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Lois Henry

Herb Benham

Marylee Shrider

Robert Price

  • Tail of Prague dog and other summer detours

    I might have told the story of the time, years ago, that the wife and I were so poor we decided to forego our monthly trip to the salon and instead cut each other's hair with sewing scissors. I proved to be a pretty bad hair stylist, but she was worse, and by the time we were finished we looked like we'd been in a tragic lawnmower accident. The girls down at Supercuts got a good laugh out of it, and even though we really could have used the $24, we laughed too.

  • I'll shed no tears for fate of Joe Camel

    The president and I have a few things in common: a vastly underappreciated game of basketball (long abandoned, in my case), a wife who looks capable of winning arm-wrestling matches (and has, in my wife's case -- just not, ahem, against me), and a history with tobacco we'd both like to forget.

Pete Tittl

Mike Griffith

Joan Swenson

  • Zest up your garden with some basil

    I am crazy about basil. Some years I have five or more varieties growing in the yard because it is a perfect summer herb.

  • Growing new sweet peas is easier than you'd think

    Caroline O. Reid, who claims not to have a green thumb, seems to have the perfect way of dealing with the sweet pea question: Should one replant sweet peas every year or let them go to seed and buy new seeds to plant in the fall?

Camille Gavin

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    Piecing together a life story

    Usually when we hear the word memoir, we think of a written document. Linda Brown has chosen a different route to tell important episodes and influences in her life by doing a series of highly detailed collages.

  • Festival keeps things short, sweet

    This year's 22nd annual One Act Festival at Bakersfield Community Theatre will feature five original plays by local authors. As the name indicates, any play submitted for the competition must tell a complete story in only one act. Not an easy job, I would think. But, said Michael Pawloski, the producer, the winning playwrights were up to the task.

Valerie Schultz

  • Valerie Schultz: Our prisons can handle terrorists just fine, thank you

    One of the reasons some Americans voted for President Obama last November was because he campaigned on the promise to shut down Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba, which has drawn international criticism for almost eight years for detaining people indefinitely, some without ever being charged.

  • Californians have shown their true colors in politics

    What does it mean to be a Californian? If you travel to another state in the union, you soon discover the mystique that permeates California. It is perceived as a land of glamour and possibility and ease, where movie stars congregate on street corners, where the weather statewide is always like a good day in San Diego. Along with its citrus crop, California exports fresh ideas, good vibes and the latest flairs in fashion.

Steve Merlo

  • Steve Merlo: Local fishing outlook takes a turn for the better

    Local fishing prospects look a lot better since the heat wave began two weeks ago. The spawn has ended and air temperatures above 100 degrees are forcing gamefish to seek either the protection of deeper water or, in the case of the California Aqueduct, moving waters. Despite recent court rulings regarding agricultural water flows, the concrete ditch continues to send water to the south, its computerized gates attracting bait schools, stripers and catfish to their churning waters.

  • Steve Merlo: Rabbit season set to open Wednesday

    With cottontail rabbit season only a few days away, a lot of folks have been writing to ask questions about the validity of chowing down on rabbits. Trust me -- they are exquisite cuisine and me and my air rifle will be out and about on the opener to bag a limit.