‘Maria’ retiring from Sesame Street after 44 years as children’s icon

By Lynn R. Mitchell

My children grew up with Sesame Street. When they were toddlers, we enjoyed the “hard-working dog” clip, the “one of these things is not like the others” matching game, and laughed at the interaction of the friendships between humans and Jim Henson’s Muppets. For those very earliest years of their lives, Sesame Street nudged little brains into action in a delightfully light-hearted way.

The award-winning long-running show has been on-air for 46 years. Now comes news that Sesame Street shop owner “Maria” is retiring after 44 years of playing the same character that generations of children have grown to know throughout the years (see Maria, surely the most-loved person on TV, is leaving ‘Sesame Street’):

Opportunities exist for McAuliffe’s struggling Hispanic Board

By Daniel P. Cortez

As the congressional clock ticks with continued inaction, Virginia and the nation seek resolutions regarding immigration reform.  Fleeing illegal Hispanic children housed in Augusta County and Prince William County, Virginia, demand compassionate but firm action as more may arrive.

This was a key topic of discussion for the Governor’s Virginia Latino Advisory Board meeting last week in Northern Virginia. The subject was as unresolvable as the group’s desire to find relevancy.

The Presentations of a County Fair

By Daniel P. Cortez

The home grown values of a county fair help ground you. One can’t help reconnecting with the principles this nation was founded on by those who remain stewards of the land.

Walking around the Caroline County Fair stock yard communing with the blue ribbon roosters and grand champion cattle, the sounds and smells of rural living were calming.

I needed calm in the face of the media firestorm about immigration and children who continue to flood our southern border due to a misunderstanding of President Obama’s DACA ruling, “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.” It may have been an attempt of compassion by the President, politically oriented or not, but the consequences have our nation in an uproar. It has enraged the Hispanic community regardless of political orientation.

The Presentations of a County Fair

By Daniel P. Cortez

The home grown values of a county fair help ground you. One can’t help reconnecting with the principles this nation was founded on by those who remain stewards of the land.

Walking around the Caroline County Fair stock yard communing with the blue ribbon roosters and grand champion cattle, the sounds and smells of rural living were calming.

I needed calm in the face of the media firestorm about immigration and children who continue to flood our southern border due to a misunderstanding of President Obama’s DACA ruling, “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.” It may have been an attempt of compassion by the President, politically oriented or not, but the consequences have our nation in an uproar. It has enraged the Hispanic community regardless of political orientation.