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Posts published in “Essays”

Books are Not Quite Dead: AVA Readers Talk Books

Attention readers and writers: Send us your list of favorite books, especially the ones that influenced the way you live and think. We'll begin with Bruce McEwen who has inspired me to list some of…

Another “Arkie” Mill Saga: Down at Buster Hollifield’s

When Hollifield came here and built his mill, everyone wanted to work for him… — Ken Hurst recollection, August, 2022 When I first moved to The Valley half a century ago, locals were still telling…

Interview With My Double

Q: You have a Double? A: I was tired of being a solitary white male. I wanted a shadow, a Double. Try one on for size. You might like one. Q: Are you related to…

Bivalent COVID Vaccine Now Available

On August 31st, the FDA amended its emergency use authorization for both the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines to now include a second component targeted specifically at Omicron.  The vaccines will include the original component…

Getting To Yell, ‘Stop The Presses!’

At my first newspaper job after college I was on the night news desk, where your shift didn’t end until you checked the first copies of the next day’s paper as they came off the…

County Workers Continue To Not Flee

The notion county employees are underpaid is a joke, and that government workers are “public servants” is a lie. Are county workers threatening to strike? County Supervisors ought to smile, hold the doorways wide open,…

Lighting Up Your Life

Does anybody around here remember California Governor Gray Davis? You know, the guy who so hopefully set up extra card tables at the Capitol to battle energy monster Enron during the 2000-2001 Energy Crisis? Didn't…

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