Here’s a nightmare scenario for you, Tulareans: The return of Carlton Jones as mayor. Think that’s outlandish? I’ll admit to its not even occurring to me until the following was messaged to the Valley Voice: …so here’s what’s being talked about in the area about what happens when David Macedo’s time is up on the […]
There’s California, it seems to me, and then there’s the rest of the world. Speaking of the rest of the world, California’s economy is currently the fifth largest, globally. Imagine everything going on in California–everything from farming to high tech–and it’s a diverse range of endeavors and people to meet them. If I could live […]
After years of lurching from one emergency to the next I have learned that my family is awash in serendipity. But maybe we all are. Maybe it’s called the election season. Irrespective of your political stripe, it’s an opportunity to weigh in. It’s a duty. So is writing this column. I have to call it […]
Two weeks ago a friend of mine passed, unexpectedly, in her southern California home. According to her wife, my friend was diagnosed with an aggressive and extensive cancer and she fought for a month and a half. When I say she was a friend, I mean she was a Facebook friend. True, we had attended […]
In the staff box below is a phrase averring ownership of the Voice as yours. And that’s true, broadly; strictly speaking, however, the paper belongs to the Chief and myself–which means we set policy and pay all the bills. But the paper has never been profitable. We’ve run it the last five years as a […]
How, technically, did Emperor Jones take control of Tulare? He wasn’t elected mayor; in fact, he’s claimed the office is purely ceremonial. But that’s not how he behaves. He holds court. He hosts private forums. “This isn’t a public event,” Jones said of his May 31 “town hall” meeting. “This is money that I took […]
Like some malarial recrudescence, the election season is back in our collective bloodstream. For these midterms, voting by mail–starting 7 May–will continue through the 29th. The big day itself, of course, is 5 June. I can’t think of June without thinking of Barbara Billingsley as Mrs. Cleaver–famously, the Beav’s mom. And I can’t think of […]
It took us three flights and 24 hours to travel 12 time zones—halfway around the world. But we managed our sleep in transit and were able to rise with the sun over the Caspian Sea on the morning of our first day. After an improvised brew of coffee through a tea maker, taken on our […]
I plopped down in my easy chair and turned on Channel 3 A manager called Salty Joe was a chasin’ Chief Hensley He trapped him in paid admin and said with an awful thrill, “Now, I’m not allowed to say anything, But I can fire you at will!” And then he was told to (and […]
When the Ritual ended, and all of our friends went home, all of our friends remained in the room. We had some drinking to do while all of our friends came home from Korea. We hoped they’d each complete their journey, and that a capricious writer wouldn’t somehow jettison one of them into the sea, […]