Opinion

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Funny how the mind works. Today I was blankly sitting in front of my laptop with no idea what to write about, tuned to KCBX, the local NPR radio station, when a report from Chicago mentioned the famous circular downtown roadway known as the...

Local column by Joanne Banuelos

One late afternoon some years ago I stood among rows of uniformly sized brass markers placed with military precision in the grass at the Riverside National Cemetery. At my feet was my father’s marker, and this was my annual pilgrimage to his final resting...

It was 2020 and, like a champ, I had the flu and the pneumonia vaccination in one foul swoop. It was recommended for us folks of a certain age. We weathered mild side effects from both shots, and I didn’t get either virus. Result…...

For today’s column I cite Joe Mathews as main source. Joe writes the California Connected column for Arizona State University’s publication Zocalo Public Square (which is redundant as a zocalo is a public square, but I digress). Instead of taking a dramatic approach where I...

It was the 1960s in England. The country was still recovering after the war and things were used and re-used; almost until they turned to dust. Looking back, it was a time of great thriftiness and creativity. Hand-me down clothing was standard in every...

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...

For many of us, the new year represents a fresh start, and that is a concept that holds a lot of power. Hitting our internal “reset” button on Jan. 1 gives us the mental clarity and internal incentive to put our best foot forward...