Instead of question-and-answer this week, I am writing a little editorial about spending the holidays with immediate and extended family. For most people, this season is one of the few times a year we see many members of our extended family. Different interests and personalities collide in what turns out to be a magnificent display of diversity, or a horrific explosion of arguing and hurt feelings. What kind of family do you have? If your family comes together in a harmonious fashion and shares fun, laughter and love, then you are a very blessed person. Remind yourself how thankful you ought to be for the people you love, who love and care about you. If your family falls into the other

Q: I am having some issues with my neighbor. My neighbor doesn't mow his lawn, has quite a bit of stuff laying around his yard (junk) and regularly has loud parties late into the night in his backyard that disrupt my evening. I don't want to create a strained relationship on our street because we both plan on living here a long time. The last thing I need is a vindictive neighbor. If I am not willing to straight up confront this guy, does that mean I just have to live with it? A: To answer your question in an honest but blunt fashion, yes. If you are not willing to confront your neighbor, and if he isn't doing anything illegal, then you do have to live with it. The unfortunate reality i

Children in grades 4-6 are invited to participate in a new 10-week community-wide music program.  Under the leadership of educator and choral Dr. May Tuan Tucker, this new youth choir will rehearse Mondays and Thursdays, 5:45-6:30 p.m., at Bethany Presbyterian Church, 5625-24th Street, in Sacramento (off Fruitridge Road between I-5 and Highway 99). Rehearsals start Monday, March 14, 2011. There will be no rehearsals the week of April 18, when most local schools are on spring break. To sign up or ask questions, parents may contact May Tucker by e-mail or telephone (916-428-5281), or simply show up at rehearsals. The first rehearsal will be Monday, March 14 at 5:45 p.m. Rehearsals will le

The block-long line of music lovers began to form a full hour before the doors of St. Francis of Assisi Church opened, a testament to the popularity of the Sacramento Master Singers’ annual holiday concerts. The expectant crowd settled into the pews and filled the magnificent sanctuary, ladies in sparkly holiday dresses seated next to young people in jeans and hoodies, all brought together to experience the magic and wonder of beautifully sung seasonal music. “Peace, Peace: 25 Years of Holiday Music” marks a quarter century of the inspired direction of conductor Ralph Hughes. Through his tenancy as artistic director, the choir has blossomed in numbers, artistic excellence and popularit

Hours before Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was forcefully exiled to Costa Rica on June 27, he met with seven delegates from Sacramento. The seven were: Bill Camp, executive secretary for the Sacramento Central Labor Council (SCLC); Bud McKinney, a sheet mill worker; Chris Bender, a union representative; Greg Larkins, president of IBW Local 340 and a political organizer for the SCLC; Arturo Aleman, a consultant, Kate Allen, a graduate student at UCLA and summer intern for the SCLC and Dion Archuleta, a canner at Campbell Soup in South Sacramento. The following is an account of their experiences in Honduras over a three-day period in which an alleged coup d’état took place. Background

Retired school buses covered in hand-painted tags may be nothing unfamiliar to Oak Park, but it is not every day you see one on a mission to bring aid to Cuba. Your chance is on its way July 11 at 5 p.m. when the Caravan to Cuba makes a stop in Sacramento. The Caravan is an endeavor of Pastors of Peace to answer a humanitarian call that has been ignored by the United States for decades. The embargo of Cuba has stubbornly neglected the simple capacity a rich country such as ours has to serve and save another country in a vortex of poverty. Ravaged by hurricanes and horrific corruption, Cuba is in great need, but they are denied the vital aid of which we have a surplus. The Interreligious

I was a young child, at least one or two years old. I remember seeing my mother standing over me. It was a warm feeling. I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, where I had trouble with having a mental illness. For the most part, my years at home were good, until my first day of school, when my nightmare began. I saw hallucinations of cartoon characters and an image of a man called Jeramieh. He used to lie on my parents' bed. I thought that it would go away, but the older I got, the worst it got. At school, my days were dark. I constantly had to deal with cruel boys saying that I was ugly, stupid and four-eyed. I knew that something was wrong with me, but I didn't know what it was. It wasn't