Columns

Oppressive heat is upon us.

I spent several years in the deserts of Arizona, so I know a thing or two about extreme heat.

Out there, we left oven mitts hanging next to certain outside doors because the afternoon summer sun could make door knobs dangerously hot.

Summer there was like winter here: it was the time you stayed in, took it easy and tried very hard not to over exert yourself.

With summer temperatures consistently above 100 degrees out there, we learned to take it in stride, even though we longed for cooler days.

 While recent reports indicate that credit card debt had declined over the last year, much of this decline is due to financial institutions writing off delinquent debt and not due to consumers reducing the amount they owe.

A study from Nerd Wallet indicates that the average household still carries $6,772 in outstanding credit card debt and paying down debt is an ongoing struggle for many consumers.

Each year seems to be more challenging than the last in public education.

In 2011-12, Roane County teachers and principals implemented a new evaluation program.

In both cases, student achievement counts 50 percent of the total score on the individual evaluation.

Simply put, that means that student test scores are critical to the evaluation of school personnel.

Since our main focus is student achievement and every decision made is geared toward improving student achievement, it is not unrealistic to measure us that way.

Shortly after I wrote a column celebrating esteemed investor Warren Buffet’s purchase of a major newspaper chain, some  less heartening news about  the newspaper business followed.

The publishers of the daily New Orleans newspaper, The Times-Picayune, announced plans to cut publication to three days a week.

The Roane County News publishes three times a week, but it is in a small community and smaller advertising market.

In New Orleans, readers, community leaders and even advertisers are not taking this change lying down.