Michelle Obama is speaking at the Democratic National Convention right now, talking about her love for her husband, her daughters, her family. The AP said her job was to show Barack Obama’s personal side.

The media has written at length about Obama as the product of an interracial marriage, how he grew up without a father, how he took a job as a community organizer in Chicago. We’ve heard about his efforts to quit smoking. But on Monday night, we heard his wife’s take on why her husband is the kind of man who should lead our nation. She spoke about…

We’re writing about the Cardinals and the River City Rascals starting a new section in their stands: The peanut-free zone.

Buy me some … Crackerjack?

According to the news release from the Rascals: “In support of Gateway FEAST (Food allergy, Eczema, and Asthma Support Team), the River City Rascals have designated section 109 during every Wednesday home game as a ‘Peanut-Free Section.’ Here fans with such food allergies can come to a baseball game and avoid the hazards that peanuts can cause on their health.”

The Rascals start the peanut-free section tonight; the Redbirds start a section on July 21.

I am fortunate, as is…

A city advisory commission on health issues wants the City Council to  ban smoking at bars, restaurants and other enclosed public places. A majority of council members are opposed, with some worrying that businesses in the city could suffer if St. Charles acts on its own without neighboring communities doing the same. Should the council pass such a prohibition, let city voters decide in a referendum or leave the law the way it is? 

Let’s start this topic by stating the obvious right at the outset: Nobody is in favor of child pornography. OK? Repeat after me: Nobody thinks child pornographers should get any legal protection.

Here’s another comment that I hope is obvious: All art cannot be about puppy dogs and cotton candy. Some art — legitimate and mainstream art — will and should be about difficult topics, hard topics. Even painful topics.

So, from there, here’s my question:

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a child porn case, upholding a law that “sets a five-year mandatory prison term for promoting, or pandering, child pornography….

I have family members who smoke. They like to smoke. If it were easy to quit, I doubt they would — in spite of all the research that talks about how dangerous smoking is.

Today, there’s research out that says scientists have isolated that genes that “make people more likely to get hooked on cigarettes and more prone to develop lung cancer - a finding that could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit.”

So the question is simple: If it were easy to quit smoking, would you do it?

For the nonsmokers out there:…