EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio—Greg Bricker is tired of his community looking through the rearview mirror to an idyllic past, rather than looking forward and trying to plot a better course. He feels this rearview mindset dominates his town, especially the local government. So after missing the statewide deadline for getting on the November 5 ballot, Bricker
CLEAR SPRING, Maryland—It's 7 a.m. at the McDonald's drive-thru just off U.S. 40, and a cheery freckle-faced server emerges from the side door to deliver an order to a car parked in a waiting area. "Heeeere's your Egg McMuffin, young lady," she announces with a broad smile. For the next half-hour, a flurry of travelers
WAUPACA, Wisconsin—In another lifetime, the Park Motel and Supper Club sat along U.S. Route 10 and enjoyed both local patrons and famished travelers looking for a good homemade meal and a place to rest on this highway connecting Bay City, Michigan, to Fargo, North Dakota (including a 62-mile ferry ride across Lake Michigan). Over the
ESTES PARK, Colorado—I often say that what happens on Twitter isn't a reflection of American life in the real world. The facts mostly back that up. Last month, a Pew survey showed only about 22 percent of U.S. adults say they use Twitter. Twitter users skew younger, identify more as Democrats, are more educated and
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio—When the press stops rolling at The Vindicator this month, a lingering question will once again taunt the residents of the Mahoning Valley: How much collapse can one region take? The family-owned newspaper announced in June—just days after celebrating its 150th anniversary—that it is permanently ceasing production on Aug. 31. Started in 1869 just
Last week, one month before she was set to give birth to her second child, Lara Trump came to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania to kick off the 2020 Women for Trump coalition, planting a flag, or at least an olive branch, in some of the least Trump-friendly terrain in the Keystone State: suburban
Peter Meijer's decision to run for Congress in Western Michigan was a surprise to no one who knows the 31-year-old Grand Rapids native. He is the great-grandson of Hendrik Meijer, who opened a tiny thrift store attached to his barbershop during the Great Depression, which has since grown into a chain of groceries,
WADESBORO, North Carolina—By the end of the summer, towns such as this will be flooded with national reporters covering the special election for the 9th Congressional District. In normal times, reporters would ask voters how they think Republican Dan Bishop or Democrat Dan McCready would represent their local concerns in Washington. But these
