Chris Hardie's Weblog

Jason Truitt, Online Editor of the Palladium-Item newspaper here in Richmond, recently asked what readers are looking for when they ask for more "local news." My response:
For me, a good local news story is one that reflects the things that are happening and the experiences people are having in and around our city and [...]

As I was preparing to graduate from college, I had already decided that I would be staying in the same town (Richmond) for the foreseeable future, and so I was a spectator to the strange but customary phenomenon of having all of my friends from the past four years pack up and prepare to leave [...]

Anna Lisa will begin a journey home today from her delegation trip to Hebron, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and at-Tuwani, where she's been for the last several weeks. You can read her latest post on the delegation blog about what it means to say goodbye. This as the news headlines are still filled with stories [...]

Links of recent interest:

Richmond Indiana Images of Home - a brief video slideshow with photos by Jim Hair and music by Brian Wallen.
VotePoke.com - Are you registered to vote? Are you sure?
Web Masters - Earlham College's recent Alumni Spotlight article featuring myself and Mark.
Finding the Time and Place to Do What's Important - another [...]

I attended a presentation recently where the person speaking was talking about when it is and is not appropriate to challenge your host's views, perhaps at a dinner party or other social event. He noted that in some cultures, it's perfectly appropriate and expected to have a heated discussion about the topic at hand, [...]

Earlier tonight I had the honor of being a guest speaker at the monthly meeting for the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County's board of directors, presenting a version of my talk on how we can build a more self-reliant Richmond, Indiana in the face of peaking availability of natural energy resources, global climate change, [...]

Today marked the last day of the 2008 Earlham College Senior Disorientation event, which helps soon-to-graduate college seniors to transition to the "real world" more smoothly. I've been participating in the event as a speaker/workshop facilitator since it began, and it's always an interesting experience to interact with "the Earlham kids" with an ever-increasing [...]

As they are seemingly wont to do, another locally owned coffee shop, Charlie's Coffee Bar and Gallery, has closed its doors. Sigh.
This is not an isolated incident. This is not a bump in the road on the way to a better Richmond. These things must not go unconsidered in the context of [...]