Archive By Section - Columnists
Tim Myers: The two Franks of Santa Clarita
The Myers family moved to California and Santa Clarita during the second week of June 1996 - a mere two months after Frank Ferry, current principal of Alemany High School and Santa Clarita City Council member, failed (narrowly) to dislodge an incumbent to capture a seat on the City Council in the then-relatively young city.
Bob Kellar: Live from City Hall
Providing a wide variety of avenues for residents to communicate with their city has long been a hallmark of Santa Clarita.
Donna McCord Basail: Citizens can stop beach tax
Dante Alighieri once said, "The secret of getting things done is to act!" It is so refreshing to see what can happen when a group of concerned citizens decides to act.
J.J. Ladouceur: An open letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein
I'd like to talk to you about consistency in your policies and some contradictions that I find with them. Particularly, I would like to talk about what your opposition to a controversial section of the National Defense Authorization Act and your subsequent support of a ban on assault weapons have in common.
Cher gilmore: A global warming solution
With 2012's record-breaking heat (it was the hottest year our nation has ever experienced) and a resulting series of disasters - wildfires in the West, drought and dust storms across the Great Plains, record ice loss in the Arctic, and Superstorm Sandy, to name a few - Americans are finally waking up to the reality of global warming.
Cher gilmore: A global warming solution
With 2012's record-breaking heat (it was the hottest year our nation has ever experienced) and a resulting series of disasters - wildfires in the West, drought and dust storms across the Great Plains, record ice loss in the Arctic, and Superstorm Sandy, to name a few - Americans are finally waking up to the reality of global warming.
Gary Horton: Understand the limits, frailty of life
A while back I visited a back surgeon to take a gander at my lower back. I'd been experiencing bothersome pain in my lower back and hips and felt that it was about time to face the music. It seemed that every day was just a little more painful than the prior, and, even with all the stretching, exercise, and even hanging upside down on one of those teeter things…
Charlie Vignola: If you can’t beat ‘em, cheat ‘em
Imagine a football team that's made it to the Super Bowl six times in a row but has only won it once.
Jan Ting: Will Joe Biden succeed Obama as next president?
It's less than three years now before the first presidential primary elections of 2016. Anyone who wants to be a serious candidate in those primaries will need to start organizing a campaign soon. My home state of Delaware knows Vice President Joseph Biden well. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware in 1972 when he was only 29 years old. Delaware voters re-elected him six times ...
Will Durst: A parallax view of Obama’s inauguration
Astronomers have a name for the phenomenon of an object appearing to be in different places, depending on the perspective from which it is viewed. It's known as the parallax view, and could be seen on display for the second Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. Speaking of it, folks described events occurring on different planets. Some called it a disaster, some a triumph. Crime scene in a cave versus ascension on ...
Kathryn Lopez: Commentary
We've been wandering in the desert for 40 years," declared Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley. It was an ever-present reflection during the week that marked four decades of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a woman's right to an abortion. Last week, Cardinal O'Malley led a Mass that began at least 24 hours of prayer and protest for thousands of people gathered at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in our nation's capital.
David Hegg: Find joy, not happiness
One of the essential components of healthy living is knowing how to respond to the circumstances that barge into our lives.
Laurene Weste: Live From City Hall
The recently-released Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, "Library Services in the Digital Age," surveyed 2,252 Americans ages 16 and older between Oct.15 and Nov. 10 of last year, and concluded that even in the digital age, libraries continue to serve a variety of functions, with nearly 60 percent of respondents having had some kind of interaction with a library in the last 12 months, and 91 percent saying that "public libraries ...
Tim Myers: Those thinking to flee California, beware the cold
The three or four regular readers of this column know that I and the rest of the local Myers clan do not originally hail from these parts, spending just under 40 years in the extreme climates of the upper Midwest in Iowa and Nebraska.
Betty Arenson: United we stand, divided we fall
The media is flush with Democrats reminding everyone that they won big last November while ignoring they did not prevail in the House of Representatives.
Articles by Section - Columnists
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."
The Village Idiot: Why I hate my Facebook friends
When I first signed up for Facebook, I was thrilled to get back in touch with old friends, distant relatives, high school classmates and old co-workers. I'd check in to find out that they had new children, new spouses, new lives, new hobbies, new kitchens, new news.
Gary Horton" Why can't California be more like Texas?
I just returned from a three-day business trip to Austin, Texas. This was my third visit to Austin in 18 months. Each time, my visit has focused on business opportunities stemming from Austin's robust population growth.
