Water Cooler: Withdraw all troops from Afghanistan in 2014?
Panelists answered the following question: Do you agree with the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2014?
Water Cooler: Should Discovery Channel have shown wire walk live?
Ruth Erickson: “Yes, in this day and age of instant media coverage, if the TV hadn't covered it, cell phones would have shown it all over the world anyway.”
Editorial: Trustees were wise to rescind snap judgment
It was a relief to see the relatively new Hollister School District Board of Trustees reverse course on a prior snap judgment to cancel contracts with the city's recreation program for use of gyms and fields at Rancho and Maze Middle School.
Water Cooler: Do you agree with a 13-year path to citizenship?
Panelists answered the following: Do you support the 13-year path to citizenship - for the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants - included in the Senate immigration bill?
Guest View: Aromas Cares responds about oil rules
Aromas Cares for the Environment (ACE) can agree with Robert Frusetta on one thing he wrote in his Op Ed piece that ran in a recent edition of the Free Lance - we can safely develop our domestic energy in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. But we don't share his view that Kentucky-style environmental standards would be acceptable to the residents of San Benito County.
Marty: Park plan tempered by its high cost
San Benito County’s new 20-mile long River Parkway Master Plan has just about everything. The central focus area and Regional Park adjacent to Hollister has a community center, outdoor amphitheater, swimming pool, softball fields, basketball courts, a playground, educational gardens, an orchard, shade trees and a picnic area – among other things such as walking, biking and equestrian trails. Its biggest problem is that is has a price tag to match.
Water Cooler: Are you OK with the NSA’s use of phone records?
Panelists answered the following: Are you OK with the National Security Agency collecting records from U.S. cell phone customers for counterterrorism efforts?
Editorial: Interim CAO jumped the gun on talks
Interim County Administrative Officer Ray Espinosa was wrong to pronounce that supervisors should consider ending furlough pay cuts and a step-increase freeze - not only because his reasoning for such financial optimism was flawed and based on one-time injections, but also because he just threw the unions a bone for negotiations and for no justifiable reason.
Water Cooler: Are Calif. bridges safe enough?
Panelists answered the following question: Are you concerned about the seismic safety of bridges in California?
