It is easy to criticize those in power. It’s something else to have to sit in those seats and make the hard decisions, even all the way down at the local level.

The Chino Valley Town Council’s chamber was packed, standing room only, for the Tuesday, Oct. 11 meeting. The capacity, according to a sign above the door, is 135. Since Central Yavapai Fire & Medical Chief Scott Freitag was among those who squeezed inside, I’m quite certain the fire code was not violated.

Before 1988 the non-partisan League of Women Voters was the sponsor of presidential debates. Before that year’s debates between Republican George H.W. Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis, however, the League pulled out.

I was sitting at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon last week when there was a presentation about the Home Rule Option that is up for a vote on the August ballot.

When I posted on the Chino Valley Review’s Facebook page that the Town Council planned to vote to double its stipend the reaction was about what I expected: Outrage.

Among U.S. Senator John McCain’s first crusades in Congress was to go after earmarks, the practice of lawmakers pursuing federal dollars for local projects.

My first full-time journalism job was for the Camarillo Daily News, a small daily newspaper in California. When strawberry season arrived, my editor directed a photographer to go down to a specific stand and take a photo for the front page.

A gay friend of mine who lives in Orlando, Florida said that he spent the days following the massacre at the Pulse nightclub listening to “Where is the love?” by the Black Eyed Peas.

I was living in Baltimore for the last major election and remember looking over my sample ballot, ready to educate myself before heading to the polls.