Home › Archives › Local Columns

Archive By Section - Local Columns

When you see a ‘proud parent’ sticker, offer thanks

I drove to Lodi Saturday without having to go through government checkpoints. I can thank a Marine. My granddaughter is free to go to school and she'll be able to vote and enjoy the full rights of all male citizens. I can thank a soldier. I pray as I chose. I can thank an airman. My neighbors and I can access a wide range of consumer goods thanks to the un-interruption of trade between nations. ...

June 21, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

Destroying the San Joaquin Valley in order to save it

Passing gas could one day become a criminal act. It sounds absurd but who would have thought cows doing what they do naturally would become a major target of the air quality cops. Methane gas is basically organic material breaking down. It is also a greenhouse gas that is over 20 times more effective trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. It also stays in the atmosphere for anywhere from nine to 15 years. ...

June 20, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

Sacramento ready to flush state’s future down toilet

Thank goodness the current California Legislature wasn't around during the Great Depression.

June 19, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE DISTRICTS

There still appears to be some confusion about the facts concerning the City assuming responsibility for the Landscape Maintenance Districts (LMD). The intent of this blog is to provide clarity to some of the points made in the opinion column in Thursday's Manteca Bulletin.

June 19, 2009 | By STEVEN PINKERTON City manager for Manteca | Local Columns

Political quicksand in form of landscape maintenance districts

Four different contractors deploy at least a dozen people in any given week to work on the 30-plus landscape maintenance district (LMD) that cost homeowners collectively close to $1 million a year.

June 18, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

A modest proposal to save California

The party's over. It's time to detox California government. The only way to do that is to stop the dependency by reeling in the pushers and making the addicts go cold turkey. The pushers – your friendly neighborhood legislator who entices you with grants and funding in exchange for your vote every two or four years – need to be severely restricted. The only way to do that is to dilute their power. And ...

June 17, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

Digital TV: Clearing up fuzzy stuff

My retail days seemed like a lifetime ago. In the final years at Montgomery Ward some nine years ago – after over 100 years in business, the national retail chain closed in early 2001 – I worked in the electronics department of the Stockton store. At the time, we were embarking on the digital era, with only the savvy consumer being aware that the analog television sets would soon become passé. But as sales associates, ...

June 17, 2009 | Vince Rembulat | Local Columns

From spoonfuls of sugar to fruits, vegetables & nuts

What a difference 45 years make. Back then breakfast for me was non-existent except on Saturday mornings. It was The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Quick Draw McDraw, a couple bowls of Frosted Flakes, and about a dozen or so straight spoonfuls of sugar Now it's breakfast every day – an orange, an apple, a banana, a quarter of a watermelon, three yogurts, and a third of a can of almonds all washed down by V8 Fusion ...

June 14, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

Don’t blame illegals for state budget mess

Are the illegal residents washing dishes in a restaurant or picking fruit the root of all evil when it comes to California's economic maladies?

June 13, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

California needs a total recall of Sacramento

I'm not a huge fan of recalls but given the fact no one up in Sacramento really got the message May 19 I'm in favor of a total recall.

June 12, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

Why Republicans should like Jerry Brown as governor

Jerry Brown was right. Thirty-one years ago when Brown ended his second term as governor of California he not only had reduced taxes but had built up the largest state surplus ever. On his watch, California created 1 out of every 4 new jobs in the nation. He also was the trailblazer for building and energy appliance standards as well as solar and alternative energy. How did Brown do it? Simple. He refused to spend ...

June 11, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

Missing the boat in the letter tug-of-war

Reading the endless back-and-forth between Republicans and Democrats in these pages is often good for a few minutes of low-cost entertainment.

June 11, 2009 | Brandon Petersen | Local Columns

The high cost of celebrating our liberty

The price of liberty is high. And celebrating it isn't much cheaper either. Manteca's decision to shift the Fourth of July celebration to July 3 is being met with a growing storm of criticism running the gamut from it being borderline sacrilegious to downright unpatriotic. It is easy to understand the public sentiment. In a way, though, this is a good thing. Some 233 years after our forefathers declared their independence from rulers that taxed ...

June 10, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

‘Old Man River’ versus a ‘Younger Girl’

"Hotel California" was playing on the Escape's CD stereo as I turned down Yosemite Avenue headed for Staples Sunday with my 16-year-old granddaughter Ashley riding shotgun.

June 08, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

The unfairness of de facto boarding houses

Manteca creates neighborhoods designed for single family homes. You buy a home in such a neighborhood with the expectation that they will be used as a home for one family or an extended family. Then one day a home sells. Within a few days five different couples or individuals move in. What's going on? Some believe an investor may have bought the home and has converted it into a boarding house. In this example – ...

June 07, 2009 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

« First « Prev 97 98 99 100 101 Next » Last »

Page 99 of 111

Articles by Section - Local Columns

The Pope and Godless capitalism

"This is called slave labor," said Pope Francis.

May 04, 2013 | | Local Columns

Cinco de Mayo is as American as you can get

People need to stop having heart palpations over Cinco de Mayo celebrations.

May 04, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns

Meeting your Ripon neighbors at jury duty, plus an unexpected pleasure over lunch

Meeting a couple of Ripon folks, and one from Linden and another from Tracy was an unexpected pleasure in my brief two days of jury duty this week – especially when four of us just happened to go out to lunch together on Thursday.

May 03, 2013 | Glenn Kahl | Local Columns

Kentucky Derby’s horse tie to French Camp

FRENCH CAMP – It's a funny thing, this horse racing business.

May 03, 2013 | Jason Campbell | Local Columns

Guns: Being judged by 12 instead of being carried by 6

She's a single mom in her early 30s. She lives in an old farmhouse in an almond orchard five miles east of Manteca. The closest neighbor is a quarter mile of a way but the trees make it impossible to see their home.

May 03, 2013 | Dennis Wyatt | Local Columns