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
Worried about America? Visit a Boys & Girls Club
The political world is so toxic that I needed some relief, so I tuned into a reality show more real than anything on television. I wasn't disappointed. The stories I heard were at once harrowing and inspirational. And they were deeply connected to the future of the country. This week, I served as one of five judges in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America National Youth of the Year competition. This is ...
MacGyver to the rescue — most of the time
For those of you too young to remember the television show "MacGyver," allow me to share about the 1980s American action-adventure series. The show was about a secret agent, Angus MacGyver, who employed his resourcefulness and knowledge of chemistry, physics, and technology, and often a little duct tape and a Swiss Army knife, to resolve what were often life or death situations. I'm married to a MacGyver kind of guy. I've nicknamed my ...
Want a job? Stay in college as long as you can
With the unemployment rate hovering above 9 percent, today's job market is bad for everyone. One group does seem to fare better than the rest, however: The jobless rate for workers with a bachelor's degree or better is just 4.3 percent, compared with 14.3 percent for high school dropouts. But among college grads, the outlook is gloomier for one critical segment: recent graduates. A study this year put their unemployment rate at 10 ...
Newspapers: A bridge to the community
I am one of the fortunate people who do not fear public speaking. When you put me in front of a captive audience and ask me to talk about one of my passions - like community newspapers - watch out, I might just talk your ear off. California State University, Stanislaus professor Elizabeth Breshears offered me just such an opportunity this week. I was asked to speak to her graduate social work students ...
Can you live without it?
For those of you who don't know me well, you may be surprised to read that I grew up on an almond ranch. My two sisters married almond farmers and have lived happily ever after in what I refer to as "the dirt." I, however, fled to suburbia as soon as I turned 18. As Eva Gabor used to chant during the Green Acres theme song, "Dah-ling I love you but give me Park ...
Gov. Jerry Brown and 3 telling bills
California Gov. Jerry Brown scored a victory for common sense last week when he vetoed a bill that would have imposed criminal penalties on minors - or their parents - who ski or snowboard without a helmet. "While I appreciate the value of wearing a ski helmet, I am concerned about the continuing and seemingly inexorable transfer of authority from parents to the state," Brown explained. "Not every human problem deserves a law." <p ...
Giving credit where credit’s due
While ordinary antidepressants seize headlines in the media and medical journals alike, a relatively recent breakthrough lies forgotten in the frenzy. Regardless, I know brilliance when I see it. Potential and productivity stand out at a glance. Despite some views of ineffectiveness, I believe transcranial magnetic stimulation deserves a second chance. Tragically enough, even with its unmistakable title, I've found that there still remains a slice of society who is yet to become ...
Where were you?
This week on Facebook, my dear friend Jan Hallam wrote, "Ten years and I still weep...What were you doing that morning?" What a powerful question. I remember, like it was yesterday. Allen and I were sound asleep when the phone rang. It was my girlfriend Ann. She told me that a plane had just hit the World Trade Center. I thanked her for the call, mumbled her info to Allen, and dozed back ...
Dancing with death over the centuries
Once I had a case of influenza so bad I missed close to a month of graduate school. I ran a fever and coughed until it felt like my whole world was turned upside down. Because I'm a geologist, not a medical doctor, I nicknamed that bout of illness "the plague." But what I experienced was a walk in the park compared to the real McCoy. The sheer virulent power of plague is ...
For the heart—permanently
I can vividly remember the worst I ever performed as a wife during my 26-year marriage. I failed big time. It was Saturday and I had a work function. So, plans were to meet my husband at a local restaurant for dinner. I was so happy to see him as we approached in the parking lot. Big blue eyes. That charming smile. And oh so huggable. No quicker than I could reach ...
State legislators need a holiday from red tape
As Mayor of the City of Turlock I feel compelled to let my concerns be known regarding several anti-local control bills that are currently before the state legislature. Passage of any of these bills will impose unreasonable restrictions on local government and limit our ability to maintain the basic public services our local residents deserve and depend upon. AB 438 would place new, precedent setting requirements on cities that choose to ...
Our spirit endures
I remember the day clearly. My husband was getting ready for his 7 a.m. work shift while I stayed in bed drifting in and out of wakefulness. I suddenly became aware that he had stopped getting dressed and was just standing quietly. My husband's odd behavior made me sit up and find out what had interrupted his morning routine. He was staring at the television with a blank look on his face. I ...
Water, water, not quite everywhere
When I was a kid I was "born again," a process that involved being fully and totally immersed in water. Much more recently I was on the home stretch of an 8-mile walk in the hot sun when the minister I was walking with kindly poured her drinking water on my hot little head. Seldom does water feel so good as when splashed on an overheating noggin in the summertime. As ...
BART protesters' oppression envy
During one of the protests that shut down Bay Area Rapid Transit this month, an anonymous protester - hiding behind a Guy Fawkes mask - stood with a sign that read, "Mubarak Gaddafi BART." Talk about delusions of oppression. Egyptians risked torture, imprisonment and their very lives to oust the heavy-handed Hosni Mubarak regime. Libyan rebels have been engaged in months of bloody combat to evict Moammar Gadhafi from power. And BART? ...
Waiting for the heroes
Have you ever watched a horror movie and wondered why the townspeople never decide to just get out of dodge before the monsters arrive at their doorsteps? I have.
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