The following “letter” is part of the continuing series from the unpublished novel by James Garrett, “Benicia Letters Once More”. He does not plan to publish the book but instead is choosing to share the letters with the readers of the Benicia Herald. The letters continue the storyline of Garrett’s first novel “Benicia and Letters […]
Write Away: Boss Babies
We bought our baby an expensive, high tech robot bed. Whenever Carson is fussy, his bed is programmed to soothe him by rocking him and playing white noise to simulate his time in the womb. I purchased it from a friend who called it a miracle bed, saying it saved her marriage and sanity. It’s […]
Photo: Smoky air
New poet laureate seeks to unite art, poetry
The time has arrived for Benicia to have a new poet laureate. On Sunday, Tom Stanton assumed the position as Benicia’s top poetry official, and he takes the reins from Johanna Ely. In his new role, Stanton promises to bring some bold new ideas to the title. Stanton is no stranger to Benicia’s artistic community. […]
Photo: Toast to the Farm
Harold Bray to serve as grand marshal in Torchlight Parade
Harold Bray, a Benicia resident and World War II veteran who was one of more than 300 people to survive the sinking of a naval cruiser, will be serving as the grand marshal at this year’s 3rd of July Torchlight Parade. Bray enlisted in the Navy in 1944 at the age of 17. He was […]
Jeff Burkhart’s “Rhyme and Reason”: Flawed Law
A law’s designed to stop someone, from doing something wrong As time goes on the list of laws, continues to grow long Politicians meet and pass, new edicts every year To keep us from committing, the behaviors that they fear Each one has their own platform, made laws they hope to pass 10 or twenty […]
Dennis Lund: The ‘death’ of Stax Records and the Lorraine Hotel
At a recent concert featuring Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. and the M.G.’s fame, the 74-year-old Jones reminisced a bit regarding his long career, specifically his work at Stax Records in Memphis, Tenn. The music produced at the makeshift studio– it was a converted movie theater– was special for a variety of reasons. The […]
A Different Drummer: The Montreal underground (Part 2)
Susan, Patricia, Gino and I were driving to Montreal in his Tundra on holiday. We had rented a downtown flat on AirBnB. From the pictures, it was a beautiful place, tidy, clean, nestled on a quiet residential tree-lined street, a few blocks from interesting nightlife destinations. Wrong. The homeowner did not update her web photos […]
Numerous agencies respond to third-alarm vegetation fire off Interstate 780
Staff Report The Benicia Fire Department battled an intense vegetation fire for nearly two hours Thursday evening before it was finally under control. At approximately 6:43 p.m., the Fire Department received reports of a vegetation fire in the area of Eastbound Interstate 780 between Glen Cove and Columbus Parkway, according to a news release by […]