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...

To the Editor: Here is what my beliefs are about birth control. If you’ve never been someone who thought they were pregnant when they didn’t want to be, you probably don’t understand the feelings of someone in that situation.  I’ll start by saying, I’ve never been a...

What you don’t always appreciate is how much you love your home when you are away and, especially, your critters. On about the third week of our trip, we started to really think about heading home. We were missing it. But we had a...

They say that the “Good Die Young.” I don’t know about all of the young, but I do know that there is one young man who left this mortal coil way too soon. He left us with memories that will last forever. This particular young...

To the Editor: The California State Association of Counties (CSAC) — the voice of California’s 58 Counties — would like to thank Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo for his strong leadership in supporting Broadband for All in the California State Budget. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed...

With the changing of the times and the lessening of the daylight, I must annually go on self-watch alert. There is something about darkness during the daytime that makes me, well, dark. I can get the gloomies very easily when the clocks fall back...

It’s kind of strange to start a column like that, but I have been struck with a book I have been reading and I haven’t even finished the first chapter. It’s called “Hillbilly Elegy,” by J.D. Vance. This is the guy the Republicans have...

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...

I have these two dogs. They are a mix between Border Collie and Australian Shepherd. These are the absolute smartest dogs I have ever seen. They sleep in the house, but they are not allowed on the bed or any furniture, as far as...

We’ll get to the title of this week’s column, kinda, but first I offer up mention of a television program both to conjure a memory in the likeminded and to inform a younger readership; if one exists. When I was a kid laying on a...