Columnists

My first run-in with war was when I was 5. I was playing in the living room and my handsome young father was in the overstuffed chair, reading the newspaper.

Landing at Burbank Airport always feels like stepping back in time. No jetways here — just a long ramp to the tarmac, painted lines and a gate built 80 years

Another month has passed, and with it, the predictable chorus of complaints about Pride Month. Every June, like clockwork, we hear the same disingenuous refrain: “Why don’t we celebrate veterans

By David Hegg I love July 4 and all it stands for. I remember lying on my back in a massive park in Boise, Idaho, watching the magnificent fireworks display

Imagine sitting down to plan the family budget for the year. You set aside money for rent, food, transportation, health care and fun activities.   Fast forward 10 years and

Once, I snapped at Ruth Newhall. In the newsroom. Strangest thing? I am here, alive, and able to talk about my death-inviting stupidity.  It was about 50 years ago and

Let’s be honest — this wasn’t an easy budget cycle. Uncertainty from the federal level, looming cuts and divisive rhetoric cast a long shadow. But here in Assembly District 40,

By David Hegg The great American pastime is no longer baseball, or for that matter, anything even remotely related to sport. No, it is much more consuming than any passion

I’ve grown fond of publicly writing the phrase, “as I begin to approach middle age.” It irritates many literal thinkers with sound math and logic skills. They note if I’m

The final scene in Stanley Kubrick’s dark classic, “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” ends with Slim Pickens as Major “King” Kong, hooting

Every June, as caps fly and diplomas are handed out, our community takes a moment to reflect on the accomplishments of its students and the journeys that brought them to

A criticism of the communist system includes that modern communist regimes are all about diminishing freedoms and squelching any opposition in order to sustain firm control over its population. Modern communism

By David Hegg I rarely use this column to advance purely religious or theological ideals. And while this one may look religious, it is really all about ethics. It just

As a prosecutor, I really have zero ability to affect, change or control immigration policies. That is controlled by Congress, and because we are a sanctuary state, our state Legislature

In a dusty western California town, beneath a punishing 120-degree sun, a woman walks alone. Her car ran out of gas blocks ago. She clutches an empty red gas can

On Wednesday, June 11, I attended a not-for-profit board meeting downtown in a building on Alameda Street near Union. This is near where the Waymo autonomous vehicles were set on

Happy Post-Father’s Day.  One thing’s true: we all have fathers — good, bad, absent, or trying their best. We didn’t get to pick ours. Didn’t get to choose when or

By David Hegg I recently watched the systematic dissolution of several married couples. All of them were good people and there was no infidelity on either side. The reason they

The recent actions by the federal government for immigration enforcement in Los Angeles have provoked an appalling reaction from hardline criminal elements in society. Immigration and Customs Enforcement focused on

Let’s start off by saying: In no world is arson, taking over freeways, assaulting law enforcement, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police officers or others, launching fireworks at police