Opinion

Back in 1980, I spent a couple hours with an American icon, a man whose music struck chords across a wide swath of the nation and at times insinuated itself into the political discussion. He came from a small, rural part of Arkansas, born...

Last week, PBS’s news program “Frontline” aired an episode about Covid-19’s devastating impact on the lives and health of farmworkers in Monterey County and meat packers in Kings County. The stories, voices and fears of our farmworkers are certainly important and must be heard by all...

We all live in a brainiac world, to be sure, but the heart remains the emotional, spiritual center of our being. It’s still such a symbol of love and emotion, with our language sprinkled with metaphors invoking the heart as the source of empathy,...

I gave up on a book last week. I have set aside other books in my day, but those occasions have been rare and usually because I felt the story did not justify the sheer volume of pages; Joyce’s “Ulysses” and Tolstoy’s “War and...

The Pinnacles Film Festival began with one film and a simple idea: give it a fitting screening. It grew because filmmakers, community partners and volunteers saw what was possible and helped bring it to life. Sol Treasures had become involved in “The Trees Whisper at...

I remember when the wall speaker above Mr. Spears desk made that squawking, scratchy noise it made just before a voice came over and said “Mr. Spears, please send Steve Wilson to the office.” Great, now what? The “office” was of course the office of...

When I came to Gonzales, it was a wonderful little town built around the splitting of Highway 101 and closing off development to the south. Almost every citizen knew each other, and businesses that had been thriving for years on Highway 101 began to...

What a morning! I have been watching a series of videos on my computer that have given me some things to ponder over. I have thought that it was important to share, but haven’t had the time to do so. You know how you...

Have you ever heard of a guy named Edsel Murphy? He was not a politician or a doctor or any of the professions that are common. You may have heard the name, but perhaps you don’t know why it sounds so familiar. But whether...

Local column by Joanne Banuelos