on the couch watching television. I haven't had the energy to do my usually preferred activity of reading. I suppose this has something to do with the fact that a couple of months ago, a Sioux City medical team ripped open my chest, pulled my heart out and made modifications to it, as Sioux City medical teams are prone to do...

Ross Rambles: Children terrify school officials (11/05/07)
A recent article in the Sioux City Journal reported that a high school freshman in Sioux City was suspended for writing a story about the murders of 35 classmates and faculty members. The boy's father says the boy is apologetic for his error in judgment...

Ross Rambles: An imaginary happy ending (09/04/07)
President Bush's recent comparison of the war in Iraq with the war in Vietnam has been called a risky strategy. I prefer to call it ignorant and foolish. The president, speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars last week, pointed out that the withdrawal from Vietnam "was paid by millions of innocent citizens, whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms like 'boat people,' 're-education camps' and 'killing fields'." He continued, "Here at home, some can argue our withdrawal from Vietnam carried no price for American credibility, but the terrorists see it differently.". ...

Ross Rambles:Unsporting behavior in prison (08/29/07)
I was appalled to read in an Associated Press article recently that two Iowa state legislators want to restore the practice of using trained attack dogs to control inmates in state prisons. Actually, I was appalled to learn that the state had, until last fall, been using attack dogs on "inmates who refuse to leave their cells."...

Ross Rambles: Unwarranted criticism (08/13/07)
Last month, two angry letters to the editor criticized the Cherokee County Fair Board for charging $150 per day plus electricity to the group responsible for bringing the traveling Vietnam Wall to Cherokee. The wall is a smaller sized replica of the original wall in Washington, D.C. and will be in Cherokee for five days, Sept. 13 through 17...

Ross Rambles - A shocking confession (08/02/07)
Once again, I feel the need to reveal my darkest nature, to expose the malignancies that encrust my loathsome being. While others strive valiantly to exalt Cherokee to all who come within sight of our community, I secretly regard such efforts with disdain...

Ross Rambles: Setting them judge people straight (07/17/07)
The U.S. Supreme Court should have consulted me prior to making a decision in the case of Morse v. Frederick. I am qualified to advise the court since I studied law in college. I took a course titled The Law of Something or Other. I don't remember the actual name of the course, but I'm almost certain that I passed it...

Ross Rambles: I can't get any satisfaction (07/03/07)
I've been trying to get through to the Rolling Stones with a suggestion that would do much to reverse the deterioration of the English language. Unfortunately, my words of wisdom fail to reach those in desperate need of them. A lamentable disregard of grammar by the people of the English-speaking world can be attributed to the influence of Rock and Roll (or, as the linguistically slothful would say, Rock 'N' Roll)...

Ross Rambles: Reporting negative news (06/14/07)
I take allegations of biased reporting seriously. After hearing such an allegation recently, I remain confident that my reporting is fair and objective. I talked at length on the phone to a person who objected to my article of May 30, headlined - "Dr. Gary removed from Board of Health." There was a subhead (a secondary headline in less bold print) stating -- "Federal fraud investigator contacted."...

Ross Rambles: Second hand communication (06/04/07)
Anyone who has answered a phone at a business knows how frustrating it can be dealing with a person who needs to talk to someone who is unavailable. "Hello, how may I direct your call?" the unsuspecting person asks. "Did you know that your company's business practices are contributing to the moral decline of the planet and will likely have tragic and irreversible consequences?" the caller shouts into the phone...

Ross Rambles:A solution without a problem (05/15/07)
We have received a visit from the sages at the Iowa Department of Education who let the Cherokee School District know what the school system is doing right and what it is doing wrong. Administrators are rather pleased with the report, which lists more positives than negatives, but the primary area in which the visiting DE team found fault has local school officials scratching their heads...

Ross Rambles: Seeking protection from monsters (05/07/07)
A Far Side cartoon from Gary Larson, now retired, depicts a child in bed with a snorkel designed specifically for breathing under the blankets that protect him from bedroom monsters. It is well known that exposure of even the tiniest amount of a child's body makes the child vulnerable to the monsters that lurk in the darkness...

