Columns

April 9 begins National Library Week

I’ve never been much of a fan of reality TV. But now that there is a new show called “The White House,” I find myself becoming one of those people who stop to watch a car wreck.

As I was watching the championship game of the World Baseball Classic (nerd alert!), a few things struck me: The obvious glee the players showed while representing their countries. The fabulous blond dyed hair of the entire Puerto Rican team How much better Dodger Stadium looks without...

I can’t stand the word “minority.” My big Webster’s dictionary (remember heavy books called dictionaries?) has a variety of definitions and they all amount to: “less than.” That really bugs me < “less than.” In the common parlance, minority refers to a group of people...

This newspaper has received its fair share of questions, criticisms and abuse of late. Some readers don’t like our tightening news pages and new emphasis on digital news delivery. We’ve tried to explain the changing business of newspapers, but not everyone is getting the...

To make America great again, as Mr. Trump keeps promising, shouldn’t we start in our own communities? We realize that all of America’s communities are unique and have different notions of what greatness means. But isn’t there a very definitive set of values and pursuits that fit under the banner of “We, the people?” Isn’t it a belief in freedoms, rights and responsibilities that unites the alt-liberals of northern California (most of us) with the poor working class of coal country West Virginia?

When disorder rules the world it helps to put more order close by, as in our own domain. “A place for everything and everything in its place” assumes there actually is a place designated for those things that take up room. The problem is one of limitation. Unless we live in a house of cards, where all you do is add another lean-to, we will run  out of room if we keep adding items to our store of possessions.

The Building Department means different things to different people. Most people associate the Building Department with permits that allow them to build their home. Others use the Building Department to access plans and documents that were used to build on their property or when purchasing a property to check for permits that have been issued and finalized. These name a few services, but there are other resources that can be used.

When I was 15 I threw my first party while my parents were gone for a night. It wasn't big, maybe ten people. I would have gotten away with it except for the unfortunate proof of evidence that lingered. One of my friends proceeded...

Bagel Bites When Thomas gets off the bus he has three questions, usually in this order: “Where’s Posey?” (Posey is our cat); “Is the mail here yet?” (Thomas considers it his job to retrieve any mail we receive); and “What’s for dinner?” My answers are usually...