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Posts published in “Essays”

Tinker, Trader, Piano Tuner (Part 2)

See last week's piece for details from the dry summer of 1900 that led to jeweler, horse trader, and piano tuner J.E. King's killing of seventy-year-old farmer Samuel Church on the Sonoma-Marin border. King had…

On Racism

When I was a general assignment reporter just starting out in Charleston, West Virginia, in the mid-1970s, one of my first news directors advised me to steer clear of debating either abortion or capital punishment…

Rhonda Smith

Rhonda Smith, soon to be retired Sonoma County Viticulture Specialist for the University of California Cooperative Extension, has seen unparalleled changes in the industry during her tenure. Starting in 1986 Rhonda assumed a position as…

The Death of Mickey Bloyd

Many years ago this summer, I was standing in the Shield's Cemetery at the graveside services for Mickey Bloyd. It wasn't necessary for me to think back to my high school years in Boonville --…

The Fort Behind Fort Bragg

In this moment of shifting historical identities — the Fort Bragg City Council has taken up the question of whether to change the town's name on Monday — it might help to know what the…

Policing the Police

Ukiah isn’t Detroit. Or Chicago, where two years ago the city spent more than $113 million on lawsuits involving police misconduct. But neither is Mendo an island, as shown by residents who, in spite of…

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