A Voice Still Speaking

LightGrams May 11, 2017 Volume 21, Number 16 The letter Melissa Fahy found in a gap under the stairs of her Westfield, New Jersey home was an old one.  Written by a woman named Virginia to her husband, a sailor in the Norwegian Navy, it was postmarked May 1945.  The letter was filled with love…

The River Runs Red

LightGrams April 27, 2017 Volume 21, Number 15 A miles-long section of the Scajaquada Creek took on a different appearance recently; very different.  Photos of the creek, near Lancaster, New York, prior to this past Tuesday show a creek like most others: clear, relaxing, and a spot for fly fishermen.  Since Tuesday, however, all that…

The Bomb In His House

LightGrams April 20, 2017 Volume 21, Number 14 When the owner of the gun shop in Hull, Massachusetts was offered the Civil War relic for $1,000, he saw it for what it was.  The 15-pound cannonball still had a fuse attached, so he said, “That looks live to me.  Out the door, please.”  He wanted…

Parents Behaving Badly

LightGrams April 13, 2017 Volume 21, Number 13 What could be more adorable than a community Easter Egg Hunt, especially when it is hosted by the local volunteer fire department?  Residents of Pottstown, Pennsylvania will have to imagine that scenario this year.  Officials with the fire department have announced that this year’s egg hunt has…

You’re Being Watched

LightGrams March 30, 2017 Volume 21, Number 12 There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about our privacy nowadays.  Technology has produced surveillance devices the average person might never notice.  Many private vehicles now sport dash cams, and cameras are mounted in numerous stores, city streets – even church buildings!  We are indeed being…

The GOAT

LightGrams March 23, 2017 Volume 21, Number 11 I remember the morning well, though it was a few years ago.  I had just opened the garage door to put something in the trash and I saw an animal walking up the slope in our back yard.  It took only a moment to identify it –…

Filled Out Your Brackets?

LightGrams March 16, 2017 Volume 21, Number 10 As I write this, you only have a couple of hours left to submit your brackets.  I’m referring (in case you didn’t know) to an activity that occupies the minds of millions of Americans at this time every year.  It’s called “March Madness” for a reason.  People…

The High Cost Of Parking

LightGrams March 9, 2017 Volume 21, Number 9 Like most others I know, there has never been a time in my adult life when I didn’t own a car.  Some have been ugly and barely operable, but I’ve always had a ride.  But when I read the story from Brooklyn this morning, I understand why…

Haunted By Garbage

LightGrams February 23, 2017 Volume 21, Number 8 Connor Cox is like any other college student who lives away from home.  When a package arrives in the mail, he’s eager to get into it.  One of the two packages he received the other day at Westminster College (New Wilmington, PA) was what he hoped it…

Pay $14 Billion And Go Home

LightGrams February 16, 2017 Volume 21, Number 7 Claudia Brown is relatively new in her position as Justice of the Peace in Bell County, Texas.  When a man was recently brought before her to be charged with first degree murder, she first set his bell at $100,000.  He had willingly turned himself in, she reasoned,…