Remember winter, when a blizzard shuttered schools, some government offices, some businesses? Those snow days came and went fairly fast. However, now weíve hit a much larger, more formidable challenge ó one most of us have never experienced ó the coronavirus.I am seeing television commercials where movie stars and athletes tell us ìweíre all in this together.î That seems to be todayís mantra.But are we ó all in this together? Those movie stars, athletes, musicians ó they make tons of money. They have backup money ó plenty, as well as Congress and CEOs of major corporations.And some of them are helping out with this crisis. Drew Brees (quarterback for the New Orleans Saints ó in case you have never watched football) and his wife just donated $5 million to various organizations in the state of Louisiana. Other famous people have donated as well.The average person does not have much backup money. A report from Bankrate, which analyzed inflation-adjusted data from the federal reserve, reported in 2019 that the typical American household has an average of $8,863 in a bank or credit union.When they break it down by age, itís evident that many people are in trouble right now if they have been laid off. In the 35 to 44 age group, singles with children have an average savings of $2,422; singles with no children ó $3,693; couples with children ó $10,399; couples with no children ó $5,306.When mortgages and rents are more than $1,000, those savings arenít going to last very long.I canít help but think about people who are on the fence with finances at this time. Itís scary; probably many of us have been there at one time or another.Iím just thinking about how we can help; we donít have an extra $5 million but we want you to know we are OK. We are business as usual, with the exception of a couple of changes. This month is the debut of our new banner. This is our 16th year, and we thought it might be time to change it up a bit. I hope you like it. And weíve had some requests to increase our font size so we did that, too. As always, let us know what you think.Many of our newspaper stands are closed, but if you are reading this, youíve found us. Walmart, Safeway, Big R and UPS are open and carrying our papers.So sit back and read some of the great articles in this monthís NFH. Mark Stollerís daughter, Ava, is subbing for Markís Meanderings, and she addresses Earth Day, which is April 22. Be sure to read her article: She smartly writes about the importance of respecting Mother Earth. Bill Radford has quite a bit to say in his columns about chickens. Pete Gawda writes about water and landscaping requirements. Lindsey Harrison updates us on development and the sheriffís video program. Leslie Sheley provides some pointers on finding a venue for your reunion or wedding.Happy Easter to our Christian friends.And stay well, everyone!See you in May,– Michelle
