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National Columnists

Columnist represents world of caring for each other

A 99-year-old woman died Sept. 16. Though I’d never met her, I cried as I read her obituary. Her name was Marilyn Hagerty, and even as a nonagenarian, she was still writing the same gentle restaurant reviews that had made her briefly but brilliantly famous. She wasn’t famous in the new ...

Back when children walked to school

When I was a boy, my brothers and I walked more than 2 miles every weekday. This was because we lived a little bit more than a mile from the school we attended. Our home was in the Dominican neighborhood of San Rafael, California, which was named for Dominican College, the then-all-girls ...

‘Show Me Your Papers!’ brings change

”The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, ...

How painter builds community through art, kindness

On the Fourth of July, Tres Taylor woke with a heavy heart. Congress had just passed what President Donald Trump called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” but it felt pretty ugly considering it included $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs that help our nation’s most ...

Who is going to buy Elon Musk’s cars?

The Tesla board has offered to make Elon Musk the planet’s first trillionaire if he meets certain milestones in rocketing the automaker to new glory. Did Musk show true brilliance the first time around? Yes, he did. Tesla’s stock price rose 700% in 2020, making it more valuable than ...

America’s turn toward ad hoc state capitalism

The question of whether President Donald Trump has turned the United States toward a new “state capitalism” — one in which the government is not just economic referee but active player — has been answered. His second term brings policies that go well beyond traditional Republican ...