Guest Column | Protecting the Heart of California’s Workforce: The Urgent Need for CSU Funding Solutions
California’s investment in education has created one of the most impressive higher education systems in the U.S. with the California State University, University of California and California Community Colleges. Together, California’s colleges and universities make up 12% of full-time equivalent enrollment in higher education...
Funny Papers Again Column | The Travails of Patient and Customer
I am grateful for Mee Memorial Healthcare System, I really am. In the past decade I have had more contact with the folks there than I wanted to, but as one ages one must face the realities of natural physical deterioration or, as in...
Guest Column | Diabetes Risk Is Higher in Rural Communities
For members of previous generations, a “wakeup call” meant having a hotel employee ring their room at a certain time to rouse them from bed. Today the term is used when we’ve been doing something self destructive for some time (perhaps without realizing it)...
Letter to the Editor: Get the facts straight
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...
Worthy to Print Column | Trying Something New
Today seems like it might be a little different than most Sundays; there is an Artichoke Festival. This year it is in Monterey instead of Castroville. I was going to accompany my bride and her friends and go with them, but I needed to...
Window on the World Column | Slow It All Down
There’s nothing like a little bit of Christmas in the shops in October to make you go … “ummm what?” The pumpkins have not even got boring yet and here we are ho-hoing our ways towards the end of December. I don’t want to...
Worthy to Print Column | Shining My Shoes
When you meet someone for the first time, do you ever notice a person’s shoes or boots? I always do. Not just a man’s footwear, but women’s shoes and boots too! In my family we polished our shoes because we didn’t get a lot...
Funny Papers Again Column | My Bookish Ways During These Triple-Digit Days
Today is day 192 of the year, 10 days past the midway point on the Gregorian calendar; there are 173 days remaining in the year 2024. These days mark the season of the Sun, summer is upon us in all its scorching beauty and...
Funny Papers Again Column | Words for America to Honor — What a Capital Idea
I made an honest effort at reciting words I learned years ago only to find that I had left out three sections, just a few words, but those omissions were as integral and important as any others. I am talking about the preamble to...
Funny Papers Again Column | Writing This Column Is a Pain in the Neck
One of the first things one learns when writing a column is that the title is important; words must be chosen that catch readers’ attention and insure further reading. I’m betting it worked well this week; but I hope only for this week because...
Local News
Salinas man pleads no contest in violent May 2025 domestic incident
SALINAS VALLEY — A Salinas man has pleaded no contest to multiple charges stemming from a May 2025 incident in which he stabbed his...























