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 […]
Letter: Film Festival was a pleasure
Film Festival was a pleasure I was delighted to attend the 5th annual Benicia Film Festival this past Labor Day weekend. I had the privilege to attend the Gala at 6 p.m. and the seven listed films at 8 p.m. (The audience watched a bonus film, making eight short films). My favorite film of the […]
Letters: Cannabis and gratitude
Regulating cannabis is working The results of a recent state-commissioned California Healthy Kids Survey concluded that fewer teens are consuming cannabis post-legalization. Students told surveyors cannabis is harder to get now than it was a few years ago. This is exactly in line with what proponents of regulated cannabis believed would happen if the dark […]
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 […]
Letter: Strawbridge puts people over politics
Strawbridge puts people over politics The Benicia City Council race is supposed to be nonpartisan. However, it has been a practice these past several years to seek your party’s endorsement. These are difficult times in our country. It seems that all the press goes very far to the left or far to the right. I […]
Letter: Remembering Leroy Bennett
Remembering Leroy Bennett The fire community lost a dedicated hero, mentor and teacher with the passing of Leroy Bennett, former engineer for the Vallejo Fire Department and founder of our Fire Cadet Program. In the former he protected the citizens of Vallejo for decades and was a mentor and teacher of young firefighters throughout his […]
Andrew Kelly: Free speech advocates mistaken in defending Alex Jones
One of the newest hot-button debates surrounding free speech in America is that of controversial talk show host Alex Jones’ content being removed from a plethora of streaming services such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Spotify, as well as the deletion of his social media platforms. Many on the left and center say that this was […]