Like many kids in Alabama in the 2000s, I didn’t grow up in a boxing-centric household. I heard stories of Marino, Sanders and Favre - not Tyson and Foreman.
Regardless, when Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather met in September 2015, the world stood still, and like many we broke our...
Cullman Electric Cooperative desperately wants you to believe it cares about the community. Its latest maneuver in corporate benevolence? The "Community Pantry." A pair of wooden boxes meant to house food and supplies completely funded and stocked by the communities they serve. The cooperative helpfully suggests donating boxed macaroni,...
Sonder, defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the awareness that other people all have their own complex set of feelings and experiences.”
As a child I had this overwhelming sadness when I saw pictures of my grandparents when they were younger. It was odd to think of them so little...
I have decided, sometime in my not-as-young-as-I-once-was years, that I don’t like cucumbers. Well, at least I don’t like raw cucumbers. I’ve given them ample opportunities to prove themselves, but they’ve come up short. I’ve even tried cucumber sandwiches. Actually, I have decided the reason I do not like...
The following a guest article from Cullman County EMA Specialist Brent McDonald.
In emergency management, one thing has always remained constant: the responsibility to protect people before, during and after an emergency. What has changed — dramatically over the years—is how people expect to receive information, how quickly they expect...
Every Feb. 14 arrives with the same confidence, dressed in red, trailing balloons, chocolate and the unmistakable belief that it is doing the Lord’s work.
It is not.
Valentine’s Day does not ask how you are doing. It does not check whether love is complicated this year or whether your heart...
There comes a moment, sometimes quietly and sometimes after damage has already been done, when you realize your level of self-respect was never where you believed it to be.
I learned that recently, not through a single event, but through patterns I kept excusing. Low self-esteem mixed with depression has...
At a Lieutenant Governor political forum in Hoover last month, one of the moderators posed a simple question: name your favorite historical figure. Without a moment’s pause, I responded with Margaret Thatcher.
Margaret Thatcher had the courage to lead with conviction, stand firm under immense pressure, and fundamentally reshape her...
Among all of the things going through your mind in the last stages of your pregnancy, hospital bag preparation is one of the most crucial tasks. Not only do you need items for the baby, but also to keep you comfortable through labor and throughout your stay.
Mama’s bag
Clothing: If...
There is a quiet truth many families in Cullman County already know but rarely see acknowledged in public.
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis here, there is nowhere to truly go.
Cullman County has one hospital. That hospital has an emergency room.
It does not have a dedicated in-patient mental...
Every year, people create New Year’s resolutions. As the beginning of the year approaches these are goals commonly set to support their “New year, new me” journey. There is excitement in making these promises to yourself, but many times it can discourage us when our focus starts to waver.
The...
The Lincoln Lawyer is back with the eighth novel of the Mickey Haller (Lincoln Lawyer) series.
Mickey Haller is the half-brother of Harry Bosch, a Los Angeles homicide detective. The Harry Bosch series has 24 books. Harry met his father when he was an adult and is surprised to find out...
Where were you when the phones stopped ringing, that January day? That January day was Wednesday, Jan. 14. For roughly 10 hours that day, I and approximately 200,000 other Verizon cell phone users had no service.
Perhaps you recognized my question as a play on Alan Jackson’s hit song, “Where...
I had never experienced anything quite like it. To say I was shocked would probably be an overstatement, but I certainly didn’t see it coming. I wouldn’t necessarily call what happened an accident, because I believe, quite frankly, that he did it on purpose. I’m not saying it was...
It has become very common for electronics and media to be incorporated into children’s everyday routines. Highly stimulating shows, for example, are used as enrichment. They are often categorized as “children’s educational entertainment,” though recent controversy proves otherwise.
Excessive screen time is known to have negative effects on adults, let...
Learning when to stop being available to those who never planned to stay
There comes a point when you realize you have been the last rest stop for too many people.
The place where they pull off, take what they need, steady themselves and then merge back onto the highway unchanged.
For...
