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Posts published in “Essays”

Dollars for Bums

I was on my way north to visit my mother in Tacoma and I stopped at a rest area in Oregon where I noticed the inevitable vet sitting on a walker with a big sign.…

Grace Hudson Art Comes Home

A prized collection of artist Grace Hudson’s paintings are returning home to Mendocino County in a unique agreement reached with the Palm Springs Art Museum in Southern California. The pact provides for the direct gift…

Housing and the Homeless in Berkeley

When Osha Neumann sees people living on the streets of Berkeley and Oakland he doesn’t feel a sense of hopelessness or powerlessness. Nor does he turn away, or want the homeless to disappear, become invisible…

Charlie Manson and, Inevitably, Ukiah

Finished a book on Charlie Manson, took a hot shower, had a stiff drink.  Who thought there was anything new to learn about the musty old Manson case? But for 20 years author Tom O’Neill…

Malcolm X at the Audubon Ballroom

Two men framed for killing Malcolm X on February 21, 1965, Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, have been exonerated after all these years. On November 18 the New York Times played the story BIG  — a three-deck…

Corruption and the PUC

Redistricting Finalized At their special meeting on Thursday, Nov. 18, the Board of Supervisors unanimously put the final wrap on adjusting voting district populations and boundaries as required by federal law. Since summer a five-member…

Covid for Rookies

The Covid 19 toll seems staggering.  We spray disinfectant, wipe surfaces, practice social distancing, stay indoors so we can watch lots of TV and listen to news anchors tell us again and again of the…

Drug Murder, 1944

Drug related murders come and go with frequency in Mendocino County. However, never was the term so true as in February, 1944.  The scene: Noon hour of a winter's day at the old Philbrick property…

Living at Kah-la-deh-mun

Harriet Campbell Stanley Rhoades lives on the north bluffs overlooking Noyo Bay. Even in this region of beautiful vistas and peaceful spots, few places can compare with Harriet's. Her back door opens onto an infinity…

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