The peace of our idyllic new neighborhood is pierced, quite literally–and often–by the shrieking of an impossibly shrill little girl. Closing the windows is no defense. Only when I’m in the shower is she drowned out. Which gives me an idea–an awful idea…a wonderful, awful idea–as I can’t help but hear her enjoying their swimming […]
It’s hard to believe the Fourth of July is already upon us. If I knew where the first half of the year went I’d bottle the knowledge and become wealthy selling it. Twenty years ago this month we moved to Tulare County. It’s gone by in the blink of an eye. The Chief was raised […]
I’ve just finished local author Mark Arax’ latest tome, The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California. It’s a tremendous achievement–the writing ,research and living of it–certainly not my having read it. A must-read for any understanding of the Golden State, Arax expertly chronicles our many gold-type rushes–particularly that of water. We’re all Don […]
On May 12, 2019 (Mother’s Day), my wife, Kathryn Garges (67 years old), and whom I shared 49 years of marriage with, along with her best friend, Diana Whitfield (75 years old), were tragically killed by a drunk driver who was about three times the legal drinking limit. The drunk driver, Sergio Delfino Mendoza-Sanchez, was […]
“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” – Thomas Jefferson, third U.S. President. He set high expectations for their role as government watchdogs – but editors still choose what stories they will […]
I wrote the following column six years ago to the day of the date of this very edition you’re holding: A Noose Around the News Mainstream media, reduced at least to the level of local newspapers, has placed a noose around the neck of our news. Rather than opening a vast panorama of choice, […]
No alarm sounds unless–heaven forfend–I have to appear in court by 8:30 in the morning. Customarily, however, I am off that particular hook myself, and rarely is there a case for the paper to cover. So we routinely awake, without rising, and drowse for an hour or more. Every day. It’s an unusual luxury. “Shall […]
Here are some excerpts from a column I wrote in September of 2017 entitled “How Greene Was My Valley.” …Now the new board can’t get sufficient financial information, including audits, from HCCA–which is threatening to sue the board for multiple breaches of its financial obligations. The board, in turn, hasn’t been able to meet in […]
Tulare City Councilman Greg Nunley should be positively crimson with shame after suing the city for $16.5 million. But he’s not. This is a breach of Nunley’s fiduciary duty not to Tulare itself, but to its taxpaying residents–especially those in the area he represents, District 5. What’s particularly galling is that this suit represents […]
So Trump asks Russia to find and hack Hillary Clinton’s emails–and Russia does so. Russian operatives offer “dirt” on Hillary Clinton at a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting–and Donald Trump Jr. “loves it.” The president’s first national security advisor, General Mike Flynn, is convicted of lying to congress about his contacts with Russian oligarchs and […]