The majestic old pine near our house that I first thought was being trimmed was being cut down. Sad to see its life ending while it was still so vibrant and enjoying life. I’ve been reading about how much we never knew about the plant world, that trees and other growing things are connected through their root...

It’s America’s birthday, and although it is quite old, my friends and I have been around for about one-third of its entire existence! Which makes us older in human years than the country is in nation-state years. Born at the conclusion of World War II, we experienced the best that America had to offer in her ...

To the Editor: Many of us seniors, especially in this rural area that is so prone to power outages, depend on our landlines. In some areas that is the only reliable form of telephonic communication. As you probably remember, AT& T made an effort a couple of years ago to get rid of its landlines, but had to pu...

To the Editor: “Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide/In the strife of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side/Some great cause, some great desires, off’ing each the bloom or blight,/and the choice goes by forever, twixt that darkness and that light.” So wrote James Russell Lowell in...

To the Editor: Joan Rainwater-Gish wrote in the May Senior News about a friend who realized he needed to downsize as he ages from his home he has lived in for years [“Extraordinary 80s: Planning for the Rest of Your Life,” page 8]. I commend her friend’s efforts in planning ahead. Joan lists his options as mo...

To the Editor: I’ve been on vacation and arrived home in NW Arkansas last night. I delighted to find the June Senior News issue [“Mothers & Fathers”] in my stack of mail. Here I sit, eating my third bowl of bean/veggie soup and drinking boxed white wine while I lavishly read the “Sr. News.” It’s so wonderful ...

To the Editor: I really appreciate Brenda Cooper’s article in the June Senior News [“Parental Stress, Kids & the Rolling Stones,” page 1]. Maybe because it was real life as it is — gritty. Not that my experience was hers, but something came through her article that I felt was mine, too. For the “Mothers and F...

I want to thank Dr. Keith Flamer for convening the New Vision for Humboldt Health Care Task Force (see “A Call to Action,” May Senior News, page 1). This effort of local community and business leaders deserves our full attention and support.

We all too often forget and cannot neglect life’s demons. They cannot be eradicated without seriously believing that they are real. Femicide is such a demon. The term “femicide” is rarely used in official U.S. statistics, as murders of women are normally categorized as homicides.

To the Editor: Were you perplexed as I was over the May “Health in Humboldt 2026” issue of Senior News? As in this issue, recent local forums have addressed the current defective state of healthcare availability in Humboldt County. While pertinent questions have been asked along with recognition that our curr...

To the Editor: I want to thank Dr. Heidmann for her March column “What is Good Health?” As a participant of Redwood Coast PACE, I was encouraged by her words and insights. I live daily with chronic illness and pain, and her last paragraph has become a great way for me to focus on my health: “Good health is, a...

To the Editor: Thank you, Senior News, for sharing information about and keeping us updated on local efforts to improve access to medical care here in Humboldt County [“Health in Humboldt 2026,” May Senior News]. I was especially glad to learn about the local businesses and public organization leaders coming ...

To the Editor: We’ve left Humboldt County, our home for 50 years. It wasn’t our choice, but we chose to. We moved to New York City because of age, because our children and grandchildren are here and for access to medical care. It’s a mixed bag. We don’t own a car, which is fine. We live in an apartment. We ha...

To the Editor: As a Board member of Tri-County Independent Living, I agree with Tim Haskett that there are many barriers for the disabled community to navigate in our area [“Challenges of Accessibility,” May Senior News, page 6]. I believe that improvements to accessibility have taken place in Humboldt County...

To the Editor: As elders, our mission is to set the table for the upcoming generations — our biological family and planetary family. As such, we’ve not only got the forks on the wrong side of the plates, but the plates are currently upside down and the napkins besmirched. We’ve got some work to do! One of the...

To the Editor: The May issue of Senior News (“Health in Humboldt 2026”) is much appreciated from first page to last. Special thanks to Julie Fulkerson for “It’s Just Wrong” (page 6), as more of the same continues when vindictive, narcissistic, divisive, lying behavior by our president becomes familiar week af...

Is it money? Inertia? Lack of political will? Is it corporate domination? All of these are impediments to changing our degraded, torturous healthcare system, but the underlying dysfunction has more to do with our national perception of who should have health care and why. Until we see a fundamental change tha...

Last July 4, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (H.R. 1) into law. This bill creates a difficult new environment for California’s working families, hospitals and health systems, and state and local governments. More than one-third of Californians (and 44% of Humboldt residents) rely on Medi-C...

Dear John Heckel: I am an avid reader of the Senior News here in Santa Cruz. I, too, am a carepartner. I am so truly sorry for your loss. I am so happy, however, that Lucy has come into your life [“Lucy the Lifesaver,” April Senior News]. We have two dogs and five cats, and they are a great addition to our li...

To the Editor: Throughout various professional and civic roles, Mary Burke has shown that she knows how to bring people together to improve our environment and our communities. One of her recent accomplishments here in McKinleyville is the Baduwa’t Project at the end of School Road, which improved salmon habi...