by Tina Neeley | Nov 8, 2024 | Feature
AS THE morning sky fully awakened, its ombre pinks, blues, and yellows yielding to the full orb of the yellow sun, they waited. The men talked, gathered in clusters, many with coffee in hand, others with bottled water. They wore suits, uniforms, dress casual, jeans,...
by Tina Neeley | Nov 8, 2024 | Feature
IN THE West End Baptist Church fellowship hall, the weekly meeting of the Stitchin’ Sisters is in full swing. Lively conversation competes with the whirrrrr of the sewing machines. There’s the snipping of cutting shears gliding through fabric spread carefully over a...
by Tina Neeley | Oct 12, 2024 | Feature
SHE SLIPPED into her car, her shoulders and her spirits slumping from the weight of the shift that just ended. In no hurry, she turned the ignition, not to back out but to roll down her window, creating an escape route for her thoughts. She reviewed the most stressful...
by Tina Neeley | Oct 12, 2024 | Feature
IN THE two-room schoolhouse in Howell, many things distracted students on an average day. Thoughts of recess, the sights of changing seasons, note-passing, and sports rivalries interrupted lessons and note-taking. But the wailing siren of the ambulances operated by...
by Jeriah Brumfield | Sep 13, 2024 | Feature
GROWING UP on a farm teaches you a lot about life — hard work, commitment, respect, and the resilience to get back up when you fall. For Leslie Copeland, these lessons have profoundly shaped her life and career. Copeland’s childhood on her family’s Lincoln County farm...
by Tina Neeley | Sep 13, 2024 | Feature
ON AN early April morning, green finial-capped shoots stand tall amid King Stropharia mushrooms, welcoming their caretaker, Don Adams. Bees make their presence known, guarding their queen in the nearby hives. The mulching and weeding of the weeks before pay off in...
