Thanksgiving is the time of year when we sit back, smell the turkey, stuff ourselves with too much good food, and then reflect on the good things that have happened to our families in the last year. Sometime during the day’s festivities—amid the turkey feast, football, and basketball games on TV, and visiting with family […]
Ron Fink
Posted inOpinion
Lompoc’s school district is failing the community
The Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD) is failing our community when objectively measured against the state of California education standards. Keep in mind that California rates in the bottom third of the nation, and the LUSD performance is well below that. A recent report in the Santa Maria Times put it this way, “Results from […]
Posted inOpinion
Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 6 is poised for a modern facelift
Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) has been around for several decades. First built for the Manned Orbital Laboratory in the 1960s, a project that was canceled 50 years ago, it was later modified for the space shuttle, which was canceled in 1989. Other projects followed, and they too were canceled or completed. Fast forward to […]
Posted inCommentaries
Congress should be held accountable for not producing a budget on time
Government “shutdowns” have occurred numerous times over the last few decades due to a lack of an approved budget, but the politicians we elect to provide funding have never been held accountable. It’s time for a change, but how? Based on an email recently sent by Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), it appears that the […]
Posted inOpinion
Should government regulate ‘hate speech’?
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “guarantees freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition.” Taking it literally, this means you can say anything you want about anything or anybody, sometimes. One exception is that you can’t shout “fire” in a crowded theater unless there really is a fire in progress. The […]
Posted inOpinion
Democrats are taking down our once golden state bit by bit
For decades California has had a single political party running the show in Sacramento; this had led to a steady decay in education, infrastructure, and public safety; a massive growth in the homeless population; outrageous cost for housing; and ineffective use of taxpayer dollars. Two recent actions by our elected officials point out how bit […]
Posted inOpinion
Shifting away from fossil fuels isn’t a good idea for the county or the state
Is phasing out fossil fuels a good or even feasible idea? This is a question that none of the so-called “experts” who want to stop this county and eventually the entire nation from using this readily available resource have considered. You know who they are, the “what if” folks that are well funded by the […]
Posted inOpinion
The land itself is the area’s biggest loss in the aftermath of the Gifford Fire
The Gifford Fire has been burning in two counties for a couple of weeks. This fire, combined with a previous burn in the same area, has incinerated well over 200,000 acres of vegetation; that’s more than 300 square miles of now barren land. The immediate losses, millions of dollars in losses, are associated with ranches, […]
Posted inOpinion
Congressman Salud Carbajal and two colleagues are trying to initiate immigration reform
Back in July I said, “the immigration laws need to be updated, but simply resisting enforcement of existing law with endless conversations, waving signs, yelling and screaming, harassing enforcement officers, burning public property, and stopping traffic isn’t helpful and produces no meaningful results,” (Start assisting in immigration issues,” July 10). And “legislators could start with […]
Posted inOpinion
The Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce needs to meet obligations before a new contract is signed
There were two items on the Lompoc City Council agenda on Tuesday, July 15. Both concerned similar subjects. The first was the Lompoc Tourism Improvement District (aka Visit Lompoc Incorporated or VLI). A nonprofit organization dedicated to “position Lompoc as a sought-after destination for tourists, meetings, and events.” This special district receives no funding from […]
Posted inOpinion
Start assisting in immigration issues—and urge Congress to make better laws
I am discouraged by Democrats’ disregard for the oath they took when they were elected to serve in Congress. That oath states in part that “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article 1 of the Constitution established how the government would be run. […]
Posted inOpinion
Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 6 is on the cusp of being repurposed to better support Falcon 9 launches
Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) on south Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) was first developed in the early 1960s to support the manned orbiting laboratory program. According to the National Museum of the Air Force, the manned orbiting laboratory “never reached fruition, but a great deal of developmental work was accomplished before it too was […]
