Since moving to the Yakima Valley, I enjoy my short drive each day from Zillah to the newspaper office in Toppenish. Generally, I take the “back road” down Meyers Road to First Avenue. To me, it seems like a short cut and I avoid the freeway traffic along I-82. With the exception of the occasional bumper rider, I enjoy the drive each day.

I found out something rather sobering in the last couple of days. I may have a drug in my house and I didn’t even know it. Thank goodness for the Food and Drug Administration for alerting me. Heaven only knows what might have become of me and my family otherwise.

During the past couple of weeks while I was transitioning from my job as the editor of the Othello Independent to my new position as editor of the Toppenish Review Independent, I spent a couple of days weeding in my good friend Fay’s garden.

You’ve probably heard me express concerns about what might happen to General Motors after the government takeover, which has now, unfortunately, come to pass. Regardless of whether or not what’s left of GM begins to do business again, the Proud General is dead as a car company.

Swimming holes, family vacations, special projects, sporting events, a little fishing, cookouts or just a good book under a shade tree — yes, the school year is ending in the Yakima Valley and the long-awaited summer vacation is finally here.

During the last presidential election cycle, I heard a lot about the effectiveness of using technology, specifically the Internet and email, to communicate with constituencies. It seems to me that anyone with any critical thinking skills would see that contention as nonsense. I say that because communication is a two-way street, and what the political class is doing with technology is about as one-way as you can get.

They are the heart of how the quality of life is defined in a community, and each year our communities put an exclamation point on their definition with a variety of events that bring cities together and draw thousands inside their borders.

Ever heard of Ray LaHood? I had not until I read about his comments to the National Press Club recently. He’s the Transportation secretary in the new president’s cabinet, and he has an interesting perspective on what his department should be doing with our tax money.

The final week of May is upon us and with it the start of graduation season. High schools and colleges throughout the Yakima Valley will soon be (if they haven’t already done so) celebrating ceremonies and sending out a fresh crop of graduates into the world, where they will face many decisions, challenges and rewards.

What would it take to “save” the U.S. auto industry? What I really mean, of course, is saving General Motors and Chrysler Corporation, or whatever the president wants it to be called, now that it’s been acquired by Fiat. Really, I feel kind of sorry for Chrysler. First it was the Germans and now the Italians. It’s kind of hard to think of Chrysler as an American company any more.