By Ron Hutchcraft
I always look forward to the lighting of that towering Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.
One year it was more exciting, because I had a second-hand personal connection. The tree came from the farm owned by our good friends' daughter and son-in-law. They were chauffeured to rink-side seats for the big show. So, not only did I watch the tree and performers, I had friends on the front row!
By Ron Hutchcraft
It wasn't very loud. Just three little words, softly spoken.
But they were loud enough to drown out a gunshot that had reverberated across the nation.
The widow of assassinated influencer, Charlie Kirk, talked about the young man who ended the life of her husband and the father of her children. Through tears, she spoke words that stunned a nation:
By Ron Hutchcraft
I'm writing this on September 11. Twenty-four years ago today, I watched on television as the Twin Towers crumbled to dust. Twenty-four hours ago, I saw the shocking assassination of a hugely popular Gen Z influencer in front of 3,000 people.
In both cases, millions were devastated in disbelief and grief. Including reporters, politicians, law enforcement spokesmen - and lots of ordinary folks. And while the scope of the 2001 tragedy was clearly greater, the trauma of yesterday's assassination hit many young people very personally.
By Brad Hutchcraft
My lawn was green and inviting. A few days later, it was brown and dying, in the worst shape I've ever seen. What happened? A life-robbing sneak attack from a tiny but nevertheless insidious visitor. Armyworms.
I had never heard of armyworms. I still know little about them. But here's what I do know: They come, they attach themselves to a healthy lawn, and they suck the life right out of it.
By Ron Hutchcraft
"Be a man."
Three words that have gotten a lot of guys in trouble. Too many of us have done too many dumb things to prove what a "man" we are.
But it seems more confusing than ever to know what that even means anymore. Being a man.
By Ron Hutchcraft
They say we can see some 3,000 stars. I'm looking out my window right now. I don't see even one star!
That might have something to do with the fact that it's almost noon. Give it a few hours and they'll all be there.
Because stars shine the brightest when the sky is darkest.
By Ron Hutchcraft
My phone's been blowing up for a week or more. Mostly not good news.
Lots of storms. Lots of sadness.
Severe thunderstorm alerts, tornado and flood watches and warnings. Stacked up in my texts like planes waiting to land at O' Hare. Like much of the country, it's been a "Groundhog Day" cycle of one stormy day after another. I miss the sun.
One moment they were in their apartment building. The next they were under it. Ninety people trapped when a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar suddenly leveled their building.
Fifty Myanmar children went to pre-school that day. At least a dozen died there in the sudden collapse of their school. The rest were listed as missing.
One doctor in Mandalay said: "Wherever I looked, I saw collapsed buildings. Only dust."
By Ron Hutchcraft
The game could be a nailbiter or a yawner. But you can always count on those Super Bowl Commercials.
Here they come - from Mountain Dew to mayonnaise... TurboTax to Taco Bell... DoorDash to Doritos. All designed to be entertaining and effective.
They'd better be. They cost eight million dollars for 30 seconds! All to introduce you to and interest you in what they offer.
By Ron Hutchcraft
Sometimes "Breaking News" is really "Heartbreaking News." This is one of those times.
They're running out of disaster words to describe it. The damage done by those monster California fires that have consumed everything in their path.
"Devastated." "Obliterated." "Apocalyptic."
