Columns

By TAMMIE BARFIELD

Access to information about the workings of the government is critical to a functioning democracy.
Wakulla County’s chapter of the League of Women Voters recently hosted a public records forum at the library where Florida First Amendment Foundation President Barbara Petersen was the presenter. It was apparent to anyone who attended that the public’s right to access government records is her passion. Petersen and the First Amendment Foundation are dedicated to fighting for our first amendment rights.

My eyes blinked open as consciousness returned after the colonoscopy. Before I could say anything, the doctor leaned over my shoulder and said in an urgent voice, “You have cancer!”
“Geez, what kind of a bedside manner is that?” I thought in a fuzzy blur. A few hours before, when I had arrived at the clinic for a routine screening, I had felt fine. It was just the last step in a series of routine checkups.
“But you’ll be OK,” he added. “It’s small, we think we caught it before it spread beyond the gut.”

By FAITH HUGHES, DVM

Before I started volunteering at the CHAT Pet Adoption Center, I had never heard of a medical foster.  
Sometimes, a CHAT homeless pet may need a little extra care because of an injury or illness. Their condition is not usually life-threatening or contagious, but that pet needs a little more attention than can be given at the CHAT facility.  This is when a medical foster parent helps out.
We need medical fosters for a variety of reasons.  

By RITA HANEY

It is a sad and often dispiriting experience when someone we love dies.  
When death is by their own hand, we have deeper sorrow. What could I have done? What did I do?  
Why? Why? And why? again.
It must be said when someone is determined to end their own life – for whatever reason – there really may be no way to stop them.