Passport Diaries Column | The Great Escape: Turning Back the Clock in Old Sacramento
Old Sacramento Waterfront district is a historical part of the city that features several options to dine and shop just about anytime of the year. I decided to take my wife, Luisa, and our son, Elias, on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon in March...
Worthy to Print Column | Getting Strong
As I begin this weekly addition to the greatest periodical in South Monterey County, I should warn you that some words might need explanation. OK, I can hear the mumbling. “What is this wanna-be Hemingway talking about this week?” That’s a fair question, so...
Worthy to Print Column | Pants on Fire
Liar, liar, pants on fire! Have you ever heard those biting words as a child? Maybe it was just a schoolyard taunt by someone you didn’t get along with. Perhaps it was a case of “The dog ate my homework.” And your teacher was...
Guest Column | Protecting Migrant Education Is a Moral Imperative for America’s Farmworker Children
At the heart of California’s $59 billion agricultural industry are the hardworking migrant farmworkers who harvest the food that feeds our nation. Their labor sustains our economy, but their children, who face extraordinary educational barriers due to the migratory nature of their parents’ work,...
Window on the World Column | Amazing Grace
I first met Lori Tuttle by chance — is anything actually by chance — at a craft vendor fair on Highway 68. She had a lovely stall of repurposed goods with a cowboy touch that she had lovingly restored. I was selling my books....
Guest Column | Monterey County Free Libraries’ 5 Things to Celebrate in April 2026
The fourth month of the year, the name April is believed to be derived from the Latin “aperire” meaning “to open” representing spring, and the blossoming of flowers and possibilities.
April opens up many possibilities at Monterey County Free Libraries, where we celebrate National Poetry...
Guest Column | Protecting the Most Precious Gift We Hold in Life — Our Health
In 1948, the World Health Organization defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” WHO published further clarifications in 1986, citing health as “a resource for everyday life, not the objective...
Worthy to Print Column | Finally!
For the readers who have been reading my thoughts for the past few years, you will be happy to know that my old ’56 Ford F-100 is finally on the road. Of course, it isn’t completely finished as I would like it to be...
Letter to the Editor | The Rest of the Story
To the Editor:
Mr. J.J. Burnes, thank you for your letter to the editor regarding Black history (“Black History,” Feb. 24). The information on Mr. Bass Reeves, 1838-1910, the first Black American Deputy U.S. Marshal in Oklahoma Territory, was very informational.
Let me be your Paul...
Guest Column | California’s Latino Students Shouldn’t Pay for the Failures of the Past
Latino students are California’s present and future, now making up the majority of our public classrooms. Recognizing this reality, our state has invested in programs like bilingual education and English learner support — serving nearly 1 in 5 California students who require English language...
Local News
Life prisoner convicted in stabbing of cellmate at Salinas Valley State...
SOLEDAD — A jury convicted a state prison inmate serving a life sentence of stabbing his cellmate about 40 times in 2022 at Salinas...





















