ArcaMax

MIDDLETOWN, Pennsylvania -- When judging the nation's character, the media tend to gravitate toward its loudest voices, its most extreme measures, its deepest grudges. The result is a loss of all subtlety and nuance.

In the days and weeks following Aug. 26, when our nation lost 13 service members in a deadly terror attack in Afghanistan, ...Read more

SHANKSVILLE, Pennsylvania -- The first thing you notice about Frank Siller is the resolve in his mission. Each step he takes along Shanksville Road on the outskirts of this Somerset County town is done with purpose.

The sound the steps make is a forward motion; there is no hint of retreat.

You can imagine it is a trait he shared with his ...Read more

Last Thursday, Aug. 26, at 6:00 p.m. in Kabul, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest as American troops at Abbey Gate were processing entrants to Hamid Karzai International Airport. Nearly 200 people died at that horrific moment, including 13 U.S. service members.

It was a horrific massacre that didn't need to happen.

There is only one...Read more

LEBANON, Kansas -- There is something uplifting about standing in the center point of the United States of America. It evokes a sense that is both spiritual and patriotic, particularly if you reach this point having traveled on both sides of the monument that marks the spot.

There is a restorative energy you absorb, no matter where the back ...Read more

GETTYSBURG -- On an overcast day, the national park that has preserved the history of one of the bloodiest and most significant battles of the American Civil War is filled with people from all over the country. It is a testament to the desire everywhere not just to know our history, but also to honor the soldiers who fought and lost their lives ...Read more

WALL, South Dakota -- Everything about Wall Drug, arguably the most iconic and long-lasting drugstore in America, exemplifies a doggedness. It took persistence to not only survive, but also thrive against insurmountable odds in a place few thought a small business had any business starting an enterprise in the first place.

In 1931, when Ted ...Read more

INDIANA, Pennsylvania -- When you cross the street in the downtown of this borough, located in a county that shares its name, you're in for a reminder that it's a wonderful life. Two of the crosswalk signals guide pedestrians with the voice of the late Jimmy Stewart, who was born and raised here in Indiana.

"Please wait to cross Philadelphia ...Read more

PITTSBURGH -- It's 4:30 in the morning, and Raymond Mikesell's alarm has gone off.

Within an hour, as the first rays of pink and orange morning light reflect off the skyscrapers in the city, Mikesell is at his restaurant, Cafe Raymond, in the Strip District, the city's Main Street for small businesses.

On his way to the restaurant, he stops by...Read more

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania -- If you were the president of a railroad 100 years ago, you were kind of a big deal. Yet when Alan Maples became president of the Everett Railroad Company in 1983, a purchase that made him the youngest person in the history of the industry to hold that title, the Alabama native knew full well he would not wield the ...Read more

NEW ALEXANDRIA, Pennsylvania -- The scent of funnel cakes, grilled hot dogs and an ever-so-faint whiff of diesel fuel fill the air. The odd combination somehow works, adding to the excitement and anticipation as thousands of families and gearheads fill the stands surrounding the track of the local Lions Club Demolition Derby here in Westmoreland...Read more

BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. -- About 250 years ago, farmers looking for a way to make their surplus corn crop profitable decided to distill it. Today, that leftover grain has become a billion-dollar industry and a symbol of the Bluegrass State's identity, economy and culture.

"How bourbon came about is (what) ... the American spirit looks like: ...Read more

OTTAWA, Ohio -- This is not a story about politics. Instead, it is a story about America and how sometimes, you can discover something new when you try to absorb the country's character one mile at a time and when you take in a place on its own terms and not simply the terms of wherever you came from.

A couple of weeks ago, a native Long ...Read more

BUCKSTOWN, Pa. -- The Duppstadt's Country Store, sitting high on a plateau along the Lincoln Highway between Stoystown and Reels Corner, has served Somerset County residents and weary travelers since 1903. When you open the heavy wooden door and hear it creak with age, you get the sense you have entered somewhere special.

Not because it has ...Read more

Whether your vacation is in your backyard, on a sandy beach, or camping in a majestic national park, the summer read is as essential a part of your getaway as your sunscreen, fishing rod or road atlas.

Americans crave tales of adventure, mystery, love and tragedy as a summer rite of passage. The more noble prefer to dive into highbrow ...Read more

What matters on Twitter ... often just stays on Twitter.

Those who use the platform to voice opinions on faith, politics, guns, culture, the military, the police and a whole host of other issues just aren't representative of popular opinion. They tend to hold positions not just to the left but to the far, far left.

Journalists, who are among ...Read more