Risking it all for cheap gas

A friend of mine called and asked if I had received a recent Buck McKeon mailer stating that the price of gasoline could drop as low as $2.09 a gallon if only Congress would approve a variety of bills presently co-sponsored by him.

Rally around Tony Strickland

My fellow Republicans, 2008 is the year to rally 'round our party's candidates. Spread the good word that Santa Clarita's Republican Party is alive and well.

Summer in the SCV is heating up!

It is truly summer in the SCV, hot, hotter and hottest! As my good friend Richard Green tells everyone, "The blast furnace that is the SCV summer is not a good time for planting trees, or much of anything else!" Can you believe that school starts for most SCV kids in less than a month?

Learn to protect your identity on ‘Shred Day’

The threat of identity theft looms over everyone. The issue of having someone steal your personal information and use it as his or her own receives much attention.

Cops face uphill battle fighting gangs

Cities and counties across California are becoming war zones as gangs fight and kill for control of streets and larger shares of the drug market and other criminal enterprises.

Thoughts on our series of recent local ‘shockers’

Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds? Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here! (A croupier hands Renault a pile of money.) Croupier: Your winnings, sir. Captain Renault (Sotto voce): Oh, thank you very much. (Aloud) Everybody out at once! - "Casablanca," 1942 The classic scene above became synonymous with cynicism in high places. The morally ambivalent Capt. Renault, Vichy puppet of the Nazis in Casablanca, ...

First ladies: It’s not just about gowns and glamour

Throughout American history, the role of first lady has been an important one. Although it includes no official duties or pay, first lady status carries a certain tradition for embracing causes.

The Avenue at Santa Clarita is Las Lomas Jr.

Within the city of Santa Clarita there is very little land available to be developed, the exception being the Whitaker Bermite site, which is in the process of being cleaned and de-contaminated.

The wife’s not a fan of the fan

My wife hates my fan. It's a little white 2-speed oscillating fan that I use to keep cool at night while I sleep. My little fan helps save energy and money by giving my air conditioner a rest, yet my wife can't stand the thing. But before I make my wife out to have a red tail and a pitchfork, I should give a little background on the fan. I can't lie. I don't just ...

Good manners include good dressing habits

Dressing, being fashionable, wardrobe management - they all pose questions from time to time. Women deliberate over what to wear, when to wear it, how it looks and fits, how it makes them feel. Men pick it out, put it on and move along.

Tax naïveté: We need smaller budgets, not higher taxes

'We've got so much taxation. I don't know of a single foreign product that enters this country untaxed except the answer to prayer."

The water conservation conundrum

Water conservation is a good thing. It is a "mom and apple pie" issue with which everyone agrees. It is as old as the "waste not, want not" attitude of our grandparents and is just good common sense in all aspects of our lives, whether we are talking about water, electricity, food or gasoline.

Putting our lives on hold

Driving south on Interstate 5 from Castaic, one passes a smattering of billboards to the west of the highway. We don't see roadway advertisements much in squeaky-clean Santa Clarita, so it's always a treat to get blasted by billboard clutter while driving through our less appearance-policed neighborhoods. Thank our L.A. County government, I suppose.

Summertime blues and reds

This is shaping up to be one of the best political years ever. The Democratic Party has already presented us with a historic primary race (and near dead heat) between two U.S. Senators, one black, the other a woman. On the Republican side, the nominee is the oldest presidential candidate in the history of the United States. America has come a long way in my lifetime. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain have broken ...

A helping hand for our feathered and feral friends

There's been considerable squawking lately over the wild ducks and geese inhabiting a certain area of Valencia.

Tammy Messina: Defending the Second Amendment

Most of us have never had to fight for our freedom. We don't even know what that looks like. In our lifetime, we've always had the right to say what we want and do what we want, as long as we operate inside the law. Many of those who've emigrated from other countries do know what it's like to live without those freedoms and how precious they are once obtained.

Joe Gandelman: Political gridlock

An old vaudeville joke went like this: "Do I look like an idiot? Do I look like a jerk who doesn't know what's going on? Do you think I'm dumb? Don't answer that!"

Kevin Bayona: Is the red menace back?

We don't hear much from Russia these days, but rest assured the Russian Federation is on the move across Eurasia and the world as its pugnacious leader, Vladimir Putin, vies to return Russia to the glory days of the Soviet Union.

Gary Horton: Incompetent staff make it a bad cruise

Cruise ships have become popular vacation scenes over the past decade. A chance to leisurely enjoy freedom of the open seas as ship's staff cater to whims and needs!

Tom Purcell: My parents school the Senate

"All right," said my mother, standing before the members of the U.S. Senate, "it's time for you to get your act together."

Jonathan Kraut: Heroes or vicitms?

I am having a problem with associating the term "hero" with every law-enforcement officer and government employee who has been harmed or died on duty.

Steve Lunetta: Obama's folly

The irony is astounding. The sequestration plan that appears to be a machination by President Obama's White House is now coming back to haunt him big time.

Donna Brazile: Right to vote isn't a racial entitlement

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Shelby County v. Holder - a challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, specifically Section 5, which requires states and localities with a history of voting discrimination against racial and language minorities to get "pre-approved" by the federal government before changing how elections are conducted or voters are registered.

David Hegg: Choosing Chastity

I may be asked to turn in my man card for this, but here goes. On a getaway for my wife's birthday, I joined her to watch an episode of The Bachelor.

Tim Myers: Does election date change help incumbents?

Kathryn Pisaro: Protect music programs in Newhall School District

On Tuesday, the school board for the Newhall School District is going to be asked to cut a music teacher from our already-reduced music program.

Frank Ferry: Live from City Hall

"Government, at its core, is about doing together what we can't do alone. It's why we believe that citizen engagement is vital. ..."

Danny Tyree: Is the free ride over?

es, I dutifully affix my copyright notice to my column each week, and I've been known to notify the syndicate of suspected unauthorized use; but I haven't gotten anywhere near as persnickety (or creepy) as the entertainment industry.

Rick Jensen: Obama sequester two-step

Watching from the cheap seats, Obama's "Sequester Two-Step" is quite entertaining. While not nearly as graceful as Charles Durning's classic political footplay in "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," only fellow Democrat Bob Menendez puts in a better performance of the beleaguered innocent these days.

Kevin Korenthal: The politics of pain

I am often stunned when I hear people, some of them friends, confess that they do not follow politics.