While relaxing at home one evening, I received a call from a Saratoga phone number. The caller said she was conducting a poll for Research America on the upcoming election for governor, senator and City Council. Having more than a passing interest in the topic, I agreed to be questioned on my opinions. However there […]
Dennis Lund: Dianne Feinstein no longer the lesser of two evils?
In recent days the nation has witnessed an unseemly display of political gamesmanship, one which has served as testimonial to just how low the Democrats have sunk. Desperate to regain the power they believe to be rightfully theirs, Sen. Dianne Feinstein trotted out a 36-year-old “he said, she said” story regarding drunken teenagers. In recent […]
Devon Minnema: Political labels are not always helpful
I’ve always believed that words have meaning. That may seem obvious, but I think it is important to have solid definitions to terminology that way language can be less manipulated by politicians and ideologues. In the last few years, people have begun co-opting old terms and branding themselves with new ones in an attempt to […]
Bob Livesay: The state of the Democratic Party in Benicia
By Bob Livesay Special to the Herald I have been following politics for many years. The first election I voted in was 1954. My first presidential election was 1956. I voted for Eisenhower, and he won. You had to be 21 then, and I was not 21 for the 1952 presidential election. So as you […]
Pat Toth-Smith: Birdseye puts safety first
It’s been two years since the 2016 crude-by-rail permit for Valero was denied, but a strong memory of it remains for me and probably for a lot of Benicians. It’s because of that experience that I’m urging Benicians to vote for Kari Birdseye for the Benicia City Council. Birdseye was a new Planning Commissioner […]
Christina Strawbridge: The citizens are our customers
On Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, I appeared before the Benicia City Council for the third time concerning the new increases in water and sewer rates. Previously, I had asked that the rates be deferred from July to November with the reasoning that usage would be down in the winter months. This was not accepted. The […]
Allison Martin: Reducing and cleaning up litter starts with all of us
By Allison Martin Special to the Herald Ten cigarette butts. Nine plastic bottles. Eight food wrappers. Seven plastic bottle caps. Six drink straws. Five dirty diapers. Four soda cans. Three old shirts. Two Styrofoam containers. One rubber tire. And I collected it all in just five minutes during the 2017 Coastal Cleanup Day in Solano […]
Sindy Harris: The anatomy of a litterer
By Sindy Harris Special to the Herald Benicia may have noticed a cleaner Interstate 780 and its ramps lately. My husband, Steve, and I hope so, since we adopted a three mile stretch of I780 and its adjoining on and off ramps through CalTrans’ Adopt-A-Highway program several months ago. We have become a bit obsessed […]
A Vibrant Faith for the 21st Century: God and natural disasters
“I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7, NIV). “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its […]
Bob Livesay: Not all endorsements are necessarily equal
By Bob Livesay Special to the Herald As we approach the Labor Day holiday, the City Council election scramble starts to move very fast. Signs will be out all over town and residents can expect in-home endorsement meetings, venue meetings, mailers, newspaper ads, social media overtaken by comments and more. For this article, I will […]