I’m going to make a confession to you, Dear Reader. I am writing this paragraph after I have at least halfway finished this article. I just looked at my email, and the topic of one item was this: “Does the sex of your dog make allergies worse?”

The way a turtle is put together is pretty much the reverse of ours. I mean look at it: we have soft body parts protecting a hard-inner skeleton. Turtles have a hard-outer skeleton protecting inner soft body parts. The most common turtle you'll run into around here (and one you probably aggravated when you were a kid) is the eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina).

Cattle producers interested in learning more about directly marketing beef to consumers are invited to join speakers from UT Extension, the Tennessee Beef Industry Council and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for a day-long workshop. Sessions will cover topics including regulations for marketing live animals for custom-exempt processing and meat, finishing cattle effectively, how to pencil out your potential for profit, what producers need to know about meat quality, how much meat to expect, tips for working with processors, marketing resources and assistance available.

Before I married, I thought myself an expert on the subject. It did not matter that I was not a trained marriage counselor, I shared advice with anyone who would listen. I charged them what it cost me—absolutely nothing.
Now that I’m married, I realize how little I knew about marriage. I know less now than the day I said “I do”. I am thankful that all that marital advice I’ve given for years was free. It was worth what it cost.

Trees have been appreciated since the beginning of history, and are reflected in the earliest writings recorded. The Old Testament Bible mentions trees from one end to the other, using them both metaphorically and literally to teach wisdom that would be remembered. What follows is a small sampling of quotes from the Bible using modern text.

As Emily Cooke walked into her storefront for the first time she was overjoyed as she had been waiting for this day for over a year. She was excited to fill the Buttercup Bakery with the sweet smells of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and pies.
“Opening day was very surreal and like a dream come true,” said Cooke. “The anticipation for the first couple of customers to walk through the door was so great! I could barely sleep more than an hour the night before the grand opening.”

As friends, family, and neighbors joined together to enjoy a summer harvest, the new farmer’s market pavilion was truly a place “Where Our Community Meets.”
The previously held Summer Harvest Dinner was the first farm-to-table dinner hosted by the Union County Farmer’s Market, but certainly not the last.

Mayor Gary Chandler administered the oath of office and seated two aldermen at the Plainview Board of Aldermen meeting in July. Josh Collins and Richard Phillips were re-elected to four-year terms. Collins is the owner of Collins Insurance and Phillips is retired and serves as the vice mayor of Plainview.
During the business session, the board approved the purchase of a new 90 hp John Deere Tractor with four wheel drive, an air conditioned cab, and a five-foot side mowing deck. The new tractor will make mowing the roadsides much easier according to Phillips.

Chiropractic colleges accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) offer Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree programs. (CCE is the agency certified by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit chiropractic colleges in the United States.) Admission to a chiropractic college requires a minimum of 90 semester hour credits of undergraduate study, mostly in the sciences.

Fair season is upon us so make sure your 4-H members are getting their entries registered and submitted!
The Union County Farmers Market Annual Youth and Corn Festival will be returning to the Farmers Market Pavilion Saturday, August 6.
UT Extension is sponsoring the fair entries this year and they are open to all youth in grades K-12. It’s time to show off our youths’ accomplishments!
Did your child garden this year? Raise laying hens? Do they do needlework? Perhaps they like to cook? There are fair entries that cover all these areas.

I like peanut butter pie, but, hey, there is nary a pie I don't like. This one is easy to stir together. Hope you like it.

Being a natural-born card-carrying smart aleck, I simply love one-liners, especially catchphrases. Catchphrases are the basis for most advertising and the purpose is to quickly grab our attention.
The best one-liners stick in people’s minds and when heard we will associate the phrase with a particular product, brand or even an idea. The end goal of branding is to create consumer loyalty to a particular product or concept.

Some believe that internet access is a necessity of life. Especially since the pandemic, the internet was used for kids’ education and many people worked from home by using the internet.
Some day when our kids are grown up, they will not believe or understand how we could have possibly lived without the internet.
Just less than a hundred years ago people lived without electricity. Just like the internet, some people felt like they didn’t need electricity and would live without.

August 4 is Election Day in Union County. Polls will be open from 9:00AM to 8:00PM. Anyone in line by 8:00PM will get to vote. This election has candidates in the Democrat and Republican Primary for the US Congress, Governor, Tennessee House of Representatives, and State Executive Committee Men and Women of the Democrat or Republican Party. The General Election Ballot will cover candidates in the 8th Judicial District, County Offices and local District Offices. The last part of the ballot is a vote on retaining judges for the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Appelate Court.

In the United States, chiropractic is often considered a complementary health approach. According to a recent survey about 8 percent of adults (more than 18 million) and nearly 3 percent of children (more than 2 million) had received chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation in the past 12 months. Additionally, an analysis of NHLS cost data found that adults in the United States spent approximately $11.9 billion out-of-pocket on visits to complementary health practitioners — $3.9 billion of which was spent on visits to practitioners for chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation.

I love freshly made cake doughnuts. It's ok to frost them when you've had your fill before they go stale. Coffee and doughnuts go together. However, they are not something you make often. When you have all of the family in-house, stir up a batch and make an extra pot of coffee.

A group of non-partisan residents of Union County reached out to the 6 candidates running for the 5th District Commission seats and the 2 candidates running for Union County Mayor. We asked them for responses to 5 questions. We have provided the questions and unedited responses below. There is also a website www.voteuc.com where the responses, background information provided by the candidates, as well as other information related to the August 4 election is provided.

Researchers have studied spinal manipulation for a number of conditions ranging from back, neck, and shoulder pain to asthma, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and headaches. Much of the research has focused on low-back pain, and has shown that spinal manipulation appears to benefit some people with this condition.

Do those word sound familiar? If you’ve ever participated in Field Day, then chances are you’ve heard them. I remember the anticipation of standing in line for a race. Each one of us was waiting to hear a teacher say those three magic words. When they did, I leapt off of the starting line and ran across the field as fast as my legs would go. I wanted that blue ribbon for first place. Usually, I ended up with the silver one for third place.

i remember in the late fifties copying this recipe from the television screen. It has been a staple of mine ever since. I have used it on a stew, with tomato sauce instead of potatoes as well as topped with chicken gravy.

One of the most common and well-known therapeutic procedures performed by doctors of chiropractic is spinal manipulation (sometimes referred to as a “chiropractic adjustment”). The purpose of spinal manipulation is to restore joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile — or restricted in their movement — as a result of a tissue injury.

But first, let’s get out of Yucca Valley. We are heading to Bakersfield only because there is a distinct lack of lodging on the way to Yosemite. Along the route today we will also go through Needles and Barstow. Name that tune!

The first time I remember becoming aware of church dinners was when I was a young child. Maynardville Baptist (now the First Baptist Church of Maynardville) was going to have a homecoming. I didn’t understand at the time that homecoming was a special service to welcome former members and pastors to renew “auld acquaintance.

Biodiversity is a big deal in ecology science these days. The dictionary defines it simply as the variety of living things in a particular area or region. Opinions on the importance of biodiversity vary, but to me the loss of native plant or animal species means something’s wrong, and rightfully raises some concerns.