Opinion

Loving Halloween didn’t always come naturally to me. Growing up, my grandma Day convinced me to watch Child’s Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Conjuring – all at the peak of my preteen years. Some say too early to be introduced to such gore and chaos; and it probably was. Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Secret at Mystic Lake: Nancy Drew Diaries kept me up all hours of the night reading and afraid.

More than a title When I first started this writing gig last June, at the time I honestly didn’t think I’d still be here over a year. I knew I liked writing and I needed a job.

Doing things your younger self loved is a happy way to thank yourself for how far you’ve come. For example, last week I invited my friends over for a “slumber party” like we used to do in high school. There were many differences from then to now. We drank wine instead of juice, we stayed at my house instead of my friend’s mom’s house, and we were 23 to 24 years old rather than 17.

Say you’re a citizen and you want to put in your first Sunshine Law request – which is necessary if you want to apply the Sunshine Law to local record keepers in the city or county. The most important way to request any form would be to submit it in writing or online.

Carrie Classon’s, “Blue Yarn: A Memoir,” is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine stores. Learn more at CarrieClasson.

There’s been a lot of hand-wringing in recent years about the death of local newspapers, those bastions of democracy and chroniclers of community. While the loss of any newspaper hurts the people they serve, residents of rural areas and small towns are hit especially hard when a newspaper shuts down.

For things to stand and not topple over, there is an equilibrium and balance. Balance means “an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady,” according to the Oxford Dictionary.

Americans have more media options than ever. We are inundated with stories, memes, videos and promotions 24 hours a day. Most of us are on social media, which is built to provide an endless feed of content to keep us glued to our screens. And unfortunately, misinformation is prevalent and much of that content isn’t fact-checked, verified or professionally produced. The result is that we’re not always shown what we need to know, or the information that is most likely to impact our lives. That’s where local newspapers come in. Your local newspaper takes a different approach.