The reality is stark — when vaccine rates fall, measles comes back, putting our most vulnerable, including infants and immunocompromised children (such as those undergoing chemotherapy), in danger.

“Imagining a Memphis supplied with a well-informed coffeeman, uninterrupted conversation and Sunday afternoon car rides isn’t so bad.” 

“Five years ago, our world shut down. Today, we are selling out venues and filling up summer arts camps. Let’s keep the momentum going.”

“Congressman John Lewis taught us that sometimes we have to get into ‘good trouble.’ Necessary trouble. Because when the system is under attack, silence eventually becomes complicity.”

There are more than 53 Muslim countries in the world, and more than 60 majority-Christian countries. There is only one Jewish country, so why would good people of all faiths not recognize the right of the only Jewish state to simply exist?

“Someday what we are after in the face of LeBron will be found in the face of God.”

“My continuing hope is that our leaders in Washington, D.C., will look more to Tennessee as an example of how government should work for the taxpayers and not the other way around.”

We don’t need uncontrolled, thoughtless regulations that limit economic growth, says Bill Dance, but we do need well-thought-out rules that allow construction and progress while protecting our surroundings.

“We have over 10,000 abandoned homes in disrepair, with overgrown yards, piles of trash, and more. It’s time to shift accountability back to where it belongs and make neglectful property owners pay up.”

“I’m fully aware that we didn’t have it all right back then. But today, I lament the passing of the past by submitting this list of Top 5 Everyday Experiences from My Childhood That My Kids Know Nothing About.”

Nearly every problem, both real and imagined, that citizens have with the Memphis Police Department can be solved by ensuring that each new cadet hired is a man or woman of character, Worth Morgan says.

“Educating children helps society to flourish. Denying education is a recipe for stagnation, more crime and increased misery for all.”

“I honestly don’t spend much time thinking about the lives of prostitutes, but during my kids’ bedtime story last week, the topic came up.”

“We need to do something now to protect both inmates and employees.”

“What we saw was inspiring — and it should serve as a roadmap for what’s possible here in Memphis, regardless if that’s through our local board of education or through state intervention.”

“By reducing the number of aggravated assaults, we can make a real dent in the number of victims of violent crime and reduce our violent crime rate even more.”

Opinion: The need for access to health care services is clearly expanding and layers of red tape preventing facilities from opening only harm the state’s ability to meet that need.

“These people have no idea I’m writing about them. But they are using what they have in time, money, energy and ideas to bless the rest of us.”

“Science is essential to understanding how things work, but science will never explain why things matter to the human heart.”

“There will be much to unsettle us in the days to come. Clandestine raids on small businesses in our community. Vulnerable neighbors who become prisoners in their own home.”

“Holding God’s transcendence and his immanence in view at the same time will not make me perfect, but it will change how I handle my own wrongdoing, as well as how I love God and others...”

“I have come to conclude is that school voucher programs nationwide are not necessary and create far more problems than they solve.”

Even as national trends indicate a decline in volunteerism, Memphis continues to foster a strong culture of civic engagement.

“One viable option is to merge the proposed Regional One Medical Center with Methodist University Hospital, to form a single, well-resourced University Medical Center.”

“It’s the responsibility of administrators, teachers, parents and elected officials like myself to ensure children in Shelby County are receiving the high-quality education they deserve.”