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Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) introduced a resolution to establish a "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Week" in California. It was passed unanimously by both the assembly and the senate.

The week would coincide with the 20th anniversary of the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Sacramento. It begins Dec. 10, with the reading of the names of all Californians who died during the war, and ends Dec. 14 with a sunrise POW/MIA ceremony at the memorial.

The prospects of commercial passenger service at Castle Airport, at least with Vision Airlines, seem dimmer by the day.

The county announced in May that it would have Vision began flights from Castle by July. That date came and passed. Now there's silence.

Read this. It doesn't bode well for the county or the economic development of Castle Commerce Center. Vision also never called me back to find out about their plans for Merced County.

When I read the New York Times' story about the Merced housing crisis, I knew it would be a matter of time before we heard from the woman on the other end of Mayor Ellie Wooten's phone call.

Sure enough, the woman responded in the comments section of a follow-up story that was published in Tuesday's Sun-Star.

During my life, I have listened to a lot of music. From Paul Revere and the Raiders when I was a pre-teen, to Neil Young.
But at this stage of my life, when I have passed the big 50, I like rap music. Yup, rap. I like T-Pain and Snoop and all the rest.
Boy, do I get some weird looks. Especially in the drive-thru at the fast food joints. I even had one guy flat out ask me if that was 'my' music playing.

I have a black eye and bruised face because of an encounter with a broodmare in the middle of the night. Not sure if I got kicked or just slammed into something - I can't remember too much.
Walking around with a black eye sure makes people treat me weird. I have had so many people look at me and then quick like a bunny look the other way. Even people I work with have been afraid to ask what happened.

The trip to Bower Cave can hardly be called a hike. Just a few hundred feet uphill from the old Coulterville Toll Road, it only takes minutes to walk through the brush to the massive marble hollow.

But it isn't without dangers.

"This is rattlesnake country," our guide told us. "Don't put your hands anywhere you can't see." On a previous visit, she saw several large snakes at the mouth of the cave. A park ranger joined our group, first aid kit in hand, just in case.