Elk Grove has many organizations providing crucial services to our community. Many of these groups are vital, yet there is one that has shriveled like an overcooked hotdog into irrelevancy.

This week the Sacramento LAFCO allowed Elk Grove to annex about 600 acres into city limits. With this annexation, 60 acres of taxpayer-owned property in the affected area might be sold to a corporation.

A year from now, the Supreme Court will issue what could be a landmark reproductive rights ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which could make it easier for states to essentially outlaw abortions.

If decided as predicted, the courts six conservative justices will allow many states to continue their goal of reenacting Jim Crow-era laws.

Recently the city of Elk Grove’s public relation machinery has taken to social media bragging about the population growth over the last year. Growth, the smart kind, is welcome, but before the city council and city employee executives continue to laud themselves, they need to stand down.

California has 11 Republican Congressmembers. Among those 11 are two of the most cowardly and thin-skinned in the entire Republican caucus and are from the Central Valley.

This week's ouster of Liz Cheney from her leadership position in the Republican Congressional caucus oozed of cowardice. It also reveals other troubling aspects of Republican political philosophy that must go unaddressed.

This Wednesday, the Elk Grove City Council is expected to adopt the city's housing plan. Unlike other communities throughout the state who also fulfill the legal mandate, Elk Grove's plan is lacking one key element for a large portion of our population.

Recently the Elk Grove food bank has landed a permanent home.

This is good news. The Elk Grove and other food banks and their volunteers are admirable, but their work is a social barometer. 

By Dan Schmitt | 

I bought my Ford 150 truck back in 1993, and, by all accounts, it was an excellent truck. And why wouldn’t it be? After all, it was brand-spanking new!

Fast forward to today, 28 years later. I still drive that truck, even though it’s no longer anything to be admired.

This week we heard from two readers independently who shared identical recent interactions with the mayor and four city councilmembers.