Opinion

As Planet Earth nears the end of another orbit around the sun, many in the United States observe Christmas Day. It’s celebrated as a religious day, this 25th day of the last month of the year, just two weeks away. This column about Christmas came...

Do you ever get the feeling that you were born at the wrong time or place? How about what you do? I ask these questions because I often find myself in a situation where a little prior knowledge of a subject would have surely...

To the Editor: As ongoing conflicts in the Middle East continue to damage communities and destabilize the region, we have to reinforce our commitment to achieving peace through diplomacy and collaboration. It is time for an intense attempt to stop the cycle of bloodshed and...

Once again as I sit down at my laptop, gather myriad notes on scraps of paper, lay my cell phone next to me for photo access, place my fingers on the qwerty and then ask myself “What goes in and what stays out?” (For...

It took me forever to get a college degree. Really. It was nearly 30 years and over 330 miles apart — from September of 1970 when I enrolled as a drama major at Hartnell in Salinas until March of 2000 before I got an...

We don’t have kings in the United States of America; yet how many of us have at one time or other wished we had ultimate authoritarian power? Remember, even the Cowardly Lion wanted to be “Not queen, not duke, not prince” but “King of...

As the once-owner of Salinas Valley Ford Truck Center in Salinas, I find myself grappling with a profound sense of loss and frustration. For more than three decades, our family business provided excellent service to the local community and government agencies. Then, in the blink of...

I just got back from my monthly trip to Home Depot. I can’t go more often because I buy things that require me to stop and put up a picture or change an electric outlet, and sometimes I just don’t feel like taking the...

We have been living through some perilous times. I have heard from my relatives, my friends and even some neighbors. Things are not as they should be. Maybe this election will change us for the better. Maybe they will have a vaccine for this...

To the Editor: I just read Mr. Wilson’s Opinion piece of Nov. 29 (“Part II: Will the GOP Take Its True Place?”). It was well written, concise and supported with facts.  I hope people will take it to heart, no matter your politics. I especially like...