Ross Rambles: On being blind - part 2 (04/26/07)
Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series. Two weeks after my retina surgery, I experienced more symptoms of a detaching retina, black floating specks, light flashes and a black curtain partially covering my vision, this time descending from the top of my vision downward...

Ross Rambles: A violent history (04/24/07)
The killing rampage at the Virginia Polytech Institute on Monday, in which 32 people were killed with handguns by a student before the student killed himself, is called the worst school mass murder in "modern U.S. history." The qualification results from the fact that the record remains from a school bombing on May 18, 1927, in which 45 people were killed. That incident involved a man who killed his wife and burned his farm before blowing up a school and himself in Bath, Mich...

Ross Rambles: On being like totally gnarly (04/17/07)
There are a few phrases I've been hearing lately that I don't understand, such as 'word', 'crib' and 'bee otch'. This poses the unacceptable danger of people perceiving me as not current in the popular vernacular of the day - uncool, to be more succinct...

Ross Rambles: On being blind - part 1 (04/06/07)
You don't see many blind people out in the public. At least I don't and didn't even before I became blind. It simply is not co

Classic Ross Rambles: When is violent rage appropriate? (03/09/07)
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 One of my pet peeves is a person getting inappropriately angry over a minor annoyance. As a matter of fact, such behavior often prompts me to start smashing things with the hammer I keep in my desk drawer. It's all right to point out mistakes, but it's inappropriate to go on and on about unintentional errors, like when I accidentally pull out a person's fingernail with my pliers. Those things happen...

Ross Rambles: A matter of some importance (12/27/06)
For those of you tired of amusing stories about genocide in Darfur or weary of those fluff pieces about the lighter side of war, there is a news story that elevates journalism to unparalleled heights of gravity. I am of course talking about the dispute between Rosie O'Donnell and Donald Trump. ...

Ross Rambles: Home Is Where The Heart Casserole Is (11/27/06)
(Editor's note: Ken Ross is on vacation. This column first ran in December of 1998.) I enjoyed getting back to my home town for Thanksgiving and seeing my relatives. I haven't eaten Thanksgiving dinner with my family for several years and the gathering this year was larger than I remember it having ever been. As I gazed at this multitude of cheerful faces, I couldn't help asking myself, "Who are these people?"...

Ross Rambles: On being invisible (11/21/06)
Sometimes, information in the newspaper is not in standard news format. Let's say, for example, we have an announcement about a fund-raising bake sale for a family whose house was destroyed by fire and the announcement ends with the suggestion to, "Come to the bake sale, pick out a delicious pie and show your support for the wonderful Smith family."...

Ross Rambles: We're part of the state, too (11/13/06)
I have a request for Governor-elect Chet Culver, please don't forget us here in Western Iowa. I know Culver is not likely to see this plea since it is coming from a small town newspaper, and worse, a Western Iowa small town paper, but we can only hope that the message somehow gets through to the governor's office that we are not part of Nebraska or South Dakota...

Ross Rambles: Expounding on Issues (11/07/06)
Once again it is time for me to expound on the issues of the day. Nobody has asked me, "Would you please expound on the issues of the day?" but I can tell that is what everybody wants me to do. Steve King, U.S. representative from Iowa's fifth congressional district, has leveled an attack on Chet Culver, Iowa's secretary of state and candidate for governor...

Ross Rambles: A cutting edge kind of guy (11/01/06)
I recently spent a few days in Iowa City where my father had major surgery. Siblings, nephews, nieces and assorted relatives came together from various parts of the country. By the way, the surgery went well and my father is recovering. I stayed at a motel, which gave me an opportunity to stock up on little bars of soap and tiny bottles of shampoo. ...

Ross Rambles: Heroes and villains (10/24/06)
Back in the early days of Hollywood, the good guys really did wear white hats and the bad guys wore black hats. There was no confusion about which was which. The good guys were flawlessly virtuous and the bad guy were irredeemably evil. Hollywood no longer presents simplistic characters. ...

Ross Rambles: Some thoughts about the council (09/28/06)
For some months now, the Cherokee City Council meetings have regularly had high attendance. Many of them stay until the very end of the meeting. This is a contrast to past years when I was sometimes the only person in the room besides those at the long table - which included the five council members, the city clerk, the mayor, the city administrator (a position the city no longer has) and the city attorney (who no longer attends every meeting)...

