Opinion

If you live in South Monterey County, you are among more than 60 million rural Americans. American Community Survey statistics show that Maine and Vermont have the highest proportions of population living in rural areas (about 61%) while California has the lowest (4.9%).  If you’ve...

Driving into the Correctional Training Facility at Soledad and you are reminded of how a secure institution can be. Acres of barren land, no trees, double high-wire fences, guard towers. And that’s how it should be, we know that. But head over to the...

Have you ever been shot? Kind of a crazy question at the beginning, but I have a reason that I’ll tell you about. First, I want to tell you how I got into a situation that ended with a shot. I have told you...

Letters to the Editor for Week of June 6, 2018

Happy June! At Monterey County Free Libraries (MCFL), we are really excited because it’s time for the Summer Reading Club. Summer is the best time of year at the library since we have so many fun programs and prizes. When you sign up for the...

A few weeks ago I asked you, dear readers, about your first memory. I wanted to know who might be reading my words and allow me to know how you might have grown up. No name, no address or anything really that you don’t...

To the Editor: If you drive by the Welcome sign where Highway 101 meets King City on any Friday afternoon, you will see sign-carrying citizens asking for honks. Honks to stop the rule of tyrants, honks for peace, honks for the children. Every week, the reason...

This is a story I wrote 20 two years ago. I wrote it to honor my mother on Mother’s Day. She didn’t know I would do this and probably would have asked me not to write it, but it was a gift that came...

For many of us, the new year represents a fresh start, and that is a concept that holds a lot of power. Hitting our internal “reset” button on Jan. 1 gives us the mental clarity and internal incentive to put our best foot forward...

I’ve been digging rather deeply recently to try and find the good stuff in the world. I’m sure I’m not the only person to say that life is currently pretty tough. Coupled with my husband’s illness and our financial stress, the wide open spaces...