Opinion

To the Editor: PG&E is hearing from customers that energy bills are higher than normal. We understand increases are challenging. We’re taking action and helping customers.  Natural gas prices have risen significantly, about 90% higher than last winter in PG&E’s service area and nationwide. PG&E passes...

I have mentioned often about my young life in Wasco and the field work I did before I left for the military. Well, it occurred to me this morning that you might have thought I was a deprived young man. To the contrary, I...

(Part III will finish up this story of the early days of grape growing in King City. We continue with the drive hauling grape rootings from Coalinga to King City over State Route 198.) About two miles westward out of Coalinga there begins an incline...

To the Editor: Suicide is one of the most challenging societal issues of our time, claiming more lives than war, murder and natural disasters combined. Per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide rates increased approximately 36% between 2000 and 2021. Suicide was...

“Why do you like it so much?” he asked. You could ask a lot of people that same question and they wouldn’t be stumped the way I was. I thought back to the beginning of the passion, the birth of my new hobby. My...

You cannot be in Idaho without thinking potato. For most of the uninformed world, that is its claim to fame. We noted on the map that husband’s tribe, The Blackfoot or Blackfeet tribe, had their own town of Blackfoot on our route and, not...

You know how it is when you are older and yet you’re still wanting to do everything? That would be me. I have the urge to consistently go and do all the time, but sometimes my body — or, increasingly, my knee and hip...

If I ever again contemplate air travel, it will only be because I have lost all sensibilities and am probably living in a room with rubber walls. The last time I flew in a jet airliner I vowed it would be just that, the...

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans (an estimated 57 million people) live in rural communities throughout our vast country. And while access to healthcare services is critical to everyone, those living in rural areas face a variety of barriers that can adversely affect their overall...

This past week started off in good shape. I got a lot of stuff done that I have had on my to-do list. Still working on my truck, but now I just need some more parts. Then, the bottom of the week dropped out.  We...