One of the best kept secrets in all of college basketball is the St. Mary’s Gaels Men’s Basketball program as run by head coach Randy Bennett. Since his arrival before the 2001-2002 season, Coach Bennett has taken a program that was 2-27 in 2000-2001 and turned it into a consistent contender in the West Coast …

As the song title says, South of the Border (down Mexico way…) is where a style of music originated called Mariachi. It is generally a joyous, happy, very rhythmic music immediately recognized as the sound of the Mariachi Band. Origins Early Mexican musicians were somewhat like the wondering minstrels of Western Europe in the 12th …

It’s that time of year fellas. You get Christmas, then New Years, then the big one—Valentine’s Day. So it’s time to suck it up and slip the Chick Flick in the DVD player. One of my more recent favorites is No Reservations. Now, I’ll tell you right now, there were no Oscars; not even a …

As you may have heard, there has been quite a bit of hoopla surrounding the change in the Roth IRA conversion rules for 2010. Could it be right for you? Let’s examine the basics and then discuss when it might be appropriate. Starting this year and for all subsequent tax years all taxpayers, regardless of …

Most of us have been trudging through a self-imposed period of penance since January one, trying to make amends for the excesses of the holiday season. For weeks now it has been a steady diet of Spartan meals, limited sugar, miniscule portions of fat, more sleep, more exercise, and only the occasional tipple of alcohol. …

My mission when I started writing these articles two years ago was simple. As I have told you, my fitness and body confidence did not come easily and I wanted to help other women who felt disenfranchised from the fitness movement or business to feel inspired. I did not want to sell a fitness program …

Kiev, the present capital of the Ukraine, received the title of Hero City in 1965, in recognition of the stalwart courage of thousands of volunteer citizens and the death-defying bravery of the resistance movement. The city of Kiev, on the western hilly shores of the Dniepner River, bravely resisted the Nazi blitzkrieg, defending the city …

Q. I received a Christmas Cactus plant as a gift but I do not know how to care for it. Could you help me out with some information about watering, fertilizing, etc.?    A. Christmas Cactus, are very easy to grow. Both Thanksgiving and Christmas Cactus are the same variety, Schlumbergia truncata. Over the years, …

During this past holiday season I had the great privilege, on behalf of the Town of Danville, of welcoming home two active duty servicemen at an Operation Welcome Home ceremony hosted by the Town of Danville on December 27 at the Veterans Memorial Building. Operation Welcome Home was started in March 2004 as a way …

In the fall of this New Year we will celebrate the 20th birthday of the Lesher Center for the Arts. I am reminded of a thought by James Hillman that was batted around in the early stages of the planning of the Center, “Inside the acorn, one finds the image of the oak tree that …