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Posts published in “from the archives…”

Johnny Carson & Dick Cavett

At the end of Fred Gardner's reissued 1992 article Johnny Carson's story (AVA Jan 26, 2005) there is mention of a number of writers who provided material for Johnny. “It was a great period for…

Dissecting the North Coast Greens

Former AVA editor Bruce Anderson summed up the local Green Party leaders last year as well as anyone, when he said that that while he thought they were basically a bunch of nice and well…

Witness at an Execution Protest

On January 18th I went with my father to the protest of Donald Beardslee's execution at San Quentin. Cops buzzed like bees, roads had been closed off, and it was necessary to walk about a…

The Soul Searchers

I was minding my own business when I heard the thump of heavy footwear on the porch. I stepped outside in time to intercept two neatly dressed young women, carrying shiny briefcases and purses. Their…

The Dangerous Lessons of the Tobie Case

In 2003, Lifeworks group home manager Jack Graves recruited a known juvenile criminal named Kevin Tobie, who had been kicked out of San Francisco public schools because he'd been convicted of serious juvenile weapons crimes,…

The Stone and Kelsey Massacre

(Editor’s note: William Ralganal Benson was born in 1862 and learned about these events directly from those who took part. Having spoken only a Pomo language as a youth and never having attended school, Benson…

The Day After Christmas

The days after Christmas, we finally got the first rain in about a month, so there wasn’t anything to do but sit around the house and read books or watch the kids entertain one another.…

The Ghost of Christmas Past

Here we are, back in the suicide season: It’s Christmas time. Half of us are thinking not of our fellow man and woman, but of pills and pistols; the other half goes shopping, partyies and…

Used Otto, Inc.

With a keen sense of political irony, Otto Reich, Bush's former overlord for Latin America, chose the morning of the November elections to publicly unveil his latest venture, Otto Reich & Associates, Inc., a Beltway…

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