Opinion

It is 3 a.m., this column will run Feb. 1, one week from this morning. According to statistics from 2020, by that date 868 people in the United States will have died from gun violence. Now that you see where this is heading, you...

Some years ago, in a library in Southern California, I gave a book to a young lady in hopes she would find it a compelling story. She replied she had heard of the book but had yet to read it and thanked me for...

It was one of those defining moments. Near reminiscent of the morning we watched one and then two towers collapse; when we got the news Diana died in a car crash. Not apocalyptic like that, but still shocking and time-defining. The newsflash came across...

I mean, you are not reading this on June 14, 2024, that is the real Flag Day. Well, not really. I mean it IS today, but you will be reading this after the fact. Due to the irregularities of the printing schedule, I have...

The vast majority of American politicians are in the business of kicking the can down the road, with one notable exception: Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. I know “kicking the can down the road” is an old cliché used to reference the arms race, federal budget, childcare,...

I hate the Fourth of July, America's birthday, Independence Day and all that. There, I’ve said it. I even said it out loud, as I hummed, alternatively, “Star Spangled Banner” and “We are the Champions.” Then a wartime mortar comes flying over my head...

As I get back into the swing of things here in South Valley, I want to offer up some random thoughts, or comments, garnered from notes taken over the past few weeks both here at home and on the road. The first observation is...

Before I get too far into my scribbling today, I would like to say “thank you” to all my readers and friends. It was so kind of you to send me addresses of stores that carried the Big Hunk candy bars. I especially want...

It has been two years since my baby sister Rosie passed on to another planet. When some say that spirits fly close to the ground, I have found that to be true, also that they don’t fly in the conventional sense. Sister seems to...

I was pedaling around Greenfield the other day and it is easy to see the great strides the city has made in adding family homes and apartments; new businesses spring up and older businesses are upgrading appearances. Then I got to the main intersection...