http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:04:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_325180545.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_325180545.html Surreal is an overused word. So few moments in life actually live up to its definition. Your first fistfight. Climbing out of a storm cellar after a tornado. And shopping on Black Friday. Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:05:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_311230629.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_311230629.html In a pivotal scene in the film “Field of Dreams,” Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella feels unfairly excluded from the fun. Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:17:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_304131826.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_304131826.html Walkie-talkies were the iPhones of the 1960s. A kid with a walkie-talkie was a virtual Elroy Jetson. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:20:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_289222113.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_289222113.html Gorillas command attention. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:14:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_282171611.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_282171611.html Mitch Albom acquired his skepticism firsthand. Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:20:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_276182210.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_276182210.html Nostalgia is a tricky substance. Dragging too much of it around is unhealthy. But bygone moments of success are worth remembering and, perhaps, revisiting. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:05:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_268190904.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_268190904.html Fortunately, I’ve never been a contestant on the TV show, “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?” I know what would happen. Just as Chevy Chase once did, while imitating Gerald Ford in a presidential debate, I, too, would end up telling the moderator (Jeff Foxworthy), “I was told there would be no math.” Sat, 05 Sep 2009 22:46:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_248224837.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_248224837.html The last thing I expected to do in the serene silence of the DePauw University Library Archives was laugh. Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:11:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_245191121.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_245191121.html The last sliver of sun disappears on Wabash Avenue, as the downtown lights take over on Saturday night. Scents of grilled food drift through the air. Excited teenagers text friends to find them in the crowd. An electric guitar wails as drums pop, a bass thumps and a sax growls. Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:20:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_241222105.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_241222105.html Last spring, an announcement by President Obama had people talking about rail passenger service returning to Terre Haute. Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:45:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_227214702.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_227214702.html Everybody has their own welcome-to-the-real-world moment.Staring at your first paycheck and wondering what all those deductions are. … Waking up at 2:30 in the morning with your 5-year-old at your beside, saying, “I think I’m gonna frow up.” … Hearing the mechanic say, “Looks like your tranny’s shot,” in rural Georgia on your first family vacation to Florida.There’s a new one these days. Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:24:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_213185043.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_213185043.html The realization radiates from your eyes straight into your chest, settling around your heart. Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:34:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_206223518.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_206223518.html Tom Roznowski might’ve captured people’s attention as he strolled South Ninth Street in downtown Terre Haute. Sat, 18 Jul 2009 23:30:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_199233403.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_199233403.html Terre Haute is growing, thanks in part to a group of people who just can’t say goodbye to this place.Literally. Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:19:00 +0000 http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_164172131.html http://www.clintonherald.com/tribstar/mark_bennett_opinion/local_story_164172131.html My dad worked at a power plant.But for a kid fascinated by secret-agent shows like “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and “Mission Impossible,” it looked like a high-security compound.