Young does not do his homework This is in response to the March 1 letter, “Young does his homework,” as well as the Feb. 28 council meeting. Sorry, if Councilmember Steve Young had done his homework, he would have not had to ask all the tagged finance questions at the Feb. 21 meeting. All he […]
Matt Talbot: Matt’s ideal world
Rather than spend words in this week’s column decrying the latest mismanagement by the clown show currently being run out of the big house at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in our nation’s capital, I thought I’d actually talk about what America would look like, were Americans irresponsible enough to elect me president, and assuming I had […]
Dennis Lund: Freely admitting to being completely flummoxed by recent events
The word ‘flummoxed’ is one I have never used to describe reactions to any past events. But what we have seen post-election, more specifically since the inauguration, have indeed made that word appropriate. Many aspects of the events of the past 90 days are bewildering indeed. Reflecting on some of the high (or low notes), […]
Bruce Robinson: The DeVos flap– insight or oversight?
On the same day President Trump picked Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education, American Federation of Teachers (AFT) head, Randi Weingarten, condemned Mrs. DeVos as “the most ideological, anti-public-education nominee put forward since President Carter created a Cabinet-level Department of Education.” Right away, National Education Association (NEA) President Lily Eskelsen Garcia added her ire to […]
Matt Talbot: What is the right size of a government?
In Catholic social teaching, there is an organizing principle called “subsidiarity.” Subsidiarity means that societal needs ought to be addressed as close to the problem as possible. For example, if there is a pothole in the street outside your house, you wouldn’t call your Senator to complain about it. You would notify the Benicia Public […]
Christina Strawbridge: Benicia is a great tourist destination
The city of Benicia’s investment of $65,000 a year for its contract with Wolf Communications has been questioned because the city cannot definitively show a direct link between either the number of tourists who visit Benicia nor the dollars spent by those visitors. It is not realistic to base one’s opinion on the absence of […]
Matt Talbot: Some thoughts on a massacre, 4 years later
One refrain heard from the NRA after every mass shooting incident by a lone deranged gunman is that it is “too soon” to have a political discussion about guns and gun control – that to have that discussion is to “politicize a tragedy.” Well, it has been a little over four years since Adam Lanza […]
Letters: Good community relations
Good community relations Reading Super Bowl Sunday’s Benicia Herald, I was stunned. Why? Mayor Patterson’s 2016 Year in Review comment about Valero. I thought it was a threat. She said, “I look forward to the promise of the good community relations–mentioned by Valero in its announcement– now that we can put this project (crude by […]
Matt Talbot: Godwin’s Law overturned on appeal
Godwin’s Law is, in the words of Wikipedia, “an Internet adage which asserts that ‘As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches 1’—that is, if an online discussion (regardless of topic or scope) goes on long enough, sooner or later someone will compare someone or something to Hitler. “…there […]
Letters: Measure C, sanctuary cities and more
Measure C priorities I was so delighted to see all the politico folks taking a bow over the nice railing. Do you think it is possible they could be as happy standing next to one of our ever growing potholes around town? I am getting to feel a bit like Nascar driver in order to […]