Archive By Section - Columnists
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.
The Golden State is killing the golden goose
When I was about 10 years old, my parents taught me some very important lessons about the basics of money. You earn it, you pay taxes on it, you save some, you give some away, and you spend the rest.
Articles by Section - Columnists
Cher Gilmore: Celebrating good news on Earth Day
On this 43rd anniversary of the first Earth Day, several recent good news events for the environment are worth celebrating:
David Hegg: Find grace in tolerance and disagreement
During the recent edition of college basketball's championship tournament I took great pleasure in cheering for my team. And, we did pretty well, but lost in the Elite Eight round.
Phil Kerpen: Sick people versus lobbyists
What if you had to choose between making insurance more affordable for Americans with pre-existing conditions or funding lobbyists and political hacks? That's the decision the House will face when it considers H.R. 1549, the Helping Sick Americans Now Act, sponsored by Rep. Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania. It should be an easy choice.
Tim Myers: Setting a bad example
I often utilize the term "geography" partisan. The definition of a geography partisan? An elected official or someone who aspires to elective office who adopts a party label pretty much solely because that party stands dominant in the particular area where the individual lives.
Dick Cesaroni: Congress, listen to the voters, not the NRA
I am a wavering Republican. By that I mean I am at the crossroads of going to the right, left or just canceling my participation all together.
Frank Ferry: Live from City Hall
In Santa Clarita you know you can shop for the latest styles or eat at a terrific restaurant, but did you also know that you can enjoy some of the best hiking in the region on oak-shaded trails with creeks and waterfalls?
What other abuse can be heaped on Castaic?
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority has plans to place a carpool lane on Interstate 5 northbound from Highway 14 to Parker Road in Castaic. In fact, a Metro committee approved the plan - as a toll road - this week.
Right Here Right Now: Ending bad finance deals in education
In a rare display of solidarity, the California Assembly approved AB 182 by a vote of 73-0.
Kevin Bayona: What happens after Boston?
The bombings in Boston are beyond what I ever thought I would see in an American city.
Jim Mullen: Algebra comes in handy
Pop quiz: How often do you use algebra, trigonometry and calculus as an adult? Most of us would say "never"! The folks who do use advanced math would say that without it, you wouldn't have cellphones and Wi-Fi and TV and weather satellites and GPS and Google and nuclear power and a gazillion other things that make modern life worth living. And for a change, both camps would be right.
Gary Horton: Timeless lessons to be remembered
Last week our Starbucks friend Herman invited Carrie and me to attend a special Holocaust memorial service at Santa Clarita Valley's Congregation Beth Shalom.
Maria Gutzeit: California needs to improve business attitude
My one-word summary of the community lobby day put on by Assemblyman Scott Wilk. R-Santa Clarita, and KHTS radio last month?
Peter Funt: Steal this video
Back in 1971 when the hippie revolution's Pied Piper, Abbie Hoffman, authored "Steal This Book," he got the very outrage he sought. Thirty publishing houses rejected it and, when the book finally came out, more than a dozen newspapers refused to print ads to promote it.
Kevin Buck: It's been a long and winding road
Over the course of a lifetime I have observed, joined, written about and learned much from political battles.
David Hegg: Ethically Speaking
The existence of evil in our world has been the grounds for some of the greatest questions we humans ever ask. Why did tragedy take the life of someone so young? Why did a stray bullet hit an innocent bystander? Why did my father die of Alzheimer's?
