We always clearly label Opinion Columns to ensure they won’t be mistaken for news. Our Op-Ed writers apply their professional expertise to our community’s unique challenges to promote innovative thought and encourage healthy discourse.
Local leadership coach, educator and PhD neuroscientist, Irene Salter, introduces a new monthly column focused on providing a window into the workings of government, at a human level.
Troy Hawkins is a fixture in Redding’s vibrant Drag Queen scene. He uses this Opinion piece to explain that drag is more than flamboyant performances and ornate wardrobes, it’s a form of activism that he uses to build community and create spaces where people can be their true authentic selves, free of oppression, judgment and the pressure to conform.
A research group working with Bethel Church to prove that prayer heals people, cites studies that lack evidence-based reasoning. If prayer really works, it’s worth taking the time and money to provide scientific evidence. If we can’t, we shouldn’t be offering false hope.
"Faith leaders, parishioners, atheists, and total strangers, have expressed their indignation that this kind of hate was left on their doorsteps, and distributed in our community. Instead of feeling isolated, we feel wrapped in the warmth and kindness of strangers."
"When we stop in this place we pray 'Come this way.' We pray and we sing, remembering that first time at the confluence, when the runners arrived in the dark, stars sparkling on the river. We could only hear the lapping of the water against the shore. And then in the hushed darkness, up and down the river where we stood lining up on the shore, all the songs started being sung."
Local community group, Shasta County Mutual Aid, describes how excessive heat and lack of accessible shelter and cooling are impacting community members. They fear that the city's newly planned “sweeps” of the unhoused living within the Nur Pon Open Space will exacerbate the current crisis and worsen the danger to life and health.
Troy Hawkins, a longtime Redding resident and patron of Club 501, shares some of his poignant memories of the bar many affectionately called “the 5,” and describes what its recent closure means to many of its loyal customers.
Societal issues emerge through a confluence of societal factors shaped by individuals. We exist in communities, we share society, and together, we make America what it is. That’s why effective solutions to the social problem of mass shootings must address the interconnected societal factors that lead to gun violence.
Stigma around abortion ends when we can talk about it like any other health care choice we make for ourselves – a surgery, a biopsy, physical therapy, a pill. Compassion emerges on both sides when abortion is associated with the faces and names of people you know, love, and care about.
Meth gave me the voice that I needed to be heard, the look I needed to be seen, the strength to be fearless, and the power to be strong. I honored and respected meth for what it gave me! Meth controlled every iota of my life. Meth was my mother, father, brother, sister, adviser, friend, and lover. Meth told me where to go, what to do, and how to do. I did not move unless meth said so.
