Opinion

Be scared, very scared

Published by admin on Wed, 10/30/2019 - 10:14am

It looks like I'm going to let my Road & Track subscription lapse. I've been reading it since 1965 standing in front of a newsstand. I've always been too frugal or lazy to actually own a performance car but the technology fascinates me.

I'm two issues behind in my reading. Presently, I'm reading a story by Sam Smith and his photographer driving a crew cab pickup up 'Going to the Sun Road' in Glacier Park. Sam (one reason I subscribe to R&T) is lamenting the disap-pearance of Glacier's glaciers and naturally, blaming climate change.

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Get out and vote Tuesday

Published by admin on Wed, 10/30/2019 - 10:13am

An election carries importance, no matter the race.

Next Tuesday is Election Day throughout the country. This year, area voters can vote for various school board and city council races.

While the ballot shows that several races in the area are uncontested, it’s still important to hit the polls Tuesday. It’s easy to think, “Why vote when there’s only one candidate?”

These candidates are the ones that represent your cities and your schools. Voting shows support for those candidates that do run and have dedicated their time and resources to serving the community.

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Cinematic Experience

Published by admin on Wed, 10/23/2019 - 9:50am

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is, without question, one of the most generally popular things on the planet.

Of course with everything popular, there's going to be people that reflexively decide to dislike it. Maybe there's a genuine dislike or maybe they're just contrarian.

In either way, that side of the zeitgeist has some new heroes as some of Hollywood's old-guard elite have come out against Marvel Studio's work.

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Make your Haunted House food allergy friendly for all Trick-or-Treaters

Published by admin on Wed, 10/23/2019 - 9:49am

As you go out shopping in preparation for Trick-or-Treaters, pick up an extra pumpkin, some teal paint and a couple different treats.

The Teal Pumpkin Project is a way to show Trick-or-Treaters with a food allergy that a house has non-food options. This is a simple and affordable way to make sure all children have a safe and fun Halloween.

To participate in the Teal Pumpkin Project takes just four easy steps. The first is to buy non-food items.

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Vote in upcoming local elec-tions

Published by admin on Wed, 10/23/2019 - 9:48am

Democracy requires citizen participation. The more folks get involved, the more gov-ernment represents all of us.

Butler, Cerro Gordo and Franklin counties are home to 47,261 ‬registered voters. How many of them can we get to vote in this fall’s local elec-tions?

Casting your ballot in local elections has an immediate im-pact on your daily life. Local officials budget for education and roads, decide what can be built and where, set library hours and schedule your trash pickup.

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Joining the banned-wagon

Published by admin on Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:32am

What does civil unrest have to do with a virtual card game?

That's the question Blizzard Entertainment tried to find a satisfactory answer to last week, with little luck.

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Beware of short-haired hitch-hikers

Published by admin on Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:30am

We saw on the news that there was a storm off the Mex-ican coast. That, and a north-east breeze would produce perfect waves at Trestles, a surf spot on private federal land called Camp Pendleton. (Yep, private federal land.)

Five of us went south from Newport Beach in my Fiat 124 sedan hoping to get tubed or locked in on one of Trestles' long lefts or rights. (It seems like I encounter unfamiliar lingo increasingly these days; so join the club.)

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Tips for traveling in Tokyo

Published by admin on Wed, 10/09/2019 - 10:10am

Age of the Geek Column: OK, here's the column I intended to write last week. After all, you didn't really expect me to spend two weeks in Japan and not come back with tales from my travels.

Don't worry though. I won't bore you with the details of my shopping trips to Akihabara or how much I geeked out while visiting the "One Piece" theme park in Tokyo Tower. Instead, enjoy this list of tips and observations from my experience, should you ever decide to take a trip to Japan yourself.

The Language Hurdle

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Pink Ribbon Night reinforces power of community

Published by admin on Wed, 10/09/2019 - 10:07am

This space has been used before to commend various organizations throughout the community for working together for a common goal. Today is no different.

Tomorrow marks the annual Pink Ribbon Night at the Hampton-Dumont-CAL volleyball matches. Working in hand with the volleyball players, staff from Franklin General Hospital arrange and provide silent auction baskets for attendees to attempt to purchase. Money raised through the auction is then used to purchase gas cards for breast cancer patients who have to travel for treatments.

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Talking to strangers

Published by admin on Wed, 10/02/2019 - 9:58am

Alternative Column: My friend Dirk and I were hitching up Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa when two guys in an El Camino pulled over. We hopped in the back and soon discovered the driver was inebriated to the point that he was visiting all four lanes ran-domly, and with us on board. So far, the other cars were dodging us but we bailed at about 35 miles per hour.

Yes, hitchhiking can be dangerous. But when I read the headline to a story in The Wall Street Journal that said, “How to Avoid Talking to Strangers,” I still thought... why? Strangers are society's door to new things.