By Andrew Kelly Special to the Herald Our representatives have failed us. Seventeen innocent people — including fourteen teenagers– died in a senseless tragedy that could have been prevented if we had proper background checks, a system that prevents the mentally unstable from owning high caliber firearms or even prevented people under a certain age […]
‘March for Our Lives’ draws hundreds in Benicia
Marches have been rare throughout Benicia’s history. Mayor Elizabeth Patterson claimed the last one was held in the World War II era. However, that changed when 800 to 1,500 people filled the streets of downtown Benicia for the March for our Lives. Like the thousands of other Marches for Our Lives events held throughout the […]
Poetry Corner: Katrina Monroe “No More (Dedicated to the Parkland School Victims)”
Their young bones cry out to the world, “Why?” Their please echo down the corridors of a building so anguished it closed its doors forever, its sounds of laughter extinguished. The learning and camaraderie gone, a symbolic tomb for those whose tender bodies were carried away. The young man in his loneliness cries, “Why?” Hearing […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “I am Tired of Waking Up to the Faces of Dead Children”
I am tired of waking up to the faces of dead children who smile at me from the T.V. or computer screen. I want to tell them they are not dead. I want to reach down into the earth into the ashes and resurrect them— pull them up by their bones and hug them to […]
Benicia hosting March for Our Lives rally
Upwards of 1,000 people could rally in the March for Our Lives Rally this Saturday in Benicia. In response to the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Never Again MSD and Everytown for Gun Safety are organizing several demonstrations to call for legislative action on gun control and support […]
BHS discourages leaving campus for National School Walkout, provides alternative activities
Students leaving campus or skipping classes for the National School Walkout will be marked absent, according to a recently issued Benicia High School newsletter. In response to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. One month ago today, students at schools and universities throughout the country are planning to walk out […]
Bruce Robinson: How to stop school shooters
Ever since the Parkland school shooting on Valentine’s Day, media pundits and politicians of all stripes have spewed forth an avalanche of disparate explanations for and radical solutions to this most recent manifestation of what CNN has listed as the 34 “deadliest mass shootings in United States history since 1949.” The explanations have ranged from […]
Rep. Thompson hosts town hall on gun violence
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa) discussed his plans for curbing gun violence and took questions from his 5th District constituents at a town hall at Vallejo High School on Saturday. Thompson, who represents Benicia in the U.S. House of Representatives, began the town hall by talking about his goals of establishing a committee on gun violence […]
Benicia High students hold vigil for Florida school shooting victims
In the wake of the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. that left 17 people dead, Benicia High School students marched down to City Park for a candlelight vigil Saturday to pay respect to the victims. The event was organized by a large group of students, including Carson Rendell, […]