Ross Rambles: When is violent rage appropriate? (09/26/06)
One of my pet peeves is a person getting inappropriately angry over a minor annoyance. As a matter of fact, such behavior often prompts me to start smashing things with the hammer I keep in my desk drawer. It's all right to point out mistakes, but it's inappropriate to go on and on about unintentional errors, like when I accidentally pull out a person's fingernail with my pliers. Those things happen...

Ross Rambles: Making Judgement Calls (08/15/06)

Ross Rambles: You can't please everybody (07/25/06)
The Cherokee School Board and the school administrators have my sympathy, working long hours on academic eligibility and conduct policies, knowing that no matter what they come up with, it will be the source of more hard feelings than any other policies the district has...

Ross Rambles: Misinformation from a trusted source (07/18/06)
A headline in a recent Associated Press article reads, "Auto parts workers split $9 million jackpot." Before I had read any further than the headline, I assumed that the headline was misleading, as announcements from state lotteries (in this case the Indiana Lottery) tend to be. ...

Ross Rambles: Filling this space with stuff (07/18/06)
Once again, I'm filling space with short random thoughts because I have no long, non-random ones. Billionaire buddies Buffett and Gates are teaming up to fund charitable projects, including disease prevention in impoverished nations and high school improvement in the U.S...

Ross Rambles: Too early, too late or too often (07/12/06)
Too early, too late or too often In the bottom right hand corner of page 11 of the June 19 edition of the Chronicle Times was a picture of a presidential candidate talking to a local citizen. Yes, we are talking about the 2008 presidential election. For those of you without a strong grasp of time, this is 2006...

Ross Rambles: Thoughts from under the desk (06/16/06)
Do you remember when those darned Russians first figured out how to build an atomic bomb? Do you remember those school drills, where you got under your desk and covered your head to protect yourself from an atomic bomb that those diabolical Rooskies might drop at any minute, presumably on the principal's office?...

Ross Rambles: Get rid of it (06/05/06)
Get rid of it The Cherokee City Council has displayed what psychiatrists refer to as "property retentive" characteristics. In July of last year, on a vote of three to two, the council decided to retain a vacant lot. The decision came two weeks after establishing a minimum bid of $1,000 for the lot which is now used for public parking...

Ross Rambles: What we'll need in the future (05/31/06)
What we'll need in the future People have never been good at predicting the future, especially not in predicting how future technology will affect our lives. When the concept of a computing machine was new, no one seemed to know what practical use it would be put to other than the earliest application of calculating ballistics...

Ross Rambles: A bad decision (05/08/06)
The cardiologist was shocked at my irresponsible behavior and I was regretting having agreed to see him. As I had suspected, a person can't just see a cardiologist once and be done with it. A person isn't supposed to, anyway, although I will, making my one visit a waste of everybody's time...

Ross Rambles: A question of balance (05/01/06)
A letter from Dave Phipps, printed in the Wednesday Chronicle Times, criticized an April 20 front page article I wrote titled, "Lake project discussed." Phipps contended that important details were missing from the article. The article described a discussion at a Cherokee County Board of Supervisors meeting on April 17. The discussion was between the supervisors and three representatives of Olsson Associates regarding a possible recreational lake in Cherokee County...

Ross Rambles: Where else can we get it? (04/10/06)
Establishing a franchise fee for natural gas would be unpopular but may be the only proposal on the table to provide a stable funding source for maintaining the present level of public safety services, meaning avoiding layoffs from the fire department and/or police department...

Ross Rambles: Holding the line against PC tyranny (04/10/06)
Holding the line against PC tyranny The recent unanimous decision by the Spirit Lake School Board to retain the Indian logo for its school was not a final victory in the fight against encroaching political correctness. The battle will never end in that district or in others that use a symbol relating to indigenous American culture, such as the Cherokee Braves...

Ross Rambles: Schools head into the GAAP (03/24/06)
It was stated at this week's Cherokee School Board meeting that school districts across the state are being required to adopt Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) and this will result in the districts having an increased spending authority next year...

