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I listened carefully to all the do's and don'ts, donned the various pieces of gear, and stepped into my twelve foot kayak. Fueled by a veggie omelet at the Moss Landing Cafe, I paddled my way into Elkhorn Slough.

SAN JOSE – San Jose reached the midpoint of the NHL season Thursday night with a convincing 5-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at sold-out SAP Center.

At the start of a new year, some people make resolutions to better themselves, vowing everything from losing weight or cleaning out the garage, to quitting smoking. But here in the South Valley, a growing number of people have resolved to save the honey bee - and with good reason.

It's been more than 18 years since I penned my first column for this newspaper. The response from readers has been phenomenal; I've hardly ever made a trip to the store without running into someone who wants to talk to me about their pet. Because of this, I've never had a shortage of topics. We've talked everything from dermatitis to dementia, indigestion to insecurity, even laryngitis, lick-sores and leptospirosis. Your letters have fueled my fire and made this column easy to write. And I'll always be grateful for that.

“Beauty and the Beast” is a delightful presentation. Everyone knows the engaging tale: Belle finds herself in an enchanted castle where the Beast and all the inhabitants are trapped in an animated state because of a witch’s cruel curse that only Belle can break. And as in all fairytales, everyone lives happily ever after. But getting there is delightful fun.

At the end of every year, certain federal tax breaks face a sunset. Some are renewed, some expire. As 2014 will soon start, here is a list of some of notable tax provisions that may go away next year - offering some opportunities that you may want to take advantage of this year.

There is no doubt that gun ownership is very controversial these days. The anniversary of the Newtown massacre and continued gun violence across the country have led to calls for tighter regulation of firearms, such as the recent legislation passed in Sunnyvale. Others counter that their Second Amendment Constitutional rights not be tampered with.

Previously, we talked about one of the most interesting actions in bridge - bidding for slam, which is definitely a whole level higher and even more exciting because the stakes are very high. In order to bid and make slam (six-level bid) you need a total of 33 points between your two hands - or a really fantastic distributional fit. Since it is unlikely one hand will hold 30-plus points, the key to slam bidding is communication between the two partners.