Archive By Section - Columnists
Nat Hentoff: Sweet Land of Liberty
Having reported on small but growing numbers of public school students who are eagerly learning to be actively knowledgeable citizens, I must now turn to a much larger, growing problem within public education.
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.
Articles by Section - Columnists
Ken Blum: Is bad news good news?
It's the most common reader complaint, heard throughout the history of hometown newspapers. Benjamin Franklin got an earful as publisher of the Philadelphia Gazette. You probably heard it yesterday.
Steve Lunetta: Faith-based discrimination at CSU sites
Have you ever been driving in a car and find yourself drowsy? We've all done it.
David Hegg: This is why discipline matters
Our English language has many words whose forms remain the same even though the context changes their meaning.
Tim Myers: An older person's journey
Nate Silver, the sage oracle hero of all number-crunchers like myself, recently posted several fascinating blog entries about polled attitudes on same-sex marriage and the changes in those attitudes since 1996, when Congress enacted and President Bill Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act.
Kevin Bayona: US should not be ashamed of its recent wars
Forgive me for not writing sooner about the 10-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, which was March 19. I found myself engaged in deep reflection over what the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan really mean and where they fall within the spectrum of American history.
George Runner: State can't tax itself into prosperity
Last year California voters approved two tax increases aimed at bringing billions more dollars into state coffers.
Joe Guzzardi: Here we go again, immigrants to march on D.C.
Here we go again. On April 10, thousands of illegal immigrants and their lobbyists will gather on the National Mall to support an immigration reform bill that the Senate is expected to introduce this month.
Danny Tyree: Cyborg-bugs and robo-rats
Salon.com recently ran excerpts of Emily Anthes's book "Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up To Biotech's Brave New Beasts," and I may never look at national security the same way again.
Jonathan Kraut: Signs of spring
As warmer weather approaches, there are some tips that I might offer to help you save your hard-earned money, precious resources, and make your home and family safer.
Richard Hood: Confession: It was I who cut down the tree
I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the tree.
Susan Stamper Brown: Camps, clinics and selective ignorance
In a cold and snowy day in January a few years ago, I took a guided tour through the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany.
Phil Kerpen: Repeal the mandate tax
With more than 2,000 pages of legislative text and more than 20,000 pages of regulations so far, most Americans can't possibly know all the details of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
David Hegg: The Value of Valuing Something
About 10 years ago I officiated a wedding for two young people entering into marriage for the first time. It was a big deal, with a proper venue, pictures, and lots of family and friends in attendance. But for me it was very different from any I had done before.
Rick Jensen: Politicians in both parties need some class
Republican Mike Gmoser, the country prosecutor in Butler County, Ohio, wasted taxpayers' time and money by charging Pennsylvania's winter-predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, with "misrepresentation of early spring."
Peter Funt: Taken in by April Fools
he calendar says Monday is April 1, but lately it seems that foolishness occurs year-round.
