Glenn Mollette

EDITORIAL - I've thought about taking a Duck boat ride and I'm glad I passed. Thirty-one people including 29 passengers had boarded the Duck boat ride vehicle for a joy ride on Table Rock Lake outside Branson Missouri last week.  It became the last ride that 17 of the passengers would ever make. 

Torrential weather turned the lake into a rollercoaster ride that became more than the Duck boat could handle. Media clips have shown the stress the World War II type amphibious vehicle and people were under. The raging lake overtook them sending many of them to their watery graves.

EDITORIAL - A couple of million Americans will be watching closely as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors compete for the 2018 NBA championship. LeBron James, a 6'8, 250 pound man who plays for the Cavaliers is the King James Version of basketball. I was recently in Cleveland, Ohio while the Indiana Pacers were in town. Interestingly the Pacers were staying in my hotel and I saw them often on the elevator or the hotel lobby.

The evening I was there I went down to the lobby in search for a snack and then headed back to the elevator when two men walked across the lobby area briskly and entered into the elevator first. I followed them on and was a bit awestruck that one guy with a baseball cap was large. He was maybe 6'8 or 6'9 and very stocky. I never mean to stare but this man looked familiar. He never looked at me to engage but kept his eyes on the elevator. By the time they got off the elevator I knew I was riding with the king of basketball - LeBron James.

EDITORIAL - Has America simply gone crazy? We never want to think that we are a bit crazy or that people we love are experiencing craziness but it is reality. America has an overwhelming problem with craziness or I should say mental health issues. Over a 12-month period, 27% of adults in the U.S. will experience some sort of mental health disorder, making the U.S. the country with the highest prevalence. Mental health disorders include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and substance abuse.

Over one's entire lifetime, the average American has a 47.4% chance of having some kind of mental health disorder. Yes, that's almost one in two. The projected lifetime prevalence is even higher: for people who reach age 75 it is 55%. World Health Organization data does not take into account eating disorders, personality disorders, and schizophrenia; the incidence of these disorders together is about 15% in the U.S., according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

EDITORIAL - I've always admired Barbara Bush. Like millions of others I was saddened to hear about her declining health and then recent death. Many television tributes and well deserved accolades have been verbalized in recent days. Her beautiful funeral service and all that was said from their Houston Episcopal Church was a tribute to one of America's finest ladies.

I had the opportunity to have my picture taken with the First Lady many years ago. She was speaking at a banquet and my assignment was to do an opening prayer for the occasion. Being on the program afforded me the opportunity to sit close to her while she would later speak. We were meeting under a large tent and it was a breezy day. The flag was occasionally blowing into her face and so I took hold of the end of it and held it during her speech.