Columnists

Yet another school year is coming to a close. Standardized

My neighbor, Rich Devlin, asked me to write this week's column

As our local economy comes out of its recent recession, some

This should be a happy time of year for followers of the Baha'i

The June 5 primary ballot is a simple affair. It should take just a few minutes to mark my choices on my absentee ballot. But I’m stuck on one vote: Proposition 29, which would levy a $1 per pack tax on cigarettes to fund cancer research.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus told his followers: “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I love you, so must you love one another.” A scholar has estimated that there are some 34,000 separate Christian denominations, and so this commandment seems to have been broken 34,000 times.

We now explore an interesting hand that is a little short on high card points (HCP's), but holds a valuable asset called “dummy points,” which is shortness in a side-suit. Dummy should value a side-suit doubleton at one extra point, a singleton at three extra points and a void at five extra points. The reason shortness in a side-suit is important is that dummy is able to convert some of declarer's losing tricks into winners by trumping them in dummy - a pretty good feature to have.

What do you think your retirement will be like? If you are like

Historians say there has been a Muslim presence in America since our Colonial days: slaves brought from Africa were privately practicing their religion. But Islam remained basically beneath the public’s notice until the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001.

I have a small, humble, hesitant question for the world in which