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March 31, 2008
Negotiations
Councilor Larry Wahl’s request to modify the City’s current labor union bargaining process is intriguing but lacking in details.
The current process is straightforward. The City Manager, representing the City Council, directly bargains with the City’s nine labor unions by typically going back and forth with proposals and counter-proposals over benefits and wages over a several months period.
The City Manager, during closed session hearings, typically reports back to the City Council on the status of bargaining. At each closed session, the City Manager typically provides a recommendation on next steps with the City Council weighing in.
In my experience, at least under former City Manager Tom Lando, the City Council entrusted him to balance the wishes of the bargaining units and the demands on the City budget. Rarely, if at all, did the City Council push for greater benefits and wages than the City Manager recommended.
Now it appears Councilor Wahl wants to make each bargaining unit and the City hold a public hearing at the beginning of the process, at the end before a Council vote, and perhaps every now and then for updates.
Right now, after the City Council via the City Manager negotiates a contract with a labor union, the contract is placed on the consent agenda (usually reserved for non-controversial items). Anyone in the public or on the City Council can request to pull an item off the consent agenda for public comment.
According to an email Wahl sent to the City Council, he wrote:
“I respectfully request council to consider revising the process of negotiating pay and benefit changes between bargaining units and the city of Chico. This request would be for each new contract or request for reopener, including the one beginning now, and would require each party to publicly disclose all proposed changes or increases in pay and benefits at the beginning of the process. This would be done both in print and a public hearing where, following a verbal report, residents and interested persons could respond to offer opinion and comment. The purpose of such a public hearing would give an opportunity for city taxpayers to review and comment on the amount the city is being asked to consider raising or changing the pay and benefits of city employees, or the substance of changes in their employment contracts. A similar public hearing would be scheduled when the parties have reached a tentative final agreement and prior to a public vote by council.”
It’s hard to have any strong reaction to this proposal without any details or clarity.
Wahl's general proposal is an attempt to change the rules of negotiations, which not surprisingly will require some negotiations with the City's labor unions.
It's hard for me to imagine many citizens paying very close attention to the negotiating process, especially since rarely, if ever, does any citizen ever request to pull a contract off the consent agenda - which is currently a procedural right for any citizen.
My only recommendation would be for the City Council to form an ad-hoc committee, led by Councilor Wahl, to meet with representatives of the nine City bargaining units and the City Manager in public meetings to identify ways to improve the negotiations process and consider Wahl’s proposal in detail.
Today's Scrabble word is aether, the upper region of the atmosphere.
Posted by dan_nt at 08:53 AM | Comments (7)
March 30, 2008
Uncommitted
The California Democratic Party Convention in San Jose wrapped up today.
Bill Clinton spoke this morning. He also met privately with many undecided superdelegates.
Democratic National Committee member and superdelegate Bob Mulholland from Chico was quoted in the SF Chronicle saying:
"I've gotten calls from (Massachusetts Sen.) John Kerry and (Illinois Sen. Dick) Durban," said Bob Mulholland, a state Democratic Party consultant and undecided superdelegate. "I've been pulled aside by Obama and Clinton supporters on the (convention) floor and asked for my vote. I've just told them all I wouldn't be making a decision until later."
Mulholland’s wife and Butte County Supervisor Jane Dolan is a Hillary Clinton supporter.
I think Mulholland has already chosen his favored candidate, but he's just keeping his intentions private until the remaining states vote.
Today’s Scrabble word is privet, an ornamental shrub.
Posted by dan_nt at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2008
James Carville
This is a memorable scene from The War Room. We're now so used to seeing James Carville mouthing off as a partisan Clinton pundit that it's easy to forget Carville has a heart.
I'm feeling Obama-Clinton campaign fatigue. It's good to see the mainstream media finally move beyond the "horse race" and focus on the almost insurmountable pledged delegate deficit Clinton faces.
It's hard to imagine uncommitted superdelegates overturning the will of the majority of pledged delegates (and therefore voters) without imploding the Democratic Party.
I recently spoke with a few superdelegate friends who basically told me this will race will boil down to determining what to do about Florida and Michigan delegates, who don't count right now because the states' primaries were held early against the national party rules.
The decisions on delegates from Florida and Michigan will have influence on what uncommitted superdelegates may eventually do leading up to the Democratic convention in August.
Today's Scrabble word is rato, a rocket-assisted airplane takeoff.
