I think that everyone knows that the grasslands surrounding our city are bone dry. And one of our most highly treasured days of national recognition is July 4, the day that we celebrate our independence from the British monarchy. Moreover, this particular Fourth of July will be extra special because it is our semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The second U.S. President, John Adams, believed that the day should

Who is in power when conflict (war) starts? Seems like the Democrats. Do they finish them? No. Draw lines and pull out. WWll was finished, or was it. Korea followed. Did not end at the Yalu River; could have, but no. We had to pull out because of Democratic sentiment in the U.S. Vietnam. Involved with Truman aiding the French. We had “advisors” in country. Things got hotter and LBJ got us in deeper. French could not win, and we could have, but we had off limit targets. Same t

First of all, my thanks go to Mr. Gaunt for his attempt to make light of comments from my previous letter. However, I often express my opinions, which are not based on fact; I have never said they were factual. Someone’s opinion can never be wrong, or offbeat, or not true as stated. They are simply the way someone feels and they have to be respected. The lack of respect for someone’s opinion has turned into a specialty of members of the left. I strongly feel that people are e

Shoot Don’t Shoot (1995, 403 pages in paperback format) is the third book in Ms. Jance’s Sheriff Joanna Brady series. In Desert Heat, her husband Andy, Sheriff of Cochise County, is murdered; In Tombstone Courage, she is elected the new sheriff in a matter of weeks. (Desert Heat was reviewed in this column on March 5, 2025, and Tombstone Courage on April 30, 2025.) Jance has written a total of 24 books in the Joanna Brady series, and I don’t know if I’ll read all of them, but

Two years ago, while Donald Trump was running for reelection, I wrote an opinion piece that compared Trump World to Bizarro World. I upset one or two people, Well, maybe a few more than that. Therefore, it seems like a good idea to revisit my thoughts and ponder the accuracy of my statements. I’ll start by selectively quoting myself as a proper set up to bring us forward to today. “I dreamt of Bizarro World, a DC Comics creation in my childhood. It was a square planet of alte

California families are paying some of the highest gasoline prices in America, and politicians continue acting like this happened by accident. It did not. This crisis was created through years of shutting down refineries, reducing in-state oil production, and making California more dependent on foreign crude oil imports from unstable regions of the world. Today, California imports the majority of the crude oil used by our refineries. According to the California Energy Commiss

It’s been a year since I revisited my old standby topic for this column: California’s High Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA). That’s because nothing much has happened. Oh sure, if you drive up and down the valley, you can probably see people working on various projects every day. They have jobs to do, and they are well-paying jobs. According to the CAHSRA website, the Authority sent out requests for proposals to contractors for laying tracks. The Board approved $3.5 billion for t

From the very first chapter, we know that this book will not have a happy ending. A woman stands on the edge of a roof, seven stories above the ground. She has a child in her arms. When asked about the child, she tells the officer, “He’s my son.” The officer tries to talk her down, but she says that it’s too late. Asking for forgiveness, she talks a step forward amid a chorus of screaming from below. This is the type of introductory chapter that does not allow you to put the