Every Friday at The Way, John Kilzer would greet those who were new to recovery, who were afraid and alone, with these words: “We are going to love you, and there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”

Because the legalization movement has made marijuana sound healthy, more people are using it. Daily intake nearly tripled from about 3 million users in 2005 to more than 8 million in 2017. 

Instead of trying a new, unproven program with dubious accountability to the taxpayers who are funding it, why don’t we double down on the initiatives that are already working across the state?

The very first politically wired, insider Memphis land grab was a done deal when the Chickasaw Nation was pressured into ceding almost 7 million acres at about 4.5 cents apiece, around 99.5 percent below market value.

"I am a scientist at a world-class institution where a lack of power is unimaginable, but Venezuela's blackout is affecting me personally. Fear, uncertainty, helplessness is what the outage has generated in all Venezuelans."

As written, the Tennessee bill prohibits abortion as early as six weeks, before many people even know that they’re pregnant. Similar versions of this bill have been declared unconstitutional in other states.

A teacher's dilemma: "I felt the tension rise in me, the tension of being told 'no,' and I felt the clear choice to either escalate the situation or to draw near to the student."

Trump is going to be on the ballot in 2020. By the time an impeachment process got under way, voters would already be casting ballots in Iowa and New Hampshire. Let the American people take care of removing Trump if that’s what they want.

White inmates represent 58 percent of the total federal prison population, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. The First Step Act, designed to lower mandatory-minimum sentences, shouldn't be considered an altruistic act exclusively for black inmates.

Vouchers would take money and support out of the public school system. Public education is a right, and if we give up on it, we abandon our responsibility to the future.

The City of Memphis uses some creative methods to fund projects such as Union Row and The Fairgrounds youth sports complex, and those methods are often misunderstood, says a city deputy chief operating officer. 

The global governing body of the United Methodist Church reaffirmed its position on traditional marriage, including prohibition on ordaining LGBTQ+ people as pastors and prohibiting LGBTQ+ people from being married in the church. "This decision has caused much despair among people I love and respect," a pastor writes.

Lt. Richard 'Tito' Lannom’s remains were recovered on a rocky island off the coast of North Vietnam, through a joint project of Americans and Vietnamese, in which both sides try to heal wounds from the war that ended in 1975.

In the United States, at least 30 million people of various ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder – that means roughly one of every 10 Americans will have symptoms of the disease. The prevalence is even greater in certain high-risk populations, including younger women, the LGBTQ community and members of the Armed Forces.

Paul Manafort and Roger Stone were young, politically ambitious, and determined to advance their careers by coming to Memphis for the Young Republican National Convention in 1977. 

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson, who is African American, seemed to channel the sentiments of millions of Americans who know that hate crimes are real. They are disgusted by the idea that someone would lie about being a victim. 

This city already pays less for light, gas and water than any other in Tennessee, and less than most cities in the country. If we really want to help the poor with their utilities, there are subsidies, sliding scales and credits. 

Doctors need the discretion to choose the anticonvulsant drugs most effective at controlling seizures of epileptic patients. Changes proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could exclude certain drugs from coverage.

Tennessee spends nearly $11,000 on each student’s education annually. With ESAs, parents could direct a portion of their child’s funding to the schools and programs they choose, including homeschooling, private and online schools, as well as traditional public schools.

Memphis has provided the world with some of the great love songs, but love is not always easy. Here's a playlist that takes heartbreaks, loneliness and love gone wrong into account.

Ernest Withers, the famous Memphis photographer, was also Ernest Withers the informant, a man whose life illustrates Martin Luther King's description of man's dual nature.  

In his early career, Russell Sugarmon played a key role in Memphis' political evolution, both as a candidate for city office in 1959 and as a lawyer for college students who staged sit-ins at lunch counters and public libraries.

John Simmons gets a tribute that recognizes that he, not his imaginative inventory, was the treasure in his Memphis shops. 

When reporting on economic development, the media often emphasizes tax breaks while downplaying the net new taxes generated. This leads many people to simply misunderstand how incentives work and can have serious repercussions for a community, as can be seen in New York with Amazon.

The bold new design for Tom Lee Park aspires to create one of the country's great waterfronts while sending a message that Memphis is a place that embraces its past but isn't defined by it.