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The days left of high school can now be counted on one hand. It's hard to believe that the journey that started 13 years ago will finally come to an end as the Live Oak High School Class of 2006 finally graduates.

"Don't drink, blah." Don't drink and drive, blah, blah, responsible, blah. No, blah, blah, drugs, blah, blah, blah …" By now, this must be what my teens hear when I talk about substance abuse, as I've talked to them about it since I thought they were old enough to understand, which is, for my daughter, since she was 4 when she asked me if she would die early. Jumping on the opportunity, I said "Don't drink alcohol and do drugs, choose friends who stay away from drinking and drugging, and you should live a long time," I told her.

You undoubtedly know by now that I endeavor to cover various major issues in this column such as ocean flatulence and exploding cattle. So as a public service, I'm deviating from the norm and dedicating this piece to anyone still in the grips of TV episode withdrawal and wondering, "What the heck is going to happen to Jack Bauer?"

There's only two weeks of school left. That's just 10 school days left for the freshmen, sophomores and juniors, but only six school days left for the seniors. Many, if not all of the students are anxiously awaiting summer vacation, but first we must get through the dreaded end-of-the-year finals. For the seniors, finals will be Friday for periods one, three and five and next Monday for periods two, four, zero and six.

So here we are, at the end of May. Does anybody remember last August? I don't know what happened, but even with two and a half weeks left of the 2005-06 school year, there are still activites floating around Live Oak.

The magic of a musical doesn't always hit its target, but Ann Sobrato High School's presentation of "Grease" on Friday evening, May 12, definitely scored a bull's-eye. Director Mark Masoni brougnt together a diverse group of vital performers in their rendition of high school life during the 50's.

Amazing is the best word I can think of to describe the night of May 20th, 2006. Held at Monterey's Post Naval Graduate School, Senior Ball is a night that many look forward to and nobody can forget. Sadly, Senior Prom is the beginning of the end for seniors who only have 20 school days left until graduation.

Morgan Hill Times editorial board member Lisa Pampuch recently wrote a rather light-heartedly column about suspending or eliminating Morgan Hill's RDA. Pampuch and those who agree with her are operating from a knowledge deficit. I believe they care about the issue, although perhaps not enough to educate themselves about the consequences of their ideas.

On Saturday, April 29, the city held its "capstone" event concluding the input portion of the Community Conversation – the year-long project to determine what Morgan Hill residents want to keep, change or are willing to do without – along with how these things should be paid for.

As a Republican and fiscal conservative that has represented South County on the Board of Supervisors for 10 years, I've thought long and hard about it, and I strongly support Measure A.