One of the best ways to meet new people and make new friends is to have kids.

No doubt about it, friend-making can be an absolute desert without kids. Children are the number one thing that brings families, neighbors, and strangers together. When a new family moves onto the block, parents meet each other at the park, school, or while passing each other on their daily walk.

This summer brings a hotbed of activity as local history organizations, including the Jackson County Historical Society, commemorate devastating Civil War events that took place here in 1863. Specifically, martial law was enforced by the Federal military under “Order No. 11.” See the society’s online calendar at jchs.org, or ordernumber11.org for more details.

OK, time for a question from English class.

Wait. They haven’t taught that for years. It’s given way to something called language arts, despite no evidence that fuzzy language helps sharpen young minds. Maybe that’s part of the problem.

Despite the Boston Marathon tragedy on April 15, many warm, feel-good stories evolved.

One was the proud slogan “Boston Strong,” which characterized the city’s resilience, determination and solidarity.

Many people have no idea how important it is to be familiar with the plants to place in their yards and gardens. While many are beautiful and so tempting, some are potentially devastating to nearby woodlands, fields or streams.

Now is a good time, during this current bull stock market, to explore the tax advantages of making gifts of appreciated stock to support your favorite charities.

The proposal sounded good: Spend a day at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha with my 6-year-old, who likes to pretend she’s all sorts of animals, and she could now see them in person.

It’s happened to all of us at some time.

The upper-ups have targeted the office for bonding, team-building or, heaven forbid, aligning our synergies and energies to the organization’s true north, positively impacting stakeholder outcomes.

After scanning the divisive AM radio dial, I miss Mike Murphy and 1970s radio. Who, younger readers may ask? Murphy was a talk-show radio genius spanning 48 years of broadcasting.