Posted by dan_nt at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2008
Litigation
As reported in the E-R's "County bets courts can stop casino," the Butte County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to litigate against the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) decision that paves the way for a proposed casino near Highways 149 and 99.
With this litigation, Butte County is "all in" against the proposed casino. You can "double down" and read the actual court filing Butte County California vs. Chairman Phil Hogen of the NIGC.
You can also "bet on red" by reading the Key Facts, or "bet on black" by reading the explanation by Butte County officials as to why they filed the lawsuit.
Are my gambling references getting tired? Yeah, I know. I couldn't resist. Nor could Jon Stewart:
Or better yet, you can go watch the new movie "21" which is based on the fun bestseller "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions."
Or learn these blackjack tips.
By the way, several of my friends are boycotting the movie because decision-makers decided to change the main characters (based on real people), who are of Asian descent, to Caucasian characters.
Once again, it's disappointing that some movie studio big wigs decided that a movie cannot have wide appeal with main characters who are Asian. Asian actors have minor roles in the movie, even though most of the main MIT Blackjack team members were of Asian decent
I guess if the movie featured martial arts stunts, then the primary characters might have been Asian. I'll stop my cynicism.
Anyway, back on topic, I'm pleased to see Butte County officials have dropped any attempt at questioning the legitimacy of the Mechoopda tribe in favor of directing complaints against a Las Vegas developer.
It's much easier to be anti-Las Vegas developer than anti-Mechoopda tribe.
Butte County made headlines in 2006 by referencing reports that questioned the tribe's legitimacy, which was both offensive and bad politics.
Now Butte County is singing a different but more appropriate tune with the following statement: "Butte County does not question the recognition or sovereignty of the Mechoopda Tribe."
I'd personally like to see the City Councils in Oroville and Chico weigh in on this debate over the proposed location. It's a very important land-use decision that affects both communities. They should support the County's position.
Today's Scrabble word is roque, a form of croquet.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (5)
March 27, 2008
Ezra's Expedition
Ezra Cooley from Chico keeps going and going on his horse.
As some already know from reading past local media articles, Ezra's Expedition is Cooley's odyssey on horse to raise money for Children's Miracle Network.
Cooley embarked on his trip in April 2006 - two years ago - and was recently reported in Texas after arriving in NYC in May 2007. He's supposedly on an eight year trip around the world.
I emailed Cooley and encouraged him to visit City of Chico, Texas. Now that would be very cool-ey. Yeah, bad joke. I couldn't resist.
If he's traveled over 7,000 miles in two years, that's roughly 9.6 miles per day. If he keeps up this pace for 6 more years, he'll travel over 21,000 more miles on his horse.
Today's Scrabble word is spadix, a flower cluster.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2008
Star Brown
Assistant Butte County CAO Star Brown deserves all the thanks she's receiving as she says farewell to 20 years of County service.
Brown is one my favorite Butte County executives for her friendly and professional approach. She impressed me as a competent public servant who understood the politics of public policy.
Governments at all levels face a significant shortage of management talent as experienced executives like Brown, whose departure follows many other long-serving local public administrators, retire after decades of public service.
Today's Scrabble word is kab, an ancient Hebrew unit of measure.
Posted by dan_nt at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2008
Raining McCain
This video is so bad, it's funny. Or painful.
The best quote on the video that I found: "I believe the YouTube era begins the age when it is impossible to tell parody/irony/performance art from completely sincere product."
I concur with the above quote. There's been so many bad political videos made by supporters for various campaigns that it's no longer easy to determine parody from sincerity.
For example, this Hillary Clinton supporter video appears very sincere but is just as bad as "Raining McCain," which is likely a parody. Or is it?
Today's Scrabble word is loti, a monetary unit of Lesotho.
Posted by dan_nt at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2008
Official Count
It’s been a over seven weeks since Super Tuesday primary voting in California, but I’ve finally managed to review the final vote tally in Butte County.
Turns out my predictions came true. I predicted that Barack Obama would beat Hillary Clinton in Butte County and Mitt Romney would lose less badly to John McCain in Butte County compared to statewide.
During the initial count following election day, Obama was slightly behind Clinton in Butte County but ended up beating her 45.3% to 43.6%. Clinton beat Obama 51.5% to 43.2% statewide.
McCain only beat Romney 37.2% to 35.6% in Butte County, compared to 42.3% to 34.6% statewide. You can find the official primary election results here.
Butte County has a sizable Latter Day Saints population and tends to vote more conservative in the Republican primary compared to statewide, which are some of the reasons why Romney did better in Butte County.
