Archive By Section - Editorial
Regulating ourselves into bankruptcy
A study was quietly released last week by the governor that highlighted the absolute abuse that California families, small businesses and farmers are taking from over-regulation by bureaucrats in state government.
American dreaming
I had a dream last night. I was famous, a super star. Everyone knew who I was. I don't remember the reason. Maybe I had cured cancer, or maybe I had rescued a man from a burning building. Perhaps I was a famous author. But the reason doesn't matter compared to the feeling, compared to the knowledge that I had done something incredible. That I had earned the respect of my fellow man. It was ...
A leap of faith
If you are reading this on Saturday morning before 8 a.m. and plan to head north on Highway 99 towards Sacramento, make sure to look up and wave as you pass Acampo. I just might be able to see your friendly gesture as I rapidly descend to the earth from 13,000 feet in the air.
If you build it, you still have to advertise
Here's a challenge, Journal readers. Sit down at your nearest computer, visit the search engine of your choice, and try to find a facility to hold a soccer tournament in the Central Valley. Pretend you're a little league baseball commissioner and search for a set of fields for your year-ending tournament. Heck, Google up a patch of shovel-ready industrial park alongside Highway 99 while you're at it. Maybe I'm not using the right search terms. ...
A moment of silence
On Tuesday night, the Turlock City Council stood together, bowed their heads and sent a clear message to those who would try to stop them from beginning every meeting with a prayer.
A furlough by any other name ...
Since when does the word "furlough" mean "mandatory un-paid day off?" According to my Illustrated Oxford Dictionary, the word "furlough" means "a leave of absence, especially granted to a member of the services or to a missionary." I always thought a furlough was something that you granted to someone, not something you forced on an employee. I first heard the word "furlough" used in that context about a year ago. If I remember correctly, ...
Pot talk smoking online
A debate is raging this very instant on our nascent Web site, turlockjournal.com. Or perhaps I should say, a debate is blazing. The myriad stories about local government, state budget cuts, and even murders just haven't been able to get our readers riled up in the way that a green, leafy plant has in these past few weeks. Yes, the TurlockJournal.com comment section is veritably alight with varied viewpoints on the vile demon weed of ...
Stay away from my Xbox, Mr. President
How dare you, Mr. Obama? Just because Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Master Chief are not registered voters, that does not give you the authority to lambast them at every turn, good sir. When, in a June 15 American Medical Association speech, you advocated, "raising our children to step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside," I first became concerned with your anti-gaming policy. Shortly after that speech, however, I foolishly ...
Your eyes and ears
Lately, I feel a little bit like a shoemaker. Shoemakers used to be important tradespeople in every town in America until the industrial revolution made their jobs obsolete. I imagine shoemakers across the country talked about the end of their profession in guild meetings and in trade newsletters in the 1900s. Newspapers probably had headlines like "Cobblers clobbered by machines." This same doomsday talk has been reported far and wide about my trade, the newspaper ...
Have you forgotten?
Even without movies like "Pearl Harbor" and "Saving Private Ryan," I know that on Dec. 7, 1941 - "a date which will live in infamy" - the Japanese pulled off a massive attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, that decimated the United States' Pacific fleet and pulled America into WW II as a full combatant. I also know that June 6, 1944 - D-Day - was the day that U.S. soldiers, along with the Allied forces, ...
Eggzamining ‘Sunny Side Up’
If you haven't heard about the "Turlock Sunny Side Up" temporary public art project, it's a pretty eggcelent idea.
Good news, bad news
Almost every week I get a phone call from someone who asks, "Do you cover good news?" I always answer, "Yes, of course we do." These callers then proceed to give me a story idea about a local club event, interesting person or outstanding student.
Keep violent criminals behind bars
California's criminal justice system is complicated and a confusing mess, and the recent proposal to release thousands of convicted criminals back into our communities early makes it even worse.