I have a character flaw, one I can no longer dress up as self-preservation or strength.
When relationships fracture in my life, with family, friends, business associates or the women I have loved, my instinct is to retreat. Not to repair. Not to listen. I pause people. I shut doors....
The Cullman Tribune supports open public discussion on issues that affect community safety, criminal justice and accountability. Those conversations matter, and strong emotions are often part of them.
What does not serve the public is the growing use of fake profiles, burner accounts or accounts created in the names of...
Death comes to everyone and we all realize that devastating fact. However, there are some deaths that are extremely brutal, and difficult to ever understand. I’m talking about deaths caused by drunk driving! The story I’m referring to happened to the Wilson family on a beautiful Sunday afternoon when...
For years, residents across Cullman County have endured inconsistent and unacceptable mail delivery. Nowhere has that frustration been louder than in the 35057 ZIP code.
On nearly every print day, customers call our office to report that their newspaper never arrived.
Some go an entire week without delivery, then drive to...
Most years, New Year’s Eve arrives with a familiar ritual. Resolutions are made. Promises are declared. Jan. 1 is treated like a universal reset button, pressed at the same moment by millions of people hoping this time will be different.
And for a short while, it feels good.
My own realization...
Over recent months I have noticed an increase in AI content on social media. It was horrific to see several people interacting with the posts and actively engaging in the comments under the impression that it is legitimate footage. Now, this isn’t a new concept and believing what we...
Christmas meant something different to me growing up.
Santa was never part of the equation. Not because I was cynical or angry or deprived of imagination, but because I understood early that Santa did not write IOUs. He did not wait until tax refunds arrived. He did not promise later...
You know him. You’ve sung about him, watched him on TV and probably even worn his likeness on an ugly Christmas sweater. But how much do we really know about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?
I recently scored the interview of a lifetime, a sit-down with the most famous reindeer of...
It is Christmastime, and I am rereading my favorite Christmas book, “A Redbird Christmas.” I remember Fannie Flagg on the WBRC-TV Morning Show in the 60s. After being refused a raise she quit her job and moved to New York City. Flagg has written several novels including “Fried Green...
There is a growing sickness in our information culture. It is not new, but it is getting bolder, louder and far more destructive.
It is the rise of local social media blogs that trade in trauma, chase emergencies and exploit other people’s worst moments for views, likes and algorithm clicks.
This...
The Alabama Press Association Journalism Foundation is stunned by the recent decision by the University of Alabama to suspend the publication of two student magazines, citing that these publications were not in compliance with federal regulations of DEI initiatives and may be in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.
The two...
Let’s talk about the one-hour glucose test.
For those of you who don’t know what this is, allow me to explain. This is a mandatory test during pregnancy that measures the amount of glucose (sugar) in your bloodstream. This checks for gestational diabetes, which can pose increased risk to the...
Ah, Thanksgiving — the holiday built around gratitude, family and, of course, food. I could add football to the list, but most games on Thanksgiving are so dull they just hasten the inevitable post-meal nap.
It’s definitely an American holiday that’s based on abundance. Every November, families gather around dining...
Recently I have been re-reading some my favorite books. I just finished Ann B. Ross’s novel, “Miss Julia to the Rescue” and Ann George’s “Murder Carries a Torch.”
Ann B. Ross wrote a series about Miss Julia. In “Miss Julia to the Rescue,” she and her handy home helper Etta Mae Wiggins...
A couple of days after our recent visit to Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, we visited the home and library/museum of another famous North Carolinian – Dr. Billy Graham. I had never realized the comparisons and contrast between those two men. They both grew up in...
It was total chaos at the Dollar General store in Margaret, Alabama. People rushed out the doors carrying poster board, silver balloons and rolls of crepe paper. The party supply aisle looked as if a mob of looters had swept through it. Outside, throngs of white-haired grandparents frantically taped...
The words “Batteries not included” are found on many of the things we purchase these days. If we had to buy enough batteries at one time for everything we own, we might have to remortgage the farm! It seems that most everything we use or play these days either...
