Opinion

I loathe the 24 hours of Dec. 21-22, 2021. And it has nothing to do with this year. I hate Dec. 21 every year and have since before I knew the whole planetary explanation of why I detest the day. (Reason is because the...

My name is Octavio Hurtado, and I’m the Public Works director and city engineer for King City. I have been working on projects in King City for the past 20 years. The first 17 years as a consultant providing contract city engineering services, and...

In 1986 I worked for California’s Employment Development Department, where I processed amnesty seekers under President Ronald Reagan’s 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...

When I worked in the newspaper industry, the obituary page was allegedly the paper’s most popular page, which, in my younger years, I found a little curious. Now I am — ahem — a little less young, I totally get it. These days I...

Whatever you may think about having a day dedicated to our thankfulness, you have to admit that California, with all the problems we all face this year, will have plenty of places to say “thank you” for the huge number of volunteers that want...

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...

As a former California State Assemblymember and Monterey County Supervisor, I am deeply concerned about the pressing issue of rising prescription drug prices and healthcare accessibility. Our state’s progress depends on the advancement and well-being of all its communities, especially those at risk. With...

Regrets? I’ve had a few. Old blue eyes, Frank Sinatra, sure knew how to say it better than me, but then he got to live his life “My Way.” I have done a lot of things in my life. I got to thinking about...

It has been mentioned before how I always felt, and had support of some readers, that the photo that accompanied this column just was not how I appear to the world. I wore a mustache without beard for only about five weeks and with...

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