Stumbling on good finds in odd places
About a decade ago I was cruising up a 130-mile long reservoir behind America's largest dam - Grand Coulee - built across the mighty Columbia River. The area around the reservoir is rural, but it's hardly the isolated wilderness of the Yukon. Nevertheless, geologists are still finding some quite intriguing things that lie in such rural places, because there are many outcrops still on Earth that we just haven't looked at seriously.
Bulldog to bulldog
I started my current career adventure as a bulldog, a Ceres High Bulldog that is. I then became a Wildcat in college and now I'm back in Bulldog territory, only this time in my high school's rival town.
Articles by Section - Editorial
The problem with government isn’t a few bad apples
Americans get angry when they learn of government bureaucrats spending lavishly at a Las Vegas hotel or Secret Service agents consorting with prostitutes. As well they should. Such conduct wastes money and drains Americans' respect for their government.
Bring on summer
While the official start of summer is still three weeks away - June 20, to be exact - the season began for many last weekend. Local lakes, rivers and parks were full of families looking to start summer with a bang - or a splash and the sizzle of a grill.
To the Class of 2012: It’s all about attitude
Dear graduates:
Berryhill working on sensible Delta solution for state water, fish needs
It doesn't have to be "us" against "them" in California water politics.
Entitlement 101: Cheat in honors class & sue school to stay in class
A sophomore at Sequoia High in Redwood City in an English honors class is caught cheating and is kicked out of the class. His parents sue as it may hurt his chances of getting into an Ivy League school.
Student loans rates aren’t what ail higher education
It's time that common sense guided higher education spending in California.
More than breasts, bones, and babies
I spent two hours the other day standing in front of the greeting card display at my local grocery store trying in vain to pick out the perfect Mother's Day card for my mom. Mother's Day is the one day in the year that I take the time to express just how much I love, appreciate and admire the woman who put up with me for over three decades. I finally realized that ...
One for Turlock
Turlock itself has seemingly been at the center of my priorities these past few weeks. I recently participated in the 2012 Ode to Turlock Poetry Contest, in which I composed a seven stanza poem praising Turlock as a locus of culture, strength, and agriculture. I was both honored and humbled to be selected as one of the winners of the contest, and was invited to present my poem at a poetry reading night ...
Thank you, Mr. Lincoln
I had an opportunity this week to acknowledge and help commemorate a genuinely transformative event in American history. The action itself was simple – the stroke of a pen. And, as it turned out, the man wielding the pen has been immortalized for very different achievements. But this one, in its own way, changed the world. It was 1862, and President Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, signed a piece ...
A hand up for homeowners
Today the American economy is continuing to heal from the great recession. Unemployment rates are falling, and we've added private sector jobs for two straight years. That means more than 4 million Americans are back on the job. At the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we're focused on growing the economy in rural America and I am proud of what we've accomplished. One important part of our work has been supporting homeowners who ...
We’ve lost our bearings regarding economic reality
What is wrong with us?
The troubling case of James Hooker
Americans have a fixation on sex scandals. A short list includes: Gary Hart, Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen, Rob Lowe, Rev. Jimmy Swaggart and Ceres' own Gary Condit. So it comes as no surprise that James Hooker seized the nation's interest.
Raising awareness one step at a time
As we head full-steam into Relay for Life season, it's hard to miss the purple ribbons strung on lampposts down Main Street and the car wash, barbecue, and candy fundraisers Relay teams all across town are holding almost every other day. Every time I come across these Relay events I am reminded of the millions of people who battle cancer every day - and those who passed away due to the disease, leaving ...
Earth Day and farming
As the daughter of a farmer, I grew up with a love of the land and a deep respect for nature - you might say a native understanding that every day was Earth Day. My father worked the land. He took care of it and it took care of us, as well as many other people consuming what our farm produced. As California's secretary of agriculture, I welcome the attention that the annual observance of ...
Remove the crud and California is still 100% solid gold
Go ahead, trash California.
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