At first glance, it wasn’t much of a gift, just a cheap pocket knife made of flimsy metal and plastic. It probably came from a flea market or an arcade game at a pizza parlor. Yet of all the gifts I received at my 40th birthday party many years...
“Pickleball and Peril” is the fifth novel in a cozy murder series, The Senior Snoop Society Mysteries. Three retired women in their 70s find out they still have the vitality and wits to solve murders that the police cannot. Imagine Jessica Fletcher meets the Golden Girls!
The Senior Snoop Society is...
Last week, I was reminded of the old wood-workers’ idiom that says, “Measure twice, cut once.” I remembered the advice immediately after I demonstrated why it was said. Sometimes, you can measure once and cut twice, but only if you’ve cut your piece too long. You can always cut...
At the risk of sounding like an old man, I have realized there is a great difference in how the youth of today entertain themselves and how the youth of my generation did so.
One big difference is that we mostly played outdoors. It was safer to do so back...
Fear alerts us. Courage responds. But hope, well, hope is what carries us forward when the dust settles and the long road lies ahead.
Hope is often misunderstood. Some see it as wishful thinking, a fragile feeling with no substance. But true hope is far stronger.
It is not passive; it...
We’ve all seen the commercials that gave birth to the catchphrase, “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Since the 1980s, it has been on television, shirts, hats, songs and just about everywhere imaginable. If people were like Weebles, when we fall getting back up would not be...
Yes, I am a country boy, but one of my favorite places to visit in this world is a city. No, I do not love all cities, but I do love Savannah, Georgia. Jean and I spent the latter half of last week there. I took her there for...
When companies scout new locations, the standard checklist includes availability of a quality and skilled workforce, infrastructure, and operating costs. Yet public safety, too often underestimated, plays an important role. Public safety officials protect people and assets, which strengthens the long-term stability of businesses both large and small.
Law enforcement...
I need to vent, so please don’t judge me — just listen. I’ve got a problem with time. And yes, I know some of you are already muttering, “Duh! Everyone your age has a problem with time — there’s not enough of it left!”
Very funny. But my issue isn’t...
You may have that friend, or a strange cousin named Booger Ray, who has more miscellaneous junk than a neighborhood hardware store, all piled high inside his favorite mode of transportation. If their vehicle looks like that, can you imagine how their house must look? We may be afraid...
Every September, we say the right words about Suicide Prevention Month. Then October comes, and too often the conversation goes quiet. We can’t afford the silence.
Suicide remains a persistent, preventable tragedy — one that disproportionately claims the lives of men — and prevention has to be a year-round habit,...
The plane trip began in Tuscaloosa, and stopped in Jackson, before it finally reached Dallas. Later in life, taking this hopscotch flight was as aggravating as a floater in my eye. But not when I was 21 years old. Not when I was headed to my first big job...
Over the past month, changes at the Cullman Post Office have begun to show. Packages and letters are moving again, thanks in large part to the tireless work of local carriers.
These men and women are working 12-hour days to keep the system afloat.
They deserve our gratitude. When you see...
“Laughter is the best medicine” is a cliché everyone knows. And it is based on the truth. Studies have shown that laughter relieves stress, releases endorphins and helps your overall well-being. But in the case of cancer, I don’t think it’s true. If my doctor wants to treat me...
I wrote a song a couple of years ago that said, “I’m going to have a good day, anyway – no matter what comes my way.” I have tried to live by that declaration, but I have to tell you, last Monday tested the limits! What began with a...
When Cullman was celebrating its 150th birthday, we were asked to participate in the celebration. In thinking about the best way to honor our heritage, I thought, “Why not conduct a worship service according to the structure and language of our forefathers?” Then my brain went wild with questions....
Back when I was growing up, if Mama said, “Let’s go out to eat,” we did not head for the car. We weren’t going anywhere. She literally meant out…as in outside…as in not in the house.
I could count on my digits the number of times my family went out...
The United States Postal Service (USPS) was built on one promise: to deliver the nation’s mail, fairly and without exception. But this week in Cullman, that promise was broken.
