Opinion

GUEST COLUMNIST Lent is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year commemorating the 40 days Jesus Christ spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, before beginning his public ministry.

GARDENER’S MAILBAG Dear Neil: I am moving to a new home and need advice on trees. I love oaks and their durability, but acorns and pollen are daunting to keep up with.

GUEST COLUMNIST Right now, the land echoes with songs such as “Power in the Blood” and “Because He Lives,” but past performance assures me that the ditty waiting in the wings is (apologies to Alice Cooper) “God’s Out For Summer.”

GUEST COLUMNIST Controversy surrounding the fabled Border Patrol “whipping” at Del Rio, Texas, continues to swirl eight months after an exhaustive government investigation concluded that no agents struck any migrants.

Dear Editor, Here we go again. There are reports on the murder of Christians by a woman in Nashville, Tennessee.

FAITH COLUMN Achurch I used go to; the Pastor would always preach about love. And like the Israelites, we would grumble and complain.

GARDENER’S MAILBAG Dear Neil: I was given a moth orchid for Valentine’s Day. How should I care for it? Are they difficult? In the whole world of orchids, a huge world, I might add – it’s one of the largest of all plant families, you have one of the easiest.

Dear Editor, I’d like to give a shout out to an amazing group of young men from DEPCOM Power’s Bakersfield Solar Plant who volunteered at our community food bank on March 23.

GUEST COLUMNIST The sun is shining today and Spring is upon us. Such days remind me still of the excitement I knew when I turned 16 in April and was finally able to get my driver’s license — a wondrous rite of passage fewer and fewer teens choose to experience today.