Opinion

May 21, 2013 — I still have hair on my head as I write this, but by the time you read this I’ll be bald as a cue ball.

I’ve been twisting and turning this shaved head thing around in my brain for about a month now, and it feels as if I’ve already jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge, and I’m waiting to slip down into the icy water below my feet. I’m just holding on for the splash, and it’s too late to turn back now.

Writing about this in the newspaper for the past few weeks just adds to the public curiosity. It seems nearly everywhere I go people want to talk about the event, and that’s a good thing. A lot of people think it’s really funny — the idea of me with a shaved head. One fellow shavee even said, “We’ll both be ugly!”

May 21, 2013 — It’s true. Memorial Day traditionally marks the beginning of the summer season with the year’s first three-day weekend, barbecues, the Coca Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500 — long dubbed the greatest spectacle in racing.

While the weekend provides a wonderful opportunity for family get-togethers and family fun as well as an extra day off work, it also provides an opportunity for each of us toremember and reflect upon the real reason for the holiday — a time to pause and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our country and our freedom.

May 14, 2013 — Last Monday the California Supreme Court ruled city and county governments could ban medical marijuana dispensaries despite the state law allowing citizens with medical marijuana recommendations from their doctors that they may use the drug for relief of their symptoms.

The state’s high court upheld trial court and appellate court decisions supporting the city of Riverside’s ban of medical marijuana dispensaries it believed were a nuisance.

But the case before the supreme court isn’t about medical marijuana per se — it’s about a local government’s ability to control land use through zoning laws. According to the state laws people may use medical marijuana if they receive a recommendation from the doctor. But the court ruled while the medical marijuana proposition allows patients to use the drug, cities and counties retain the right to make zoning decisions for their communities.

May 14, 2013 — I’ve never forgotten a television interview with the late Cleveland Indian’s Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller I saw years ago.

Never heard of Bob Feller? Well, he was so good, he made it to the big leagues in 1936 when he was still a 17-year-old high school student. Ted Williams called Feller “the fastest and best pitcher I ever saw during my career,” and Stan Musial said he was “probably the greatest pitcher of our era.” Feller threw the second fastest recorded pitch in baseball history at an amazing 107.6 miles-per-hour (a Nolan Ryan fastball was clocked years later at 108.1 mph).