Subscribers who didn’t receive their Tribune on time have one thing to blame — management. District Manager June Martindale reportedly told...
Jean and I are frequent visitors at antiques shops and malls. We often find treasures there that end up either in our house or in my own antiques booth. I love to find items I can rebuild, refinish or repurpose and then pass them on to someone else.
Recently, we...
“Atmosphere” is a historical fiction novel set in the late 1970s and early 1980s during the development of NASA’s space shuttle program. I am struggling with the realization that I am old enough for my youth to be considered historical. The novel begins in 1984 during an emergency in space and continues...
Well, it’s official and it feels weird. So weird, that I dug up my old fraternity jacket to see if it fits. Not even close, by the way. I’m sure you are asking why I would do such a thing. Because after almost a half century, I’m headed back...
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/07/20/column-from-dinosaurs-to-devils
Have you ever seen one of our presidents? On June 6, 1991, on the 47th anniversary of D-Day, I saw and heard President George H.W. Bush in Atlanta, at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.
In 2007, I saw George W. Bush when he spoke at...
Everybody has a birthday and everybody has one every year. Well, except for those individuals who were born on Feb. 29. Recently, I think I’ve had two or three each year! Some birthdays are more exciting than others. Sixteenth birthdays have not always been special; however, they have been...
In today’s highly charged political landscape, the terms “political action committee” (PAC) and “special interest group” (SIG) are often used interchangeably; however, they are not the same thing.
As we head deeper into the election season, especially at the local and state level here in Alabama, understanding the distinctions between...
No candidate secured more than 50% of the vote in the State House District 12 Special Primary Election on July 15. That means Republicans Cindy Myrex and Clint Hollingsworth will face off in the State House District 12 Special Primary Runoff Election on Aug. 12.
Before that, however, both Republican...
Excuse me, but did you ask me if I had ever been on Broadway? Well, yes, as a matter of fact I have. I have walked on Broadway, and I saw “Phantom of the Opera” there. I have never performed “on” Broadway, but last week I did perform “at”...
It all started with the best of intentions. My sister had a small, ornate, antique table with a broken leg, and since she knew I fooled around with old furniture, asked if I could fix it. “Oh sure, I can,” I said. “Why don’t you let me take it home?”...
Work. More work. Rinse and repeat.
Job No. 1. Job No. 2. Sometimes job No. 3. Loop.
Clean the yard. Clean the house. Spend time with the kids. Cook dinner. Do it again.
Hobbies? Fitness? Church? Mental health? Who’s got time?
Single father? Single mother? Family of five? New parents? We’re all in...
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/07/14/column-we-made-it-to-north-dakota
We visited two dinosaur museums on our trip. My favorite was Montana’s Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum, which presents the dinosaur from a biblical perspective. There we saw a giant Tyrannosaurus rex in mid roar! Well, OK, but we did see a full-size cast of one, as...
Chanel Cleeton is the author of several novels centered around the Hispanic culture. My favorites are “Next Year in Havana” and “The Last Train to Key West.” “The House on Biscayne Bay” is an enjoyable read. Her other novels center around the Perez family either in Cuba, Miami or Barcelona. This novel...
Hey Joe!
This is your dog, Roscoe. It’s hard to believe it’s been over six years since you picked us up from the side of the highway. That’s a real long time for us, so I thought it might be a good time to tell you exactly what happened.
My sister,...
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/07/06/column-south-dakota-is-amazing
Almost 221 years ago, in 1804, Lewis and Clark headed west under the commission of President Thomas Jefferson, to see what we had bought in the Louisiana Purchase. In the fall of that year, the explorers had made their way westward to what would eventually become North...
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/06/29/column-we-made-it-to-rapid-city-but-not-rapidly
After a few hours of sleep in Rapid City, we began our journey at the drug store…Wall Drug Store. Wall Drug is more akin to a shopping mall for tourist than a drugstore, but it began as a drugstore back in 1931. There is a drugstore still...