Interestingly, Butte County voters rejected the Indian gaming expansion propositions by a small margin compared to the statewide vote, which favored the gambling propositions by over 11 percentage points.
I think this vote reflects that Butte County voters already feel saturated with casinos.
And given the primary turnout, I think Democrats will do very well in Chico and even Butte County in November 2008, especially if Obama is the Democratic nominee.
While students don’t vote in high percentages as some may think in Chico, it’s clear the Chico Student Democrats are much more active over the past several election cycles compared to the College Republicans at Chico State.
Today's Scrabble word is kae, a bird resembling a crow.
Posted by dan_nt at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2008
Physician Pride
Typed on the back of this photograph is "A Pride of Physicians." The photo was supposedly taken in the 1890s in front of the Park Hotel on 4th and Main.
Dr. Oscar Stansbury is seated second from right in the front row, along with other Butte County doctors.
The image is courtesy of Frederick Stansbury Clough and Special Collections Dept. Meriam Library, CSU, Chico.
Today's Scrabble word is ikat, a fabric of tie-dyed yarns.
Posted by dan_nt at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2008
VoteVets.org
Lt. Col. Charlie Brown, who is running to replace disgraced Congressman John Doolittle to represent the 4th Congressional district (includes Oroville), has received the endorsement of VoteVets.org.
Brown, the likely Democratic nominee, will face either carpetbagger Tom McClintock or Doug Ose, who is a strong conservative but apparently not conservative enough for Republicans who prefer to pick an all-star losing candidate in McClintock.
The LA Times published this opinion piece:
"No politician in modern California history has lost as many statewide races as McClintock. In 1994, the year of the greatest Republican landslide in the country since World War II, McClintock lost to Democrat Kathleen Connell for the open state controller's office. Eight years later, he sought that office again, losing this time to Democrat Steve Westly. In 2003, he ran for governor in the recall of Gray Davis, losing again when the GOP establishment rallied around Arnold Schwarzenegger. And in 2006, he ran for lieutenant governor, but Schwarzenegger, who was seeking a full term as governor, shunned him, and McClintock lost again. Before his string of statewide setbacks, he ran for Congress in 1992 -- and lost to Democratic incumbent Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson in the 24th Congressional District."
I think Republicans are better off supporting Ose if they want to maintain the Congressional seat, but as a Brown supporter I'd perversely prefer to see McClintock win the primary so he can lose in the general election.
Today's Scrabble word is zax, a a tool for cutting roof slates.
Posted by dan_nt at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2008
Herger's War
Congressman Wally Herger continues to toe President George W. Bush's line - an open-ended American presence in Iraq.
According to the E-R: "Herger said the United States should remain in Iraq until the Iraqi people can defend themselves."
When is that going to happen?
I'm still scratching my head as to the political progress in Iraq that Herger notes. The point of the military "surge" was to create a more stable environment for political stability among various Iraqi factions.
I'm not convinced that significant political progress is happening.
Today's Scrabble word is heugh, a steep cliff.
Posted by dan_nt at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2008
Race
The speech above is a powerful reason why Barack Obama should be our next President.
This is a great speech on race, personal relationships, family, faith, and history.
In contrast to his speeches given at rallies, this is a much more personal, nuanced, mature speech not intended for applause lines but intended to provide context to current debates about race in the campaign and in general.
Apparently, I'm not alone with my reaction. Check out The New York Times and The Washington Post editors thought.
Today's Scrabble word is zek, an inmate in a Soviet labor camp.
Posted by dan_nt at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2008
Darrell Stevens
Our community is diminished with the passing of retired Butte County Superior Court Judge Darrell Stevens.
The photo to the left was taken by Tom Angel in an old N&R article on the Drug Court that Stevens founded.
Stevens was a profoundly good man - a decent man with a large, welcoming smile. He was very active in Rotary, among many other civic endeavors.
Many community members will attest to Steven's contributions, but interestingly my favorite memory is watching Stevens ballroom dance at several, formal fundraising galas to benefit a local nonprofit.
Maybe that thought sticks in my brain because it's a joyful memory of a man who smiled big, lived life fully, and gave even more to others less fortunate than him.
That's a pretty good measure of person.
