North Dakota has one for every 312; Arkansas, one for 437; Oregon, one for 451—but California has one library media teacher for every 4,363 students, making our state last in school library media staffing. Nationally, 20 states mandate a certificated library media teacher in their schools: Georgia for all schools over 251 students, Virginia for every 300 students and Oklahoma for every 500 students.

Watching season five of American Idol auditions over the last few weeks, complete with humiliating scenes in which Simon Cowell tells someone that he looks like the Incredible Hulk’s wife, has renewed my fascination for the kind of pleasure this brings.

Twenty years ago, on January 20, 1986, the first national Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday was observed. It took another 13 years for all 50 states to complete the enactment of the holiday, and even today it goes unrecognized by various institutions and places of work.

Kidnapped CPT members show new reality

A swelling worldwide chorus is seeking the release of four Christian Peacemaker Teams workers abducted in Iraq. As this is written the militants who have taken the hostages say they will kill them if thousands of jailed Iraqis are not released, and their deadline has passed.

Central Valley a leader

Victims have been in the news lately. Hurricanes and earthquakes have killed thousands and displaced millions. Then there are the victims of wars and insurrections, with the daily toll of those killed by seemingly random bombs. Fears of a worldwide flu pandemic obscure the thousands dying daily of already endemic diseases. Last, but not least, are victims of crime.

The upcoming execution date for Stanley “Tookie” Williams, a founder of the Crips street gang, has generated a lot of commentary on the subject of killing people. Some think killing people is appropriate in certain circumstances, like war and the death penalty. Others think killing is never appropriate. Both sides bolster their arguments with clippings from their sacred texts, whatever those may be. The one thing killing does is prevent redemption in this life. So the question really is “will we permit redemption?”

Just farming practices aren’t just for chocolate, coffee

Picture a farm that grows a variety of crops: fruit trees, wheat fields, an assortment of vegetables. If one crops fails, it makes for a tough year, to be sure, but the diversity ensures the farmer and family will survive.