Opinion

It has been a long time since we had a pig in the family. You read that correctly. Back in 2011, when my daughter was young, she raised an award-winning pig for the Salinas Valley Fair through the high school 4-H Club. For rookies...

“It was not my intention to end the column as it ended. But a call minutes ago informs me my life-long friend Stephen Carl Clark has passed away down in Mexico. For many years there were three of us who kept close since kindergarten;...

Joanne's Got It by Joanne Banuelos

In this column, let us venture into the sociological world of politics in the present age through the eyes of a former member of a cult. This particular cult, like most cults, was grounded in religion, in this case Christianity. This person would have claimed,...

Something just crept up inside my tiny brain and said, “Oh, you have vacation coming up next month with a lot of moving parts. Maybe you should check on some of those pieces?” I do listen these days when the female intuition kicks in,...

Local column by Joanne Banuelos

In 2024, the Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) made significant strides in building pathways to help communities thrive, despite facing various challenges. As the outgoing Chair, I would like to highlight the accomplishments and ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of life for...

What is humor? What makes us smile, what tickles our funny bones? Humor is a very serious subject for some, mostly those involved in therapy and counseling where humor has been found to be an indicator of one’s emotional and mental state. But for...