Maybe I’m jealous, insensitive, old-fashioned or all of the above, but I’m not a fan of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ plan to have “government” cover free tuition and fees to all four-year public colleges and universities for families making up to $125,000 a year.

Nobody asked, but …

Almost two years ago, Oct. 6, 2016, to be exact, state and local public officials joined with other community leaders and hundreds of others to celebrate the groundbreaking on what we now call the Pablo Center at the Confluence, Eau Claire’s new performing arts center scheduled to open next month.

“Perception is reality” is an often-used phrase.

News: A recent government report said Medicare will become insolvent in eight years and Social Security will do the same in 16 years if nothing is done.

One of the things I believe speaks volumes about Eau Claire is that in a city of 68,000 people, if you mentioned the name “Billy,” most would know who you were referring to, especially if you attended local sporting events. No last name necessary.

Underage drinking is a problem without anything close to a perfect solution.

There’s good news and bad news for Eau Claire school district taxpayers.

Editor’s note: The weekly “Thumbs Up-Thumbs Down” editorial offers opinions on highs and lows in the news during the past week.

Abortion and gun control are two topics I generally steer clear of. I figure we all have our minds made up on these highly emotional issues, and my writings aren’t going to change that.

Eau Claire’s need for a major events center (”arena” has always been a word best avoided in this discussion) was a topic more than 30 years ago when I moved here, and as I later found out, years before that as well.

“Quality of place” has been a buzzword of late for officials who work in economic development, but the music variable that helps score points within that category has a long, rich history in Eau Claire.

As a sports reporter during the first phase of my newspaper career, I spent a fair amount of time interviewing high school coaches in their offices.

David Wise, Maddie Bowman and Joss Christensen.

Having lived in Minneapolis the last time the city hosted a Super Bowl, the inevitable chaos associated with orchestrating the game is relatively familiar.

Unless you attend local chamber of commerce breakfasts, regularly read this or some other Wisconsin newspaper, or closely follow the workings of government, you probably have never heard of Todd Berry.

President Donald Trump’s campaign theme, “Make America Great Again,” struck a chord with many voters apparently distraught over the direction our nation was (is?) headed, including illegal immigration.

Editor’s note: The weekly “Thumbs Up-Thumbs Down” editorial offers opinions on highs and lows in the news during the past week.

On the Eau Claire County website it states the county’s core values and beliefs that our government is open and accountable, fiscally responsible, respective to our citizens and good stewards of our county resources.

Not long after I started my first newspaper job in 1975 in Fort Atkinson, a long-time employee there came up to me and said, “You don’t have to be crazy to work in this business … but it helps.”

I know it’s not funny, but I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit when I read the story in our Oct. 30 edition in which various professionals were asked what they felt would have been a proper response to the high school girl in South Carolina who got flipped out of her desk recently by a sheriff…

A lot has changed in this business since I joined the ranks of ink-stained wretches 40 years ago this week as sports editor of the Daily Jefferson County Union in Fort Atkinson.

For those of  us outside the world of academia, the angst surrounding a provision in the just-passed state budget removing UW System faculty tenure from state statutes doesn’t seem like a big deal, especially because the UW Board of Regents codified the identical language in its bylaws even …