David Baldacci has written more than fifty best-selling mystery novels. I think that I’ve read all of them. This one is different. Like his other thrillers, Nash Falls (2025, 424 pages in hardback format) has interesting characters, dastardly subplots, and lots of tension. And yet, it’s different. The book opens with the funeral for Tiberius Nash’s funeral. Ty, to his friends, had been a soldier’s soldier during the Vietnam War. He had the medals, commendations, and purple he

This year, India — the world’s most populous country — is conducting the world’s largest census. It is not only doing an official count of its estimated 1.4 million people, but also a count of people who identify as members of specific castes. This is the first time that membership in a caste (a socio-religious category) will be recognized since the South Asian nation won its independence from Great Britain in 1947. The last time that caste membership was counted was 1931. Wh

The President of the United States started a war that he can’t justify and apparently can’t win. His unforced error has created an international crisis that he can’t spin. And our former allies, those friendly countries that he has insulted for years, are sitting back and letting him hang from the political petard that he hoisted on himself and the world. China and Russia are laughing at him. While Trump is distracted by Iran’s refusal to surrender and the radioactive half-li

I am writing to express my strong support for Melanie Barker as the next Madera County District 5 Supervisor. I believe she is the best candidate for this position because she truly understands the needs of our community, and has the experience to represent us effectively. As a small business owner, Melanie Barker brings a practical, real-world perspective to the challenges facing our district. She understands firsthand the importance of supporting local businesses, encouragi

I don’t believe that history repeats itself. I do believe, however, that the arrogance of ignorance leads to strikingly similar albeit preventable mistakes time after time. We could learn from Gertrude Bell. She was a complicated, female British contemporary of T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, in the Middle East before, during and after WW1. She rode camels to visit desert tribes at her own expense. She learned native languages and respected local customs. She advised the

Many readers like to munch on something while they pore over their books. Others enjoy the cool refreshment of a bowl of ice cream while turning pages. Well, some of the best ice cream in the world comes from valley cows and is processed in a valley creamery. There are several places in the Central Valley that are truly “destinations” that bring people to enjoy their beauty or uniqueness. Hanford used to have two of them. Imperial Dynasty was legend for those who enjoy a sit-

Is the State’s required calculation method costing your water system thousands of dollars? For many small and rural drinking water systems, the answer may be yes — and it comes down to how “average” is calculated. The State Division of Drinking Water requires a simple average to determine long-term arsenic levels as well as other contaminants. Madera County simply follows the state method. While straightforward, this method can produce misleading results — sometimes overstati

With astronauts Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, and Reid Weisman tucked inside, Artemis II took off from Cape Canaveral on April 1, 2026. And it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke. Eight million pounds of thrust lifted the 73,735 pounds of space craft off the launching pad and started its slingshot trip to the Moon. This mission costs somewhere between $4.1 and $4.2 billion, but the overall Artemis program had a total expense of $93 billion, through 2025. The “space to