Take this job and shove it – A wrap up of the year 2021 It’s the anniversary of the January 6 riots on our capitol, but the number I can’t get out of my head is 21.4 million. That’s how many people have quit their jobs since July, the highest number since the Bureau of […]
2020 Wrap up of Valley Voices Top Stories Our family created a time capsule on New Year’s Eve 1999 and we plan on opening it on New Year’s Eve 2049. But, I bet the conversation that night will keep going back to 2020. The turn of the century can’t hold a candle to this year, […]
Bubble Baths in the Time of COVID We are Month One into what could be a two- or three-month shutdown of our normal lives. Publishing the Valley Voice makes my life run in two-week cycles. But about four times a year, the dates hit just right and we get a three-week break between issues. That’s […]
Take a break from the news and fill out the Census. Our household has received letters and postcards concerning the census with a stern message, “Your response is required by law.” The first envelop that landed in our mail box was the actual survey with reminder and information notices following. Needing no outside motivation, I […]
Post-mortem: 2020 Primary The only person surprised by March 3rd’s Primary was candidate for State Assembly District 32 Todd Cotta. By election night he had only been campaigning for 60 days and said that anything he got would be gravy. Well, he got more than gravy. He ended up with almost 60% of the vote […]
Election Hangover It’s Super Tuesday and everyone is anxiously awaiting election watch parties and all the election returns. Then I land back to earth finding that both Fresno and Tulare Counties are experiencing problems at their polling places. It’s going to be a long night. The Tulare County Registrar of Voters reported that some voting […]
Primary Predictions 2020 It’s Super Tuesday March 3 and the local races have turned out to be as exciting as the Primary. As of February 18 only 5.7% of Californians had returned their mail-in ballot and most of those are Republicans. That’s because Democrats are watching the debates and primary returns before voting to see […]
Is Brad Maaske Qualified to Hold Public Office? Local real estate broker and business owner Brad Maaske is running for Tulare County Board of Supervisors District 3 against incumbent Amy Shuklian. He has a few blemishes. According to public records Mr. Maaske has two DUIs, has been married five times, had a temporary restraining order […]
We need to talk about Starbucks I always thought Starbucks bordered on the pretentious, from their “fair trade” coffee to their idiotic drink sizes. I never took the bait and always just ordered a “small cup of coffee with room for cream” and let the server figure it out. While waiting in line the last […]
It’s a Wrap – a Look at the Past year and Decade It is a no-news-is-good-news story for Visalia when it comes to the yearly wrap up. The city has yet to make the top ten except when it canceled its Fourth of July fireworks show. I thought the tide had turned for Tulare in […]