Guest Column | The American Dream: How We Lost Our Way on Immigration
In 1986 I worked for Californiaās Employment Development Department, where I processed amnesty seekers under President Ronald Reaganās landmark immigration reform law called Immigration and Control Act (IRCA). The Watsonville office reviewed documents proving that applicants had worked in the local farming economy for...
Window on the World Column | The Olden Days of Newsies ā Part II
When I began my newsie career in 1991, the newspaper had a circulation of about 25,000 on Saturdays and slightly less during the week. Circulation was therefore a key department as well, because the well-oiled machine of putting the paper out was really no...
Funny Papers Again Column | Me and Mee, Again: A Tough Time for Both of Us
It all started about three weeks ago with a stiffening of the neck that while a minor bother for a few days to within a few hours the pain became severe enough that I could not swivel my head side-to-side more than a few...
Funny Papers Again Column | Thoughts and Words From Sources Known and Unknown
The good and bad aspects of choosing a title line (see above) for a column is once up there, the writer is bound to it throughout the piece. If the writer adheres to the subject of the title throughout all is well, but if...
Guest Column | Monterey County Free Librariesā 5 Things to Celebrate in December
December is here and we are all getting ready for the holidays. Whether you celebrate the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza the library has something for you.
1) Our Winter Reading Club starts on Dec. 1, 2025, and runs through Jan. 31, 2026. Reading...
Window on the World Column | The Perfect Day
The perfect day was on order for the chosen celebration of life of our very own valley girl. Blissful sunlight through the oaks on River Road was on the menu, as was some delightful company. I arrived on top of some very ripe vines...
Funny Papers Again Column | āYounger, Richer, Stronger, Better Looking,ā and ASST. Interns
Weāll get to the title of this weekās 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...
Window on the World Column | No Doubting the Universe
āNo doubt the universe will unfold as it should,ā I tell my husband (sort of citing my favorite poem āDesiderataā). This was after we returned home from our neighborās place up the hill. Most times you go to neighboring homes and receive tomatoes or...
Letter to the Editor | Faith and Action Urged on Ash Wednesday
To the Editor:
Today is Ash Wednesday, the day Christians are reminded they will return to the dust from which their sacred teachings say they come.
Those teachings also tell them to do justice and let the oppressed go free. āYou shall be called the repairer...
Funny Papers Again Column | Midsummer Musings of Street Names and Reunions
I have given myself over to the theory that the Feds have in the interest of brevity or clarity or something meddled in our affairs regarding the cityās street names. This theory is based upon both the musings of a knowledgeable citizen and a...



