Today's Scrabble word is ret, or to soak in order to loosen the fiber from the woody tissue.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)
March 18, 2008
Surrender
John McCain issued the following statement upon hearing the news that Wal-Mart has pulled its north Chico proposal to build a supercenter:
"I'm disappointed that Wal-Mart has decided to retreat in the face of adversity. After four years of sacrifice, the surge of 10,000 support cards for a north Chico supercenter is beginning to work. The untimely Wal-Mart pull-out of north Chico will lead to chaos and unfortunately signal to Al-Queda that we don't have the resolve necessary to win - even if it takes 1,000 years to build a Wal-Mart in north Chico. Like the Iraqi people, north Chico residents deserve the freedom to always find low prices without having to drive to south Chico. Unlike Wal-Mart and Democrats, I will never surrender in the war on terrorism."
The big local news, as most people know, is Wal-Mart. Probably a combination of Wal-Mart representatives counting likely City Council votes and change in supercenter strategy contributed to this pull-out.
The Board of Supervisors was already unanimously opposed to the north Chico supercenter. I would have expected at least five if not six Councilors to oppose the north Wal-Mart, in addition to most of the Planning Commission.
The approval process would have been an uphill battle. The organizers and supporters of Chico C.A.R.E. must be rejoicing - for now at least.
Now the battle will focus on the expansion of the existing south Chico site. Traffic circulation is already horrible in that area so it will be interesting to see how the expansion plan can "mitigate" impacts.
Today's Scrabble word is zee, the letter z.
Posted by dan_nt at 08:21 AM | Comments (6)
March 17, 2008
Really!?!
Former Vice-Presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro should thank Eliot Spitzer for taking her off the front-page news cycle last week.
Today's Scrabble word is furze, a spiny shrub.
Posted by dan_nt at 01:17 PM | Comments (1)
March 16, 2008
Racing Pigeons
Recently I stumbled upon the videos of Chico-based Dennis Weinreich, a racing pigeon specialist.
Weinreich operates Hawkbait Lofts, home to pigeons bred and trained for long-distance racing.
I admit I knew very little about pigeon racing until reviewing Weinreich’s website.
I’m familiar with homing pigeons and their role to convey communications, but I didn’t quite grasp the scope of racing pigeons as a hobby until I stumbled upon Weinreich’s videos.
Check out his Hawkbait Lofts. He loves his pigeons!
Today's Scrabble word is taj, a tall, conical cap worn in Muslim countries.
Posted by dan_nt at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2008
Counting
This is a great video. How many passes did you count?
Today's Scrabble word is ecru, a yellowish brown color.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
March 14, 2008
Democrats
Democrats running for statewide or national office from this region face an uphill battle given a significant district-wide voter registration disadvantage compared to Republicans.
It’s been a long time since a Democrat made a serious challenge in a general election.
In Assembly District 2, Paul Singh of Gridley is running. He formerly ran for State Senate.
In Assembly District 3, long-time labor activist Mickey Harrington is making another run.
Both Singh and Harrington are good guys with good intentions, but neither has been able to raise enough campaign cash to reach voters in past campaigns.
In Congressional District 2, four Democrats will face-off in a primary for the privilege of challenging incumbent Wally Herger - John Jacobson, Jeff Morris, and A.J. Sekhon.
Sekhon has already run against Herger before and lost badly.
Jacobson from Mt. Shasta is a new candidate. If you want to familiarize yourself with Jacobson, you can even hear his songs, which quite frankly are bad enough for me to consider voting for Herger if Jacobson is the Democratic nominee. Okay, I'm kidding.
Jacobson's songs remind me too much of former Attorney General John Ashcroft's horrible "Let the Eagle Soar."
While some Republicans might challenge whether waterboarding is torture, I think no one can deny that this song is torture. But it makes you feel patriotic, doesn't it?
The candidate I’m most excited about is Trinity County Supervisor Jeff Morris. Why?
Morris is an experienced local elected official with a small business background.
As a testament to his skills working with his fellow Supervisor colleagues, Morris received unanimous endorsements from his elected peers, which includes two Republicans and one independent.
That says a lot about Morris and the respect his peers have for him, even if they are aligned with another political party or no political party.
Morris knows how to work with people from different political perspectives to address common problems.
And Morris recently received an endorsement from Butte County Supervisor Maureen Kirk - another local elected official who knows how to work with others regardless of party affiliation.
Morris appears to be the candidate to watch in the Democratic primary.
Today's Scrabble word is psi, a Greek letter.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (8)
March 13, 2008
Slow Depot
This is another favorite Improv Everywhere mission at Home Depot.
