Opinion

We all have what we nostalgically refer to as our “hometown,” that place where we spent maybe not the most years of our lives but surely the years we recall with sharpest memory; and as decade follows decade the people and places we knew...

Saturday afternoon around 4:30 I was 410 words into my column for this week when my cell phone rang. The choice to interrupt a train of thought while writing usually falls to the “let it ring and go to voicemail” protocol, but in this...

Editor's Note: We welcome Letters to the Editor of local and general interest to our readers. Letters should be typed and include the writer’s first and last name, home address and phone number for verification. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters may be edited...

It was very late by the time we headed south for our annual shopping weekend in Paso Robles. There is something about traveling south that is always so relaxing, even during the very busy holiday weekends. As you leave King City behind, the valley...

Editor's Note: We welcome Letters to the Editor of local and general interest to our readers. Letters should be typed and include the writer’s first and last name, home address and phone number for verification. No anonymous letters will be printed. Letters may be edited...

On Dec. 18, 2020, the Competitive Speech and Debate Program at Greenfield High School was canceled. By eliminating this program, the South Monterey County Joint Union High School District Board of Education is depriving students of critical college scholarship opportunities. Perhaps more disturbing are...

The holiday season brings excitement, but it can also disrupt our routines and make it easy to let healthy habits slip. With travel, parties and shopping, it’s common for our usual health practices to take a backseat. One of the biggest challenges in December is...

Let me begin this week’s column by stating I don’t anticipate the subject to bring anyone to tears but myself. It is important to me to tell this story, but it will be a bit cryptic in that I will not use any proper...

The agricultural stretch of California’s Central Coast along the Salinas Valley is often called the “Salad Bowl of the World,” and for good reason. It supplies over 60% of the nation’s lettuce and substantial portions of strawberries, spinach and broccoli. But beyond the fertile...

Many times, over the past five decades I drove between Southern California and the Salinas Valley on El Camino Real, aka the 101, and so am very acquainted with the stretch of asphalt from Santa Barbara to SoMoCo. Now, like motorists everywhere finding a...