We'd like to thank the Parks Department and volunteers for new trees in West View Memorial Park. They were planted last week. The Parks Department was assisted by a very energetic team of fifth grade softball girls. It was fun to see their enthusiasm, especially when they completed their task, held handed and danced around the newly planted trees singing, "Kumbaya" … and God smiled.

Substance use and mental health disorders, and suicide ideation are significant problems among the veteran population. This Memorial Day, millions of American families will take time to honor the men and women who lost their lives in service of their country.

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan first recognized May as National Foster Care Month.

Every year since, the month of May has been recognized as a time to bring awareness to the needs of America’s youth who are placed in foster care.

It’s also important to recognize organizations in Iowa and around the country tirelessly serving kids and families in our foster care system.

After sitting through “Fast X,” I’m puzzled on how to best review it.

On one hand, fans of the popular 10-part series will most likely love the film which hits all the marks — a series of one liners and ridiculous amounts of nonsensical action which should have killed most — if not all — involved.

Let me give a challenge. Type “crying” into your search engine. Then look at the images. Many of them are of little children. Their eyes swollen and red. Tears flowing. Noses are running. Their mouths are wide open. The adults all look distressed.

Steve looked out from the turret of his cabin and watched the sun set behind the mountain. Branding is over for the spring, and he was able to get away from the ranch for a few days, so here he was, in his private castle, sipping private coffee, looking down at his private horse eating hay in his private corral.

For a man who has spent most of his life in someone else’s bunkhouse, a suite at the Ritz couldn’t be more wonderful than this little hole-up spot in the mountains.

Every year just before April 15 I drop a bad check in the mail to the IRS for whatever crazy number that my accountant says that I have to send them. My banker has a legacy of being willing to loan for taxes and I test that out. His premise of thinking is that if you are paying taxes, you are making money so that is a positive thing. I hope that he keeps thinking that. I pay my fair share of taxes.

Last year’s record-high temperatures across much of the country took a toll on gardens and landscapes. Once again, above-normal summer temperatures are in the forecast for many regions of the country. Adjusting how you manage your gardens and landscape can help plants thrive as temperatures rise.

I enjoy easy gardening, so I love rhubarb and asparagus. Once established, they take minimal care and provide delicious flavors all spring. I compiled some information from the AnswerLine website, www.extension.iastate.edu/humansciences/answerline, which might be useful. They are an excellent source and have been answering home and family questions from Iowans for more than 40 years.

Really, another sequel. A week after we closed the book on the “Guardians of the Galaxy,” we get another sequel — not sure it’s one anyone asked for — “Book Club 2: The Next Chapter.” I know I sure wasn’t, but admittedly I don’t think 50-something men are the target demographic. So I invited my 83-year-old mother along and she seemed to love it.

I would offer this to my own son, the final of six Cauthrons to graduate from Spencer High School. But he wouldn’t listen to “dad” anymore than he usually does. So hopefully some of you other graduates will.

The front page in the Tuesday Reporter noted that our junior senator fairly gushed with praise for the "progress" the state has made in improving water quality. I find that odd, as Iowa ranks 41st in overall water quality among the 50 states. As far as drinkable water is concerned, Iowa does slightly better at 26th — still in the bottom half. The only realistic comment in the article was that "...

Each year we celebrate Mental Health Month in May. People are encouraged to go online and seek help in sorting out issues and conflicts they may be experiencing in daily living. Unfortunately, more and more folks are not seeking help, perhaps thinking that they will be labeled as weak or incapable of dealing with stress or other treatable emotional ailments such as anxiety.

Arts on Grand’s summer youth program “Art Matters” is based on STREAM (science, technology, reading, engineering, art, mathematics). The teachers are excited to engage youth ages 7 to 18 in activities using natural, ordinary materials. Wouldn’t it be great if every child who wanted to attend could?

The other day I was talking with my 6-year-old who asked one of Christianity’s massive questions: “Why does God save people?”

How would you answer this question? Surely there are lots of “right answers,” according to the Bible. We would be in-line with the Bible if we said, “Because he loves people” or “Because he wants to fix a broken creation” or “Because in his mercy, he knows we have no other hope.”