Maybe one of these days some creative locals will organize a local "freeze" mission - maybe during a Saturday Farmer's Market or downtown Thursday Night Market.
Today's Scrabble word is vug, a small cavity in a rock or lode.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2008
Chino
As I've been following the beef recall issue over the past month, I've noticed that Chico has been mistakenly mentioned in several major news outlets as the source of the contaminated beef.
The Westland/Hallmark slaughterhouse, which The Humane Sociey of America has documented for abuses, is located in Chino.
It's quite common for people to confuse Chico and Chino. I've regularly met people who assumed I was from southern California because they think Chico is Chino.
Even the New York Times recently wrote:
"It was a week ago Thursday, and Mr. Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States, was testifying before the Senate appropriations subcommittee on agriculture. The hearing was the culmination of an incredible month for the Humane Society. On Jan. 30, the animal rights organization had released a graphic and sickening video of so-called downer cows being horribly abused at a slaughterhouse in Chico, Calif. — leaking the video first to The Washington Post, to reap the maximum publicity (of course!), and then posting it on its Web site. The video, showing weak, emaciated cows being manhandled with fork lifts and repeatedly shocked, among other things, had been made by a Humane Society investigator who had infiltrated the plant."
Last month I noticed the Philadelphia Inquirer made the same mistake:
"More than 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef products were "voluntarily recalled" last week by Hallmark-Westland Meat Packing of Chico, Ca."
I'd like to think this was just a few isolated typing mistakes but I think reporters are sourcing their information from each other and therefore building upon the same mistake.
Maybe local tourism and civic boosters can start a "We're Not Chino" campaign before America thinks Chico is synonymous with tainted beef.
Today's Scrabble word is sawn, the past tense of saw.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:02 PM | Comments (2)
March 11, 2008
G is for...
It's good the E-R editors are highlighting the importance of the upcoming public workshops for the City of Chico General Plan update in its editorial "Time to start paying attention."
But I think the E-R is reinforcing the notion that this planning process, while important, is boring. And putting down the people willing to take time to attend these meetings as people with agendas to push isn't encouraging either.
The E-R led its editorial by writing:
"A whole raft of general plans are being updated in the neighborhood. You can tell from the collective yawn rising from the citizenry. Lots of folks don't know what's going on. Lots more don't care. And the few who do care — at least those without a serious agenda to push — are beginning to nod off. We're hearing that even some of those who signed up for the citizens panel to help draw the county General Plan are being worn down by the process, and attendance at meetings of that panel is dwindling."
Wow. This is the best rallying cry to encourage more public participation!
But buried in the editorial is this important fact:
"These four workshops may be the best time for the public to actually have an impact on the direction the General Plan heads....And there will be snacks!"
Did someone say snacks? Now that's a fact worth highlighting much earlier in the editorial.
Maybe the editorial should be been titled: "Yummy snacks offered in public workshops." And perhaps the opening for the editorial should have been:
"Many citizens have already been engaged in the incredibly important General Plan update. And they've also been raving about the free snacks provided at these meetings."
As we all know, C is for Cookie and G is for General Plan...
Today's Scrabble word is wigwam, or teepee.
Posted by dan_nt at 11:17 AM | Comments (9)
March 10, 2008
Drunkest Cities
Given the efforts by the City of Chico and Chico State to move away from the "party school" image of the past, it's good that Chico wasn't mentioned on this illustrious list of drunkest cities in America.
Sacramento, Modesto, Fremont, Fresno, and several other California cities made the top 100 list.
Denver was named the Most Dangerously Drunk. Ironically the Democratic National Convention will be held in Denver in late August. Hopefully those superdelegates won't be too drunk with power by then.
I'm not quite sure the relevance of a list generated by Men's Health, but it's interesting to see the metrics used to make the rankings.
Today's Scrabble word is weka, a flightless bird.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)
March 09, 2008
John McBush
The McBush 2008 website is up and running.
The chants have already begun: "Four more years! Four more years!"
Today's Scrabble word is aver, or to declare positively.
Posted by dan_nt at 07:11 PM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2008
Senator Theater
This is the Senator Theater in 1940 during its glory years.
Image courtesy of Adelle Whittemore and Special Collections Dept. Meriam Library, CSU, Chico
Here's a poster for the movie Boom Town:
Today's Scrabble word is reeve, to fasten by passing through or around something.
Posted by dan_nt at 06:22 PM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2008
Dinner with Andy II
Last night, once again, I had dinner with Mayor Andy Holcombe.
