Guest View

It’s easy to get caught up in the present, but sometimes looking back helps us understand where we’re going. So, let’s take a trip in the wayback machine to 1966. The Beatles were dominating the charts, “Star Trek” premiered on television, and the Vietnam...

In nature, water always contains dissolved minerals and nutrients. Water “hardness” is determined by the concentrations of minerals present in a particular water source—specifically calcium and magnesium. Simply put, hard water is mineral water that comes from your tap.  Water containing high amounts of calcium...

Perhaps I’ve read too many articles and listened to too many podcasts decrying the level of vitriol and partisanship existing in Washington D.C. and in many communities throughout the country. Add to this sorry situation the scenes of conflict I’ve seen on television and...

I aim for humor in my Los Gatan columns. The kind that elicits a chuckle, maybe a snort, not the kind that has readers questioning my grip on reality (though, fair point, the jury is deliberating on that one). Of course, I also try...

The familiar hum of a well-oiled machine is a comforting sound. It suggests efficiency, precision, and a harmonious system. This is an analogy I provided to Town Council at a council meeting on Aug. 6, as I, along with Chair Eleanor Yick, presented the...

The Community Health and Senior Services Commission (CHSSC) has spent years building programs and resources to help residents thrive. As someone who serves on the commission, I’ve witnessed the positive impact of this work. Yet this year, new rules have made progress harder to...

The loud and obnoxious squawking of crows used to bother me. I am generally a quiet person who likes to grab a book, find an empty noise-free area to sit at and read for hours at a time. I still cherish times when my...

Crying doesn’t mean something’s wrong. Sometimes it means everything is gloriously right.

Somehow through my years as a volunteer in many different endeavors I’ve gotten the notion that I know how to generate interest about the organizations I’ve been involved in. In many cases I did this by writing articles about the organization, such as the...

As we draw nearer to Thanksgiving, I am reminded of this holiday’s origins and significance. There are some interesting and noteworthy parallels with today’s world, two years after Covid-19 began. While Thanksgiving has only been a national holiday since it was established in 1863 by...