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Posts published in July 2013

Earth Of Foxes

We have a large old plum tree growing on the north side of our house, and in this first year of our residency the tree has gifted us with several hundred sweet red plums, which are ambrosia to deer, appealing to squirrels, and irresistible to a trio of baby foxes who visit the tree daily.

Detroit’s Pensions

Having gorged unsustainably on the public sector of Michigan’s largest city for decades, having left empty schools, libraries, and office buildings like gnawed bones scattered about a massacre, having erased whole city services leaving only…

Valley People

ROBERT TOMPKINS, 74, has died at his Philo home. Mr. Tompkins is survived by his wife, Shirley, and his son, Chris Tompkins, owner-operator of Northwest Tire and Oil, Philo. THAT HEAVY SMOKE up and down…

Glovebox Banditry

Pedestrian crime in Willits is on the rise. Two cases have come to court recently, and both the footpads were found guilty. One was Sara Grusky, the Willits Bypass protester who walked on the wrong…

A Bullet, A Babe & The End Of An Era

When I was growing up south of Los Angeles, anything north of, say, Santa Barbara seemed like Alaska. Or, almost. Certainly up above San Francisco was mysterious and exotic. On first visits, way up around…

What Real Immigration Reform Would Look Like

Oralia Maceda, an immigrant mother from Oaxaca, asked the obvious last weekend in Fresno. At a meeting, talking about the Senate immigration reform bill, she wanted to know why Senators would spend almost $50 billion…

Sunshine In A Minor Key

Whether on silver screen or in symphony hall, it can be a curse to be type cast. So consummately did Bach play the part of a composer of learned fugues that his lighter side is…

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