Opinion

The first part of today’s Funny Papers Again column is an off-handed comment on the present politically charged situation, so if you are as fed up with anything even slightly political, just skip to below the three asterisks and read on. In last week’s column,...

While conversations around health are becoming more inclusive, many men still face social and internal pressures that discourage them from prioritizing their well-being. Men’s Health Month, observed each June, aims to break down those barriers — fostering honest dialogue, healthier habits, and proactive steps...

“Hey honey, would you come into the kitchen?” This was how I was greeted as my bride was standing there with a cup of the very best coffee I have ever sipped. But there was someone else standing next to her that was unexpected....

The headline reads simply “Funny Papers June 18 2025.” Below the headline there is a blank page where on the left margin, expecting to go to work, the cursor waits, and waits, and waits. A quick glance at the clock on the wall lets...

Fifteen years is a long time; but is it? Time compresses and expands like an accordion, often catching you off guard. A memory popped up, as they do in the infinite world of social media memory. It made me stop and examine that face....

Happy June! At Monterey County Free Libraries (MCFL), we are really excited because it’s time for the Summer Reading Club. Summer is the best time of year at the library since we have so many fun programs and prizes. When you sign up for the...

“Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world.” I don’t recall whose words those are, if I...

For decades in the Salinas Valley, the short-handle hoe, known as “El Cortito,” was used for weeding and thinning rows of crops that kept farmworkers stooped over for long hours each day. Workers were only able to stand and stretch when they reached the...

I received an email from a fellow who lives out Jolon way, in which I was asked about a situation I had never really considered and I found that I was probably too close to the subject to have ever had the notion enter...

It is our family custom, after the passing of a loved one, that we gather together and celebrate the life of that person. Whether it be in church or not, this ceremony of sorts provides closure, for want of a better word. The breaking...