HUMAN INTEREST
They way they all became the Barkley Bunch
Midway through last spring, Doris Barkley's emotions got the best of her. “As all the grandkids were swinging on the set in the front yard” on Mother's Day, she recalled, “I just started to cry.” Whether by coincidence, fortune, or the will of God, Doris and Buddy Barkley have recently merged into the express lane of grandparenting. All seven of their grandchildren are younger than 8.FULL STORY

CAPITOL CORNER
Report from Washington: Show us the jobs
Prep basketball teams in Cherokee County begin area tournament play this week. The Class 1A Area 12 boys tournament will be in Cedar Bluff, with Asbury and Collinsville tipping off the round ball action on Feb. 2 at 5 p.m.FULL STORY

ROAD APPLES (02/08)
Facebook follies
 My wife and I do not have laptops and iPods and Blackberries and so on and so forth. We neither text nor twitter. We share a single desktop computer, and for the last several months have been members of an insidious social organization known as Facebook. FULL COLUMN

THE FAMILY GUY (02/01)
Sometimes you have to blame the baby
I will admit to doing some pretty unsavory things during my brief foray into fatherhood. And frequent readers will no doubt testify that my sense of humor belongs more in the boy's locker room ... than inside an esteemed newspaper. FULL COLUMN

FROM THE PULPIT (01/18)
The perfect time to lose your luggage
Some years back, Linda and I celebrated a significant benchmark in our lives by taking a trip that required us to fly on a plane. An airline error threatened to take away our excitement. Upon arrival, we learned the airline had lost our luggage. FULL COLUMN