Longtime Capistrano Beach resident and Saddleback College Professor Emeritus, James D. Yates, passed away from lung cancer at age 80. Jim would want it known that he never smoked, but life is full of vagaries. Jim was born in Boston, Mass. On Oct. 26, 1940 to James Allen Yates and Victoria Pulitano Yates. His father and uncle Orin perished on March 7, 1942 when the USS Sims was sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Two months later, Jim's mother gave birth to Jim's brother, Orin Guy Yates. Eleven months later Jim's mother took Jim and Orin to his paternal grandparents' farm just outside Rinard, Illinois. Jim was adopted by his grandparents Luther Guy and Mamie Yates and raised on their farm with a bevy of colorful aunts, uncles and cousins whose exploits Jim has recounted to friends far and wide. Jim attended Flora Township High School and graduated in the class of 1958. He attended Eastern Illinois University where he earned a Bachelors of Science in Education and l
In just a couple of weeks, we will be shooing the Year of the Rat away and welcoming the Year of the Ox on Feb 12. Given that the Year of the Rat was a disastrous one, many are hoping that the new lunar year will usher in better tidings.
Going by how things have been developing in January globally,
it looks like the Rat is not going to exit the scene on a quiet note as it draws close to the finishing line. Domestically, we saw a huge spike in Covid-19 infections, the imposition of another Movement Control Order (MCO) and a declaration of Emergency, the first in 52 years.