Insights and Opinions

As we get older, we get the impression young people feel we are not smart. Not true! It is just that our brains are on overload. Remember, we are pre-computer, pre-cell phone, pre-automatic transmissions, pre-pumping your own gas, pre-automatic checkouts, and pre-fast food. There was a time when we had to fix our own cars, and we…

We have watched that train engine go back and forth for a long time, wondering if we made a mistake when we endorsed the Rail hub project at Castle. We…

It doesn't get much better than two big old car shows within two days' time of each other. I was in tall cotton last Thursday at the monthly…

We were in England and the trains went on strike. It was bad enough to have to drive on the wrong side of the street; however, when we asked for instructions the man said: “Just go over the Flyover, and round the Roundabout, you'll find where you are going.” It was the first time we had ever driven a Roundabout and it was 1980. We had…

Statistics say the United States has an unemployment rate of 3 percent; however, Merced County has an unemployment rate of over 11 percent. What is the…

Editor’s note: The following is a continuation of last week’s editorial about what could and should be the proper bike paths for the city of Merced.…

As we step on the plane to fly back to San Francisco, our mind is full of thoughts and impressions of Colombia. First and foremost is it is nothing like we expected. It is a world apart from a backward place previously known for being the world’s largest cocaine producer and a home to wealthy drug barons and cartel leaders. Next, it is far…

My boat, the King Midas, the summer of 1967, was moored in the San Diego harbor after an attempt to sail to Santa Barbara failed because of a dead battery.…

By Antoine Hubbard Sr. Almost every Black person in America has experienced the sting of disrespect on the basis of being black, and acutely disrespected in…

Do you like craft fairs? I like them, especially near Christmas.  The problem is that when I see something I like at these fairs, I can't buy just one — I buy multiples!  This Saturday it was raining, so I bagged the tennis and saw that my local church in Merced was having a craft fair. I was feeling pretty good.  I just got a full tank…