By Ken Walker- Even those who didn’t catch a news report about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s recent lapband surgery likely saw a clip from David Letterman earlier where Christie joked about his weight problem. Obviously, since soon after that appearance the governor checked into the hospital, he felt a sense of desperation and urgency…
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By Ken Walker- Six months ago I premiered this blog with an anecdote about the feature I wrote that mentioned a residential drug treatment center. It soon prompted an anonymous donor to send the center a $200,000 donation. Even though they are worth it, such stories typically don’t make headlines. For one, the donor doesn’t…
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By Ken Walker- Although it’s been two decades since Dr. Hannah Gay was a missionary to Ethiopia, her faith has garnered a good bit of media attention in recent months. That’s because her work in Mississippi is credited with curing a baby born with the AIDS virus. As my story in the May issue of…
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By Ken Walker- Now that three years have passed since Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution aired on ABC Television, it is reasonable to ask whether many people around Huntington still care about healthy lifestyles. Is the excitement that stirred then still alive? After participating in the volunteer crew that helped stage the latest Healthy Huntington Day…
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By Ken Walker- When I wrote a story for the March issue of Christianity Today on Russia’s pending ban on adoptions by American parents, I had more than a passing interest. For one, my mother’s parents emigrated from the Ukraine (part of the Soviet Union before Communism’s collapse) to western Canada in the late 1800s.…
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By Ken Walker- It is that time of year when chocolate eggs are all the rage, but after our Easter sugar rush subsides, it is worth looking at the literature continuing to emerge about the links between sweets and obesity. This problem threatens not only our nation’s health, but the future of our most precious…
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By Ken Walker- Since it’s been several years since I wrote a story about Christian comedians, I had forgotten how funny it was, until I re-read it after seeing one of the interview subjects in person recently. When I interviewed Chonda Pierce, she reeled off the one-liners that are her trademark, just as she did…
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By Ken Walker- Absent court intervention, New York’s ban on super-sized sweetened beverages will take effect next week. Of course, regardless of whether that state’s supreme court intervenes, the “nanny state” debate will rage on far into the future. I have mixed emotions about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s step. Having lost weight after double-bypass surgery, I…
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By Ken Walker- The danger of emphasizing healthy living is sounding like a broken record or offending those who struggle with their weight. But since I still know what that struggle is like, I believe this message is one that never goes out of style. Besides the vegetarian lifestyle I adopted, the constant reminders of…
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By Ken Walker- When I saw New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on NBC News recently talking about his weight struggles at 50, I could relate. I will never forget my 50th birthday, and not just because my wife threw me a surprise birthday party. With dozens of guests, I got a lot of gifts that…
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