Opinion

The definition of the word “volunteer,” according to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, is a person who does a job without being paid for it. That’s pretty straightforward, but in my opinion it falls a bit short of the mark; if one takes the...

Liar, liar, pants on fire! Have you ever heard those biting words as a child? Maybe it was just a schoolyard taunt by someone you didn’t get along with. Perhaps it was a case of “The dog ate my homework.” And your teacher was...

Saturday afternoon around 4:30 I was 410 words into my column for this week when my cell phone rang. The choice to interrupt a train of thought while writing usually falls to the “let it ring and go to voicemail” protocol, but in this...

The City of King has received an increasing number of calls from citizens regarding excessive speeding in residential neighborhoods. As a result, the King City Police Department applied for and received approval for two state grants totaling $102,500 to increase outreach, enforcement and technology.  The...

To the Editor: At the schools, we feed our students breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks and dinner. If it is not safe at McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and Carl’s Jr. here in Greenfield and other cities in the county, then it is not safe in...

I love living in the Salinas Valley. I have always loved this part of the state. Oh sure there is the wind, but that you have to have something to dust while cleaning house. I will say that you really never, as our early...

To the Editor: Last week I wrote a guest column on the Western Flyer, the legendary boat that took John Steinbeck and Doc Ricketts to the sea of Cortez in 1940. A reader pointed out it wasn’t all about community, that Carol Steinbeck helped a great...

A couple of weeks ago I said I was going to steer clear of any political stuff; but a writer writes what is in the head and the heart. So, contrary to my words, here goes. The arguments pro and con addressing the issue of...

Good day! If you are a regular reader of my scribbles, then you know that a few weeks ago we lost the very best dog that has ever lived. Dirt was what a dog is supposed to be. As you might imagine, if you...

Years ago, I’d never received the memo that you work for your life and not the other way around. Gradually as the grey hairs grew and the wisdom pearls hatched a little from dusty eggs of experience, I realized that most of us are...