He was booked for lunch so I had to settle for dinner.
Instead of cheesy fries at Jack’s Restaurant, this time we had falafel at Sultan’s Bistro.
The sun had already set on a glorious day. Birds chirped outside, while we heard inside the gentle sounds of happy kids enjoying ice cream from nearby Jon and Bon’s.
While News & Review editor Evan Tuchinsky had his spirited “Lunch with Andy II,” my “Dinner with Andy II” was absolutely boring - not at all provocative like my first dinner.
Here are some tidbits of my conversation with Andy:
Andy’s Club: Holcombe’s colleague, Larry Wahl, referred to the ACLU as Andy’s Club.
How’s your club, Andy? My club is very process-oriented.
How does someone become a member of Andy’s Club? You must be a lawyer, speak like a lawyer, or hate lawyers. In short, the club is open to anyone.
What's this I hear about a Larry’s Club? Is there one? I wasn't invited.
Scrabble: Holcombe has been known to also play Scrabble.
How's your game? Okay. I have a very process-oriented approach to my game. Very deliberative. But sometimes I like to use the bully pulpit to advance my next Scrabble move.
What's your favorite Scrabble word? Ka, the spiritual self of a human being in Egyptian religion, because Dan Nguyen-Tan taught me that word.
Today's Scrabble word is erne, a sea eagle.
Posted by dan_nt at 01:50 AM | Comments (5)
March 06, 2008
Double Talk
While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue their historic competition for the Democratic nomination, John McCain's Double Talk Express stopped at The White House to visit President George W. Bush.
Senator McSame - as in four more years continuing Bush's failed foreign and domestic policies - has tarnished any semblance of his "maverick" reputation by his almost wholesale embracing of Bush and opportunistic pandering to segments and policies of his party that he previously criticized.
By the way, here are the Jack Nicholson videos mentioned by Jeremy Miller in the comment section. I don't agree with the accusations in the spoof against Clinton, but it's still funny to see the editing in both videos:
Today's Scrabble word is burgee, or small flag.
Posted by dan_nt at 12:00 AM | Comments (2)
March 05, 2008
Wal-Mart Presents
The Chico Beat's Tom Gascoyne wrote:
"The print edition of The Beat is still on hold pending our move to the suburbs. Our new style will be less urbane, more pastoral, less confrontational, more promotional. Our mission will be less about news and more about selling advertising. Any business that takes out an ad in our paper will get a glowing review, whether deserved or not. Hell we'll let the advertisers write the stories and then place their ads on the same page! Welcome to the new journalism paradigm."
I hope this blog advertisement will encourage Gascoyne in the right direction.
Today's Scrabble word is volta, or a turning.
Posted by dan_nt at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2008
Tom McClintock
Tom McClintock announced his intention to run in the 4th Congressional District Republican primary.
The district includes Oroville.
Already his critics are calling him a holier-than-thou carpet bagger. McClintock currently resides in Thousand Oaks over 400 miles south of the district.
Rico Oller dropped out. I suspect most of his supporters will line up behind McClintock, including Assemblymember Rick Keene.
Our other Assemblymember in the region, Doug LaMalfa has already endorsed Doug Ose.
Here's what attack dog Oller had to say by using the nasty "l" word:
"“The entry of Sen. McClintock into the race changes the calculus. If both he and I remain, we run the very great risk of delivering the seat to an unarguably liberal Republican, Doug Ose. I find that prospect repugnant to all in which I believe.”
The real quote from Oller should have been:
"The entry of Sen. McClintock into the race pissed me off because a carpet bagger from Thousand Oaks polled better among the right-wing of the Republican party in my district. I find that fact repugnant, but I begrudgingly accept the reality that McClintock has a better chance of winning than I do. Influential people told me to drop out so I did.”
The Ose and McClintock primary battle will be intense. While they rip each other apart, likely Democratic nominee Lt. Col. Charlie Brown is preparing for the November general election.
Already Brown is capitalizing on McClintock's entry in the race with his "A New Direction, Not Career Politicians who Need Driving Directions" appeal. The appeal is direct and funny.
Today's Scrabble word is haet, a small amount.
Posted by dan_nt at 11:39 AM | Comments (3)
March 03, 2008
Showdown
Today is the big showdown between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island.
Clinton some time recently with Jon Stewart. Not suprisingly, she's got a good sense of humor when she's not trying to scare voters.
Here's Clinton's scary "3 am" ad:
Here's Obama's response: