Archive By Section - Columnists
Just one question for Barack Obama
Be it his chicken-in-every-pot oration at the DNC or his refusal at the Ole Miss debate to be fiscally responsible by amending his 21st century "Great Society" to-do list - despite the $700 billion drain on the treasury that he may inherit - I have only one question for Barack Obama: How in the free world will he be able to fund the infinite throng of assurances that he has asked America to bank on?
Youth make a difference
Youth make a difference You're never too young to take an active role in your community. The city of Santa Clarita provides numerous opportunities for our teenagers, allowing them to become involved in a meaningful way and impact the community through various leadership positions. High school students are making a difference in Santa Clarita by participating in the city's Visions in Progress Youth Advisory Committee, or VIP. VIP members provide input on major city projects ...
SCV’s ‘silent majority’ screams
During the upheaval of the 1960s, Republican Richard Nixon, the conservative of his day, liked to refer to the "silent majority."
Partisan bashing a lose-lose for all
Several weeks ago I attended a particularly sad funeral. Yes, I know, all funerals are heartrending. But this one was for a very special young woman, someone who should have had at least 50 more years on earth - and probably would have if breast cancer hadn't intervened. During her memorial service, I looked around at the 200-plus mourners. Whether blotting tears, sighing or shaking their heads, all were visibly shaken over Brandi Newquist's passing. ...
Curse of the Ghoul Mine
It's the season for pumpkins and ghosts and goblins, galore! It's also time to head out to Lombardi's up Bouquet Canyon in Saugus. Devastated by the Buckweed Fire last year, Lombardi's is back - and just as good as ever. Why not head out there this weekend and celebrate a Santa Clarita Valley institution?
Wish doctor at your service
My wife, 5-year-old son and I passed a water fountain, and sure enough my boy wanted a coin so he could make a wish. This wasn't your typical fountain for wishing. It was a drinking fountain.
Sailing into the new year
Children are amazing in their capacity to awaken the spirit of goodness and generosity in one's soul.
John Boston: How to repair your pets & credit
"Modern man drives a mortgaged car over a bond-financed highway on credit-card gas."
Helping create a sustainable Santa Clarita
Often at the city of Santa Clarita, we are asked for easier ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
Bailout is a temporary fix
What's up with this Wall Street versus Main Street political buzzword gobbledygook? We seem to have traveled back in time to the "It's A Wonderful Life" world of George Bailey and Mr. Potter. I thought this 2008 presidential election was about "change." A government bailout by any other term is neither a rescue nor even a policy change. Call it a temporary fix. It's just a monetary infusion of taxpayers' dollars into the credit and ...
My son’s school project
When I was a kid, I entered countless grocery store coloring contests and colored my pictures with great skill and patience, my eye always on the first-place prize.
A few thoughts on fire safety
The monster brushfire that raged through the hills above Sylmar and raced against traffic along Interstate 5 last month was finally extinguished several days after it started.
Water needs and Wall Street
So how did we get into this financial mess? Simple. We thought housing prices would go up forever. I didn't. I vividly remember the housing bubble of the late '80s. People bought houses like they were stocks. Easily available credit allowed my neighbors to buy five or more houses. Prices rose, and young couples like myself and my husband, who would have really liked to buy a house, were priced out of the market, at ...
Another look at America’s current crisis
It seems to me that all the experts evaluating this economic crisis are generally in agreement that everything is going to be OK.
Our houses, our homes
Let me tell you about our house. Carrie and I bought our 2,955-square-foot Summit house from Newhall Land and Farming Co. some 22 years ago. The Summit development had been long awaited with great anticipation in the Valencia/Santa Clarita community. Like West Ranch of three years ago, The Summit was the Next Big Thing. We'd lived in a small 1,400-square-foot home just to the west of the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital for five years. ...
Articles by Section - Columnists
Timothy Myers: Manufactured and actual milestones
One thinks about milestones in life, but few can actually point to a day when their life really changed, for good or ill.
Betty Arenson: Where is the outrage?
Perhaps there is hope that change will come sooner rather than later with regard to Americans at last expressing due and civil outrage. "Where is the outrage" is a question that has never been more appropriate than under the administration of President Barack Obama.
Doug Patton: The danger in D.C. is bipartisanship
The growing scandals enveloping the Obama administration are becoming a series of shiny baubles being dangled before the right and the left alike.
Terri Crain: Don’t misuse environmental protection law
In 2008, Santa Clarita was named the most business- friendly city in Los Angeles County by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.
Joe Gandelman: Watch the credibility games
Forget the political "blame game." The biggest game in town now is the credibility game - a high-stakes exercise that will end with America's political middle deciding who is trustworthy and who isn't. Some key players:
The scandal of scandal in Washington, D.C.
If you listen loud enough you can almost hear the siren song of the Republican Party spread its dulcet tones across Washington. It's scandal season boys and girls, and for the GOP it's Mardi Gras, Christmas and The Spanish Inquisition all in one!
Steve and Cokie Roberts: Astonishing attack on our core values
Finally, an issue Republicans and Democrats can agree on:
The Village Idiot: Please, invade my privacy
A world-famous entertainer announced that she and her boyfriend were splitting up in one of the saddest tweets I've ever read: "We have decided to go our separate ways. Please respect our privacy."
Charlie Vignola: A scandal is only a scandal when it happens to Democrats
Imagine for a moment a President of the United States who ignored warnings about an imminent terrorist threat that resulted in an attack that killed American citizens, then argued that we didn't need an investigation to figure out what went wrong.
Tom Purcell: Advice from the master
ill Clinton, wearing a white toga and a crown of gold, sat in a garden while attractive women fed him grapes. President Obama, having just suffered the most devastating week of his presidency, sat nearby, seeking advice in the art of telling whoppers. Using the Socratic method of teaching, Clinton began to tutor his new student.
Frank Ferry: Live from City Hall
May is Building Safety Month and the ideal time to tackle all of those home-improvement projects on your "to do" list before summer is in full swing.
David Hegg: Of progress and purpose
There is no debate that time marches on. The sun rises, shines, and sets, and then does it all over again, day after day. And each day we encounter the unknown components of a whole new 24-hour set of life experience.
Tim Myers: Where respect for private property ends
As a Midwesterner and a Lutheran, I must admit to a great love of irony, and there is nothing more entertaining and ironic than the practical behavior of an elected official, particularly a locally elected official, when their ideology runs straight into the practicalities of the moment.
Phil Kerpen: Government can't be trusted with our health
"We have a large government," political consultant David Axelrod offered as a plea of ignorance to all of the scandals swirling around his boss. "Part of being president is there's so much beneath you that you can't know because the government is so vast."
