From Ship to Shore

As the publisher of this grand newspaper, and turning 85 this week, I look back at the more than 60 years of being a newspaperman, and I can’t think of a better way to live. Thank you to all who have read about my wonderings and allowed me to write unbridled. I am still writing with a clear mind everyday, and when I wake up in the…

The last figure we saw was over 65,000 Afghans were being flown out of Afghanistan to somewhere; however, it did not say where. Are we willing to have…

We do not know what it was like during World War II, only what we read in books; however, today must have many comparisons. First of all, the war went on…

Year ago, fires burned regularly in our California forests and they were an asset, ridding the forests of the undergrowth. Actually, the forests needed them to germinate seeds of many plant species and to reproduce some of the largest of California trees. In a way, California had its own natural Forest Management Program. Then Mankind got…

She was in her 80s, and I was in my 70s, when I received my first letter from Betty Stewart, written in the most beautiful handwriting I had seen since my…

It was not that long ago when we first stepped onto our own sailboat in Alameda, and sailed out into San Francisco Bay. The year was 1994. We had only…

“Do you mean to tell me, you shut off my phone for 66 cents?” we asked the AT&T operator. It was the last straw. We had had it with AT&T. We decided to switch phone companies. That was when we found out AT&T could hold our phone number hostage, the one which we had used for years. Until they released it, the new phone…

It sits as a cornerstone of Downtown Merced. Known to most locals as the Mondo Building on Main Street. Facing Bob Hart Square, the Mondo Building…

Our valley is looking at 41 percent of the normal rain fall this year, and yet we continue to water our beautiful grass lawns. Remember, this land we…

After waiting almost three hours at the border crossing in Tijuana, I decided to try a different approach. I parked my vehicle, and walked across the border into Mexico. Many people do this on a daily basis; however, since COVID-19 hit, this border walk has been closed most days. This day it was open, in fact it was a special day as I…