Ross Rambles: Joining in the blasphemy (02/27/06)
Few people know that I can draw cartoons. I decided to draw a cartoon of Mohammed in solidarity with Danish cartoonists who have experienced death threats as the result of their depiction of the prophet of Islam. My start on this effort is seen accompanying this column but I did not go through with it. It would be unfair for me to commit this newspaper to a course of action that almost all of the newspapers in the country have avoided...

Ross Rambles: The world's biggest competition (02/13/06)
Last Sunday I went to some business establishment in some town along Highway 3 between Cherokee and Cleghorn to watch the annual competition to earn the most coveted championship in the world. The competition was fierce as the nation's most powerful corporations vied to present the best television commercials of the year before 141 million viewers...

Ross Rambles: I don't want to do it and you can't make me (02/06/06)
After much soul searching and chemically assisted meditation, I've decided that I will not seek the nomination for governor of the state of Iowa from whatever political party I currently belong to (I can't recall which it is) and if I do receive the nomination from my party I will not accept it and if I do win the election as governor, I don't intend to serve but if I do, I won't like it...

Ross Rambles: Unseen movies reviewed (02/06/06)
Once again, I've decided to write a movie review, actually two movie reviews, on movies I have no intention of seeing. The last one I did, almost two years ago, was on the Passion of Christ. I eventually did see the movie. A friend loaned me the DVD and it would have been rude not to view it. It was about what I expected and my lack of enjoyment of it was as I expected...

Ross Rambles: Unseen movies reviewed (01/31/06)
Once again, I've decided to write a movie review, actually two movie reviews, on movies I have no intention of seeing. The last one I did, almost two years ago, was on the Passion of Christ. I eventually did see the movie. A friend loaned me the DVD and it would have been rude not to view it. It was about what I expected and my lack of enjoyment of it was as I expected...

Ross Rambles:Workers get bad news (01/23/06)
Recently, we've gotten calls about two different companies in our coverage area laying off or transferring employees. These calls were from employees who were upset by the way the company handled these changes. It is difficult to report on company personnel changes without the cooperation of the company...

Ross Rambles: Journey into the labyrinth (01/16/06)
A few weeks back, a woman came into the office wanting to talk about being raped. I didn't want to talk to her. She brought documents with her. I didn't want to read them. It wasn't just that I didn't have time, although I didn't. My aversion to the subject of her visit resulted from the almost certain knowledge that after talking with her and reading the documents, I still would not have anything I could use as a news story...

Ross Rambles: Perhaps calling it quits, we think, maybe (01/16/06)
I think the Teen Times Review was a good idea but it probably won't continue beyond next month. A decision on that will be made in February. We will have one more contest, to be printed in the Monday, Feb. 6, Chronicle Times, with the winner to win $25 in Cherokee Bucks. It is doubtful that there will be a winner in March...

Ross Rambles: All there is to know about music (12/06/05)
In a recent two-part Gray Matter column, Margaret Dorr quoted extensively from Bob Reed, a former Marcus resident who maintains a blog site. Reed believes, and Dorr concurs, that the music young people listen to these days lacks the quality of music from the good old days. Their critical view of today's youth culture clearly marks both Dorr and Reed as curmudgeons. But that's OK. I'm a curmudgeon myself...

Ross Rambles: Cost ineffectiveness (11/21/05)
Government doesn't always operate in the most cost effective manner and the reasons are not always the most logic effective. Some insight into this was provided last month during a citizens advisory meeting at the Cherokee Mental Health Institute. There was discussion on why the institution is not being used to its potential by the state. A program that seems not to be getting anywhere is a geriatric unit at the CMHI for inmates in the Iowa penal system...

Ross Rambles: Big event is coming (10/24/05)
The newspaper is sponsoring a "Who Wants to Run the City of Cherokee" competition on Nov. 8. We invite people to come to the Cherokee Community Center and mark pieces of paper that will decide who will be mayor, at-large city council member and ward 2 city council member...

Ross Rambles:Darkness is coming (10/10/05)
Our world is becoming a darker place and will continue to do so for some time to come. By "our world", I mean the northern hemisphere and by "some time to come", I mean until late December. The nights are growing longer and the amount of daylight is growing shorter...

Ross Rambles:Sorting through the junk (09/26/05)
Deleting junk email is a daily task. Some sources send unwanted emails almost daily. Others can be expected to send emails at least once a week. Senator Tom Harkin's office currently takes the lead in regular emails to my address. Occasionally one will contain information about a grant to a local government entity so they all need to be checked out before being deleted...

Ross Rambles: What the heck does it mean? (09/12/05)
When I first started working as a reporter, way back when I could see my feet without bending over, my early board or council meeting articles would contain phrases I didn't understand. If a school board member or administrator said something like "allowable growth is projected at 3 percent for the next fiscal year," I simply reported what was said...

Ross Rambles: PETA offers direction (08/22/05)
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has both emailed and faxed copies of a letter sent to Wally Miller, Jr., city attorney for Cherokee, along with a press release elaborating the reason for the letter. PETA suggests that two sisters charged with cruelty to animals for allegedly keeping a large number of cats at two houses in Cherokee and another house in rural Cherokee County be required, if convicted, to undergo psychological evaluations and banned for life from owning animals.. ...

Ross Rambles: Second guessing the atom bomb (08/16/05)
The 60th anniversary of atom bombs being dropped on two Japanese cities - Hiroshima (Aug. 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (Aug. 9, 1945) - brought forth the expected hand-wringing remorse from a minority of Americans who regard that military decision as unnecessary and immoral...

Ross Rambles: Mailbox rapture (08/08/05)
The other day I got a personal letter from Robert Kennedy Jr. It said so right on the front of the large envelope, "A Personal Letter From Robert Kennedy, Jr." It was great hearing from Robert. I have to confess that I was under the impression that he didn't know I existed. I should have known better...

Rambles: The American way (08/01/05)
In most industrialized countries, the public education system gets students started on paths toward careers as doctors, lawyers, engineers, craftsmen, technicians, mechanics and a wide range of other occupations. In the United States, our public school system gets students started on paths toward careers as doctors, lawyers and engineers. We do have vocational programs in high schools but they are low-priority sideline activities...

Ross Rambles: My dilemma (07/19/05)
Campaigns for the November 2006 state and federal elections are already under way, a fact that I regard with some dread. Incumbents never stop campaigning and they naturally get publicity because their actions are newsworthy, but usually not very newsworthy for a newspaper with a local focus such as the Chronicle Times...

Ross Rambles: A partially good idea (06/08/05)
Terry Graybill, county supervisor, refers to a plan in Louisiana that would return a portion of sales taxes back to the county that it was collected from for the sake of economic development. He likes the idea. There can be a good argument made for setting aside part of sales tax for economic development, with an emphasis on developing recreational areas...

Ross Rambles: Trusting the technocrats (05/24/05)
Some years back, I had an argument with my friend, Perry Noid, about the possibility for dishonest elections. Perry was even more distrustful than I am toward government, which is the reason he now lives in the mountains of Idaho, in a cabin filled with automatic weapons and freeze-dried beef tongue...

Ross Rambles: A jackal at work (05/16/05)
The other day, I was eating at a local eating place when I overheard a conversation between another customer and a waitress. The customer, who happened to be from out of town, commented that most journalists are jackals. "Not all of them, but most of them are just there to take advantage of tragedy," said the man I shall call Mr. Snipe...

Ross Rambles: Time on task (05/02/05)
Recently, I saw a debate on an early morning news show over whether the 'take your daughter or son to work day' is an appropriate activity during the school year. A superintendent of a school district contended that the activity would be more appropriate during the summer months when school is not in session...

Ross Rambles: Perception versus reality (04/25/05)
We often hear comments about how we might be neglecting some part of our coverage area. Surprisingly, the area most mentioned is the town of Cherokee. I say surprisingly because it's just not true. Sometimes when I point that out, I'm told, "Yes, but there's a perception that it's true."...

Ross Rambles: Farewell column (04/01/05)
This will be my last Ross Rambles column. I have taken a position on the editorial board of the National Enquirer magazine. I'll soon depart this great city for a more urban environment. To the businesses and individuals in Cherokee to whom I owe money, rest assured that your checks are in the mail...

Ross Rambles: Striving for pretty goodness (03/24/05)
I don't really care for taking extreme positions on anything. I recently commented to a member of Pheasants Forever that I could never belong to such an organization, although I would consider belonging to an organization with the name Pheasants For A Long, Long Time...

Ross Rambles: The web we weave (03/14/05)
For a few weeks now, the Chronicle Times has had a website, a development that many people feel is long overdue but one I have not been enthusiastic about. I have reluctantly adjusted to this development but I'm still a bit uncertain as to what purpose it serves for our business...

Ross Rambles: Getting it off my chest (03/04/05)
The writing staff of a newspaper supposedly gets the final word in any media debate but usually our readers can have the last word if they have something new to say on a subject. If we feel that a letter to the editor misrepresents articles or commentary, we can address that in columns or editor's notes and have done so. Mostly we don't...

Ross Rambles: An economic non-development (02/28/05)
I've learned second hand that some people at Tyson were amused by our report about a $15.4 million plant expansion. The article quoted Mark Buschkamp, director of the Cherokee Area Economic Development Corporation, as saying the project will include mostly equipment but also some brick and mortar work...

Ross Rambles: Legalize pot (02/21/05)
I suppose I could have selected a more controversial topic for a column, but not wanting to defend Hitler's politics or Michael Jackson's lifestyle, I settled for a lesser controversy. What brought the subject of marijuana to mind was a recent press release titled, "Case for Hemp Made at American Farm Bureau Convention."...

Ross Rambles: Iowa's 'Vision' needs checked (02/11/05)
Voters in Storm Lake approved a $3.5 million bond issue by 74 percent, overwhelmingly supporting the ambitious Project Awaysis. The voters decided to take advantage of an opportunity to spend $3.5 million in local government funds to get an additional $8 million in state funds, which when combined with private investments and contributions will create a $29 million waterfront development. The development will include an aquatic park, other recreational facilities, a lodge and condominiums...

Ross Rambles: View from an over-30 taxpayer (02/03/05)
A proposal to eliminate state income tax for people under 30 has been getting serious discussion. It strikes me as a sign of desperation. It is blatantly age discriminatory and could have unintended consequences. The idea is to keep young people in the state until an age when they have settled down in a career and are less likely to move away...

Ross Rambles: A complicated explanation (01/27/05)
I was visited this week by a person who wanted to know why the Chronicle Times hadn't published his letter to the editor. The letter was critical of comments U.S. Congressman Steve King made, as quoted in another publication. I told him that we don't print letters to the editor which refer to quotes from another publication. I tried to explain why but he wasn't receptive to the explanation, preferring to believe the refusal to run the letter was because it was critical of King...

Ross Rambles:Fine tuning policy (01/21/05)
The student council members at Washington High School are to be commended for their efforts to improve the open campus policy. I'm sure school board members respect the concern displayed by the council members but indicated this is not a topic they want to revisit every year...

Ross Rambles: Tell us what we need, Mr. Turner (12/17/04)
Adam Turner of the Siouxland Interstate Metropolitan Planning Council (SIMPCO) got a cool reception at the Cherokee City Council meeting on Tuesday. The council members, or at least some of them, answered Turner's questions but they let him know they weren't pleased with SIMPCO's past performance on behalf of the city. The city is no longer a member of the organization...

Ross Rambles: An unhealthy indulgence (11/26/04)
Earlier this month, I warned Nancy Hohbach that her Winding Roads column could get considerable negative feedback. It dealt with a variety of subjects including the Scott Peterson trial, written before the verdict in that trial. She stated, "I think they should have just tied a heavy stone around his waist, took him three miles out in the ocean, threatened to drop him if he didn't cough up what really happened and if he didn't open up, drop him."...

Ross Rambles: We're all neighbors here (11/19/04)
My oldest brother, in his obsessive quest to be treated fairly, used to demand to know the cost of every Christmas present my parents gave us kids. I can't imagine my parents indulging such a demand, but the way they've told the story, it seems that they did...

Ross Rambles: My big adventure (11/05/04)
Once again, my keepers at the Chronicle Times allowed me to venture forth from Cherokee County. This time, I went well beyond the county border, even beyond the state border. Fueled by Dr. Pepper, crackers and Snicker bars, I ventured eastward to discover what lies in the great beyond...

Ross Rambles: Jail issue lacks glamour (10/15/04)
Most people spend little time thinking about the condition of the local jail and, hopefully, even less time actually in one. It's easy not to care what condition the jail is in, that is until a problem results in some incident that grabs our attention...