Last week I became a statistic. I was one of the over 6,700 cases of whooping cough reported in California for 2010 - the most cases reported in 63 years.
I used to know Denair as a small town where I would go to visit an old friend who showed sheep. Just a small town, not too much going on, but a pleasant Central Valley community.
"No man is an island," begins the famous poem of the same name by John Donne.
On Election Day, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case Schwarzenegger vs. Entertainment Merchants Association. The irony of this case name was obvious: The celebrated violent-action-hero governor of California had signed a bill into law in 2005 forbidding the sale of ultraviolent video games to minors, a law that lower federal courts prevented from ever going into effect.
"The taxpayers gave and they also took away. On one hand, the people said by a majority, 'Give us a budget.' On the other hand, they said, 'Don't pick my pocket.'" This was Jerry Brown's verdict on California voters' picks on ballot measures delivered at his post-victory press conference Wednesday.
The day after an election can be difficult for many. Of course, there are those candidates whose hard work, sincerity and perseverance didn't pay off and they now have to deal with the reality of losing a race for office. Many candidates are social people and failing in such a public manner must be hard. Everyone knows you didn't get the job - tough break.
Air travel has always been a part of my life. The moment my Indiana-born dad met my California-born mother and fell in love, my flying destiny was sealed.
For half of the candidates on Tuesday's ballot, these are the days you remember.
Election season advertising campaigns are always insufferable, but this year is the worst in recent memory.
Last week a press release came across my desk that killed a dream of mine. The news was innocent enough; it congratulated an Elk Grove college student on his upcoming appearance on the TV show "Jeopardy!" For me, however, this press release ended four months of waiting and hoping on a phone call from the "Jeopardy!"casting staff. You see, I was also in the running to compete in ...
I'm not usually one to rail against new technology. I'm a geek, a nerd, a certifiable tech-addict with more gadgets, gizmos, whozits and whatzits than "The Little Mermaid" could ever dream of.
Education, like politics, is local. You want it close to home, the better to monitor it. That's how it should be.
Back when our country was young, political candidates relied on their friends to spread the word about their accomplishments and suitability to hold office. In fact, historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote that candidates "were supposed to play coy, obeying a call to service from their country, saving their energies for the task of government. Electioneering was done by newspapers, pamphlets, and occasional public meetings." <p style="margin: 0in 0in ...
You hear stories of courage every day. A man survives cancer and goes on to climb Mount Everest. A woman born without legs opens her own business and becomes an inspirational speaker. A child becomes badly burned in a house fire and, despite the pain, is cheerful and full of hope.
It's Thursday morning at 4 a.m. and I can't sleep. It's a common occurrence when I'm carrying a big load at work-my brain just doesn't turn off even though my eyelids are closed. So, instead of counting sheep, I'm doing a mental roll call of my to-do list at the office. But, I have a rule. If I'm still awake after 30 minutes of lying in the dark, ...
Medical science increasingly has some evidence of a principal your mother warned you about: there really is too much of a good thing. A few folks throw themselves headlong into aerobic exercise. Most of these hard-core endurance athletes start young. Many fall by the wayside in middle age, but there are also those who keep going, completing marathons and similar events well into retirement age. What happens to the heart muscles of ...
Gas - as one Valley billboard proclaimed last summer - is $1.10 per gallon.
Some election cycles it seems that nothing changes. The incumbents are reelected, or candidates with the same ideology take their place. On Nov. 6, Turlock voters elected to replace incumbent City Council member Mary Jackson with newcomer Steven Nascimento. What, if any, change will this bring to the City Council? While Jackson has, in the past, supported more traditionally Democratic ideals and Nascimento is currently a district director for Republican State Senator ...
Thursday was our nation's 223rd Thanksgiving.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau I just reached "middle age," or the approximate mid-way point in the expected lifespan of a female living in the United States. This factoid is surprising to me because I feel like I just graduated high school a few years ago. This warp in my time perception also extends to other events in my life. I still talk about when I was a Journal sports reporter "a ...
It's open season on law-abiding Californians.
With another Presidential Election safely tucked away for four more years, some folks may be relieved to revert once again to their set of typical tasks. But try as we might to return to normalcy, one concept seems to forever trickle into our lives - patriotism. Are we patriotic enough? Or perhaps the more important question: do we need to be? I would like to believe that patriotism is just as relevant ...
Every year, our country comes together on Veterans Day to honor the brave men and women of our armed services who risk their lives daily to protect our freedoms and to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our country. America would not be what it is today without the heroism and sacrifice of those individuals bravely serving our country. Our service men and women risk their lives to protect our country and ...
The republic is still standing.
The fact I'm typing this on an i-Pad may lead one to believe that I would be right at home with a Kindle. I'm not.
Detroit's city leadership is probably relieved that the Tigers didn't win the World Series.
The scariest time of the year is almost upon us.
Contemplate this little tidbit the next time gasoline prices push the $5 a gallon mark: The nation's largest known shale oil reserve is in our own backyard. The Monterey Oil Shale that encompasses virtually all of the San Joaquin Valley, with the Santos Oil Shale covering the Los Angeles Basin area, has 15.4 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil reserves. The U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that is three times more recoverable reserves ...
Let's be honest. Neither Proposition 30 nor Proposition 38 will solve California's school financial problems. Education spending is the 900-pound gorilla of the never-ending state budget crisis. And until such time as the entire system is reformed from pensions to hacking away - and restructuring - the administrative structure above the district level school cuts are going to keep getting more and more dire. States that have taken bold and decisive pension reform measures ...
They're kids. Well, actually young adults. And at age 20 they're part of the Percentage People. The 99 percent. The 47 percent. The 7.8 percent. They aren't part of the wealthy. They don't pay income taxes. They don't have jobs. That doesn't mean they aren't industrious. It doesn't mean they are living on entitlements. And it doesn't mean they don't want to work. They are dealing with reality. Good people come from tough backgrounds. ...