First of all, MOST OF ALL, thanks for BEING here, and for coming to this page! I have been truly humbled by the support I've gotten from folks for this little enterprise I started to avoid going more insane during my wife's battle with cancer. I was amazed at what Base 44 and I were able to achieve.

So as you might imagine, this page includes the ability to send a few bucks my way - at whatever level or frequency you feel comfortable with.

But that is SO totally optional! You see, my wonderful wife Debbie was the Banker of the family (and the Driver, etc.) - but as I've joked with many of late, the money picture is clearing up to the point where I believe I can keep the house (pay the mortgage), pay the other bills (I've canceled some stuff, but MAN there is a lot!) - etc.

I just have to give up ... eating.

(Hence my punchline: "So when are you taking me to lunch?") That's the half-serious, half-fun gestation of my idea of Breaking Bread with Barney - the fun flip side of my BBB business cards - because I don't just need more friends - I need an audience;-) Fun, interesting features are my ... bread and butter;-)

But what I crave just as much is ... feedback. Hopefully, mostly kind and constructive. My tagline's inclusion of "AI-assisted" has brought some noisy complaints that it's all AI-written. NOPE. It builds the site, helps me add/tweak features, Perplexity helps me do research, but I do the WRITING. I promise.

But those sometimes harsh criticisms also have brought some folks rushing to my defense - sending wonderfully kind compliments in my direction, so ... I guess I have the critics to thank for THAT.

Anyway, the box below is for you to provide whatever feedback you'd like to share - anything that isn't working right, what you'd like to see more (or less!) of, etc.

I still "ride the tide of the daily news," and love to be first and/or best so share them - but so do many local news websites, so I LOVE when I can tell unique stories. Fun ones, even better! I love being a bright spot in people's lives. (I may do open mic standup. Seriously;-)

The trick for me - always, but especially now - is work-life BALANCE. I just don't want to go so deep down the stressful rabbit holes of seeking advertisers, sponsors, grants, etc. that it takes me away from my life-long love of writing the news and telling great stories of special people, neat causes, businesses you've never heard of but should, etc. The possibilities are endless, and can be so rewarding.

So please share that feedback, and maybe a story tip/request or two. I can't promise an exhausting ... I mean exhaustive deep dive into the issues of the day, but I like to say that I don't just want to tell your story - I want to help YOU tell YOUR story. And oftentimes, that means I stay out of the way and "let the story tell itself," to the maximum extent possible.

So PLEASE DON'T feel you have to fork over any funds - nice words are worth just as much! (OK, well, almost;-)

I promise that I WON'T put up a paywall, or let the site get so festooned with pop-up (ugh) ads etc. that it's not a good place to visit, catch up on things, etc. As I like to say, as much as breaking news has been part of my life, I also think that if you can enjoy reading my work as much as I do writing it, we're both winners. (Blessed, even.)