“It’s your favorite day today!” my wife said cheerily to me first thing this morning. “It is!” I responded with equal cheer, “the best day of the week!” What day might that be, some of you are perhaps wondering. Well, it’s trash day!
For Christians around the world, Easter represents a time of renewal, and a time of remembrance of the death of Jesus and his resurrection. However you choose to celebrate Easter, whether it is in Church or in your backyard hunting for Easter eggs or both, we at Crestview News Bulletin wish you a day of renewal. Consider it perhaps a transfiguration of sorts; a shedding of whatever is old and stale and an embrace of new things, habits and ideas. We can all use that in our life, no matter your belief.
My column this week may be considered “religious,” but I’m going to be as factual as possible and even include a historian who was a Jew, but didn’t necessarily believe Jesus was the prophesied messiah.
Some 2,500 years ago a Greek philosopher said, “There is nothing permanent except change.” Change and transitions are as inevitable as taxes and death. We cannot stop the onward march of our lives even if we want.
A tariff is a duty (tax) imposed by the government of a country or customs territory, on imports (or, exceptionally, exports) of goods. Let’s have a factual look into Trump’s “Liberation Day” – the day of the Tariff proclamation. After looking into the history of tariff’s, we are wondering why Trump didn’t impose universal tariffs – that are equal to (at a minimum) what other countries were charging us in 2018. What has been going on for a very long time isn’t fair to American workers and manufacturers. Albeit there are not as many manufacturers as there used to be – because of tariffs and the lack thereof coming into the U.S.A. Hopefully that will change in the very near future especially for necessities – such as pharmaceuticals. Let’s look at what happened in 2018 with the Steel Tariffs. Trumps steel tariffs in his first term led to a gain of thousands of jobs in the metal industry and wage increases. There was a boon to the Minnesota iron ore industry with state leaders crediting them for strengthening the local economy. Steel and aluminum imports decreased and created a wave in investments across the US – with more than $10 billion committed to build new manufacturing facilities. There were reports from media such as:
This past Saturday marked the 21st annual Triple B Festival, and it was nothing short of a spectacular success. Despite a week of nervous weather watching, March 29 unfolded as a blessing for Crestview, Florida. The sun shone over downtown during event hours, the breezes added charm, and the much-dreaded rain mercifully held off until after the festivities had wrapped up. The delightful turn of weather set the stage for a day that showcased the best of bands, brews, and BBQ.
I learned yesterday that a good friend has died. June had not been well for the last several years, nonetheless, her death came as a surprise and has evoked bittersweet emotions.
Last week we wrote about the Laurel Hill City Council election. There were two open seats up for grabs. One candidate, Amanda Rosen, won one of the seats after receiving 25 votes, but the other two candidates, Mike Blizzard and Shawn Cogan were tied neck-and-neck. (The term seems appropriate here.) They each received 22 votes.
I was hired for my first ministry position by a pastor with 40 years of experience. “You don’t serve people,” he sagely said to me, “you serve God, and people are served in the process.” He advised against living in a parsonage and instead purchasing a home to build equity. “You will never get rich in ministry,” he counseled, “but God will provide for your needs.” Now, nearing his years of experience, I can attest to the wisdom of his counsel. Nonetheless, there was a financial situation in that ministry that had me scratching my head in amusement.
