Utah, Idaho and Wyoming all share common borders and something else that matters more. According to data the Census Bureau gathered in 2020, these were three of the four states that had the highest percentages of households headed by married couples of the opposite sex. New Hampshire also ranked in the top four.

The shocking and horrific Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, triggered by the Singaporeanflagged cargo ship Dali striking it during the wee hours of Tuesday morning, has functioned as something of a Rorschach test. That test cuts to the heart of today’s hyperonline culture and a concomitant willingness -- perhaps eagerness -- to believe anything sensationalist even if there is no supporting evidence.

Isaw it by accident. I was sitting in the kitchen at my family’s ranch in the high foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains -- not far from Yosemite National Park.

It is becoming increasingly clear that some of America’s most serious problems can be traced back to our colleges and universities -- or at least the ones educating the country’s most powerful people.

If it is possible to watch a society -- an entire civilization -- go insane, we are watching that phenomenon in real time. Across all forms of media, the headlines bring fresh evidence daily.

Donald Trump has locked up the necessary delegates for the Republican presidential nomination, which means it’s time for every political junkie’s favorite quadrennial game: Veepstakes! Every four years, commentators, political consultants and elected officials all chime in with their takes on who a presidential candidate’s running mate should be. Perhaps the candidate ought to select a veep from a swing state.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) twice described Israel as a “pariah” among the world’s nations: “Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah. ... [The Israeli public] understands better than anybody that Israel cannot hope to succeed as a pariah opposed by the rest of the world.”

Do you like the direction our educational system has been going over the last 10 years? On May 28, Dr. Mary Bone will be challenging Tom Maynard, 11-year incumbent, for State Board of Education District 10 [which represents Lampasas County].

After last week’s primaries, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have both attained enough delegates to be their respective parties’ presidential nominees this fall. Barring some sort of unforeseen event -- a debilitating hospitalization, an ultra-expedited criminal prosecution or a convention floor revolt -- we will thus get a rematch of the 2020 presidential election.

President Joe Biden -- in his State of the Union address -- once again tried to present himself as a “fiscally responsible” president. “And, by the way, the first couple of years, we cut the deficit,” he said, according to the White House transcript of his speech.