Opinion

We live in a valley formed by mountain ranges to the east and west with an ocean bay 50 miles to the north and a coastline 25 miles westward; a geographical formation that climatologists designate a semi-arid area. By comparison to many areas of...

Goodwill’s goal has always been to strengthen communities by eliminating barriers to opportunity and employment — and education has long been the foundation of those efforts. That’s why Goodwill Central Coast does everything it can to support local schools and the amazing teachers who lead...

When I worked in the newspaper industry, the obituary page was allegedly the paper’s most popular page, which, in my younger years, I found a little curious. Now I am — ahem — a little less young, I totally get it. These days I...

Mother’s Day just passed us by in America and Australia. England celebrates theirs in March. Why the world can’t align days like this, I will never know. It’s probably along the lines of why humanity can’t get along with humanity; but I digress. My...

Local column by Lucy Jensen

Excuse me if I am a little maudlin this week. Lots of things happening and most of them are about where I am in life. Have you ever sat down to reflect on your position and what went right or wrong? I’m not a particularly...

“The beautiful dog awoke from its deep sleep dreamland. Before remembering his recent rescue, a bolt of concern ran through him from all those rude awakenings, and days and nights of fear. He could hear the comfortable long snooze of his new best friend...

If you have read any of my scribbling over time, you know I’m a lifelong conservative. I don’t know exactly when I discovered this. Although I can’t remember much about politics until my platoon sergeant and I were sitting on the hood of a...

It’s that time of year; nearly the end of the year, another 12 months in the vault of my life. As I flick back through my diary of the past months, I am amazed by how much was jammed into most hours of each...

You knew it was going to happen. What’s that? You didn’t know. Well, let me tell you it’s true! Last week I got on my soapbox about taxes, and since it’s April, why not continue my rant.  Instead of working on helping “We the People,”...