OPINION By John Laird - California’s prisons face many, many challenges. Overcrowding. Violence. Gutted rehabilitation programs. An aging, and unhealthy, inmate population. And let’s be frank, spending more money—or worse yet wasting it—on our prisons and inmate healthcare during the current... (Continue reading)
OPINION By Sam Blakeslee, Ph.D. - When the recession hit our nation and state revenues collapsed, Sacramento leaders were confronted with a series of dire budget scenarios. In 2009, the Legislature passed the largest tax increase in the nation, hiking... (Continue reading)
OPINION By John Laird - We must take a stand to fix our state parks, so that we do not continue to lose jobs on the Central Coast – right at the moment when our visitor-serving economy needs them the... (Continue reading)
OPINION By Sam Blakeslee, Ph.D. - California’s 12.3 percent unemployment rate now ranks as the third worst in the nation. Other large diverse states post much lower rates which translates to millions of Californians who are unnecessarily unemployed and... (Continue reading)
OPINION BY MARILYN ARMSTRONG Prior to the 1970’s, America was primarily a cash based system. Most families had savings accounts, and adhered to a program of placing 10 percent of their earnings into their savings. Even large ticket items, such... (Continue reading)
By JACK McCURDY I recently received a mailer from Sam Blakeslee regarding the special state Senate election on Aug. 17, which has him facing John Laird, and on one side it has this: John Laird Has the Wrong Priorities “Politician... (Continue reading)
OPINION BY JOHN LAIRD In May of this year, the Board of Trustees of San Luis Coast Unified School District, the largest district in San Luis Obispo County, voted unanimously to inform the California School Boards Association that no local... (Continue reading)
OPINION – By PETER SCHEER–The New York Times’ front-page stories on the war in Afghanistan–based on a massive leak of classified US military cables and other documents–are not likely to change the course of the war. But they represent a... (Continue reading)
OPINION BY DON REGAN, Ph.D. A question, relative to the current Sheriff’s race–Why is one principle candidate for Sheriff now the TV spokesperson for a local loan Company, in which his wife has a direct and immediate vested interest? It... (Continue reading)
OPINION by JOE CORTEZ The video blog released by KCCN.TV depicting the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department activities is extremely disturbing. To be fair, it should be noted that the posted video contains excerpts of a real event interspersed with... (Continue reading)