Archive By Section - Columnists
10 reasons to go to Central Park today
As of 9 a.m. today, thousands of Santa Clarita Valley residents will be excitedly joining together at Central Park.
Winds of change buffet Santa Clarita
If you have ever attended or watched a City Council meeting, you undoubtedly have observed a cast of "usual suspects" who appear when the council is voting on a proposed development. This group opposes virtually every development. Over the last couple of years something has changed. Before I go any further, let me say the purpose of this op-ed piece is to not talk about the merits of each issue raised - those issues each ...
Supreme Court another reason to vote Republican
An interesting editorial appeared recently in the Los Angeles Times. It was titled "A vote against history" and referenced the Supreme Court decision that upheld Indiana's requirement for voter identification.
Halloween monsters in May
It's almost summertime - time for swimming pools, time for beach parties and time for barbecues. My 4-year-old son says it's time for Halloween.
Can biofuel solve our energy crisis?
With gas more than $4 per gallon, we are now all looking at ways to conserve or convert our energy use away from this expensive source. Environmentalists and others have long been concerned about our dependence on oil. Remember the hoopla over the secret energy meetings held among White House higher-ups early in 2000? The rising gas prices were easily predictable, and everyone wanted our government to do something about it. The solution did not lie in ...
Revolt against $4 tomatoes
Mother's Day. Rushing through Pavilions, gathering groceries for our barbecue just one hour before folks hit the front door. Today's menu: burgers and dogs, baked beans, chips and salsa. And we plan to do the burgers up right, what with big beefsteak tomato slices, white onions, crisp lettuce, American cheese - the works.
Knowing more about our judges
In just a week, California's citizens will be voting for various political candidates-including individuals who want to serve as superior court judges in Los Angeles County.
Imagining the world without America's sacrifices
It is truly a wonderful life we lead in the Santa Clarita Valley and in this great country of ours! We are blessed with an abundance of resources and an ample array of individual freedoms to take advantage of those resources as the spirit moves us. That we take such a notion for granted is a tribute to the individuals who secured such freedoms for us - the American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast ...
McCain masters political comebacks
In the 1992 Democratic New Hampshire primary, while drafting a concession speech to massage a draining eight-point second -place finish, Clinton speechwriter Paul Begala concocted a line that maneuvered the Gennifer-Flowers-draf- letter-drenched Bill Clinton into the primary's seeming winner. By spinning a second place finish that had actually fizzled from a 2-point lead on Jan. 19, according to a Boston Globe poll, into the magical circus tent voila of "the comeback kid," the Clinton campaign ...
Judging the judges for June 3 election
Hold on, Santa Clarita, there is another election on the horizon! I was scanning over my ballot earlier this week thinking about whom I am voting for in the June 3 California Primary. Though it is considered by many a rather ho-hum nothing election, there is a great deal at stake in two weeks. Your participation in this upcoming election is really very important. First, the easy choices:
Remembering our heroes in the SCV
I'm glad those few days of scorching weather are behind us! However, I know that August will bring those triple digits back in full force, but until then, I'm enjoying this rainy, cool weather. Ahhh!
Vigilance + water = lives saved
Few news stories are as heartbreaking as those involving children drowning. California's leading cause of accidental death of kids under 5, drowning is profoundly tragic on several levels. It needlessly cuts precious lives short, and in the case of survived near-drownings, can lead to brain damage or other life-changing deficits. It frequently leaves aggrieved families blaming themselves for not preventing the catastrophe from happening in the first place. What a sad, miserable legacy that must ...
What are we doing for Memorial Day?
It's almost Memorial Day weekend, and my family has nothing to do. Last Sunday, I asked my wife what she wanted to do. She said she didn't know. I asked my 4-year-old son what he wanted to do. He also said he didn't know. The two of them asked me what I wanted to do. I said I didn't know. The next day, I left a voicemail for some family friends, asking if they wanted ...
Polluted water shouldn't count
In 2000, after our comments were dismissed, the Friends of the Santa Clara River challenged the Castaic Lake Water Agency in court for overstating the water available to Santa Clarita for existing residents and new development in its Urban Water Management Plan. Four years later, the court finally came to the conclusion that we were right, and that the water agencies had not made the issue of contaminated water clear in their plan.
The times, they are a changin’
It is difficult to believe that only eight years ago the Democratic Party was being relegated to the political scrap heap and Republicans were speaking in terms of wielding power for generations. It is amazing
Articles by Section - Columnists
Kevin Bayona: China's rise is challenge to U.S.
The start of the 21st century has brought with it an avalanche of international problems such as war, economic recession, nuclear proliferation, and rising global competitors. Although all these issues merit individual attention and consideration, I think the unrelenting rise of China presents the largest and most significant global challenge to the United States.
Gary Horton: Life can be a sound track by the B-52’s
It's sometime in the late 1980s and our family and friends are piled inside our Ford cruiser van heading off to a family ski trip to Lake Tahoe - or to a Boy Scout boating trip at Lake Mead - or some other fun teen-friendly vacation destination.
Kevin Buck: Straw men live in glass houses
Webster's dictionary has several different definitions for the word socialism. The one conservative fear and loathe the most is:
Tom Purcell: A nail in the coffin of Americans' rights
oy, do I feel sorry for smokers these days.
David Hegg: Ethically Speaking
Sometimes it turns out that famous clichés are just plain wrong, or at least wrong in enough important situations to make them suspect. One with which I particularly disagree is "Familiarity breeds contempt." I know what it is supposed to identify, and I flatly disagree. Familiarity, with the right people, in the right way, and for the right reasons, actually breeds contentment.
Steve and Cokie Roberts: Fixing Fox and the GOP
Roger Ailes, the head of Fox News Channel, is a very smart man. And he knows how to count, a skill that has apparently eluded many of his fellow conservatives.
Edward Headington: In honor of Presidents' Day 2013
Presidents' Day is a time set aside to celebrate the legacies of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and also remember all of the Presidents of the United States (POTUS) that have made our nation great.
Steve Lunetta: The case against Democrats
A friend of mine recently sent me one of those political emails that screams for fact-checking. You know the ones I mean - "Obama is really a space alien and we have proof!" or "Hilary Clinton Smokes Pot with Harry Reid."
