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Fresno's own lieutenant governor, Cruz Bustamante, (well, actually he ditched us for the Sacramento suburbs, but we claim him anyway) did a couple of stupid things the other day: He sat down for a lunch-time interview with Steve Lopez, the Los Angeles Times columnist who makes a living making fun of politicians and other self-inflated people, and then he complied with Lopez's request to step onto the scales that Lopez brought to lunch. Here is the Lopez column.
Bustamante is running for insurance commissioner, and he's using his weight-loss plan as a vehicle to get publicity. It was good bit for a time, but is that the entire campaign? What about the insurance companies ripping us off on our auto insurance, or the health care insurers refusing to cover people who are sick?
As Lopez puts it, Bustamante has become the "Richard Simmons of state government." OK. Right now I'm picturing Cruz in that Richard Simmons tank top and short-shorts. Oh, my.
Anyway, Lopez caught Bustamante fudging about his weight loss, and that is making news in L.A.
The irony is that Bustamante has dropped a lot of weight, starting the year at 278 pounds. But he said he weighed 233 pounds at the Lopez lunch and the Lopez scales said 240.5 pounds. Even then, Bustamante has lost almost 38 pounds, but isn't getting credit for it because he exaggerated his weight loss.
Anyone know Richard Simmons' phone number?
I love rituals. It's easy to find me in a crowd of any kind of "rite of passage" ceremony. I'm the weepy one with the hanky.
And so it was last night at Bullard High School's graduation. I was the teary-eyed mom in the audience shouting "Norway! Norway!" as we graduated our 12th exchange student. People ask me if we don't find it boring to attend yet another graduation ceremony.
The answer is never. Graduation never gets old for me.
This "great day" starts at home. There is a unique "new robe" fragrance in the pale blue polyester robes as I press them out each year for our graduates. I run my hand over the deep blue satin sash that reads BHS on one side and 2006 on the other. The girls dress up in their new outfits for graduation -- they must be new and perfect -- even though they are covered up most of the time. This year our exchange daughter's sister came from Oslo to bring her a special silver silk wrap dress for graduation. We spotted our graduate from the Save Mart Center's nosebleed seats by the glittery silver flats she wore.
The ritual of graduation just gets more enjoyable by the year as we learn the ropes of managing the crowd -- "Meet us at the third palm tree after the ceremony!" The best part, of course, is watching "our kid" get a diploma. I hugged my husband last night and whispered in his year: "We did it AGAIN, baby!" He grinned and quietly nodded. It's a precious moment.
We know of no high school graduation ceremony in the world that's as grand as America's. We had a first-time visitor from Iceland with us last night, along with a returnee who graduated from Bullard two years ago. The newbie's impression of the graduation: "It's so BIG!" Well, yes. We do make a pretty profound statement of pride in our children by holding a high school graduation in a stadium large enough to host a Rolling Stones concert.
It's been an incredible year for us, once again having the privilege of experiencing a senior year -- a momentous time in most everyone's life. How could that ever get boring?
I spent a good deal of the time on a vacation last week reading "1776," by David McCullough. It's a gem, and I'm glad I read it just as we approach July 4.
McCullough makes much use of journals, diaries and correspondence in his books. That serves to make the people he writes about seem very vivid and real. In "1776," those people range from George Washington to teen-age foot soldiers in the Continental Army, as well as British officers, solders and politicians, and civilians on both sides of the rebellion that began in that seminal year.
I have thoroughly enjoyed other books by McCullough, principally "John Adams" and "Truman," but this one's the best. I encourage everyone to buy or borrow a copy and read it soon. It will make this year's Independence Day celebration all the more meaningful for me.
Now that Barry Bonds has passed Babe Ruth in career homeruns, it's crucial that the legitimacy of that feat be verified. So far it's been tainted by steroid accusations, and that taints the sport. Major League Baseball has mostly ducked the steroid issue, but an investigation headed by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell may offer some real answers.
Mitchell was hired by baseball commissioner Bud Selig to get to the bottom of the steroid questiion in baseball. Mitchell has a team of investigators and lawyers looking into every steroid allegation, and says the probe will go wherever the evidence takes it. Let's hope so. The issue has been a big black eye for baseball, but finally it appears that the commssioner and owners want to have answers about performance-enhancing drugs.
Mitchell has credibility and his investigation should provide some substantive answers about steroid use in baseball.
The Bee's Mark Grossi has an excellent story today on the merits of the controversial dam at Temperance Flat. Check out Mark's story here. This is a defining issue for the Valley, and residents should know as much as possible about the pros and cons of the proposed $1.2 billion dam.
This region needs to find a way to capture all the runoff in the wet years to meet the competing water needs of the Valley. The proposed reservoir would be twice the size of Millerton Lake. A feasibility study on the project will not be conducted until 2009. Other possibilities are raising Friant Dam and putting a dam on Fine Gold Creek. There's a nice map on the projects accompanying the story in today's Bee.
This issue is loaded with politics, and won't be easy for the average citizen to sort out. Mark Grossi's story today should help. Save as a reference piece as you hear the various sides discuss the proposed dam.
It's time for someone to tell Mayor Alan Autry that his State of the City speech shouldn't be running so long. No one close to him seems willing to say anything. A timid staff does not serve the mayor very well. But it was typical Autry on Thursday droning on about the State of the City well beyond what was reasonable to keep an audience that was on its lunch hour.
Autry needs to use this speech to make quick points about the direction of the city and not put the audience to sleep. Like his past efforts, this one rambled into territory that he has no authority over. But don't let that technicality get in the way of making a long speech. Autry's State of the City speech Thursday lasted 80 minutes, according to the story in today's Bee.
Let's give some perspective on the mayor's spech about the city. . . President Bush's State of the Union speech in February lasted 51 minutes. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's State of the State speech in January lasted 23 minutes. Autry talked longer than both of them combined.
Saturday is Valley Voices Day on the Opinion pages, a day reserved for commentaries by local writers. This week, we've set aside the page for young people's voices, which we do once a month. We've got Donald Norman of Fresno Pacific University encouraging local high school students to consider the benefits of staying in the Valley to go to college. Clare Godhino of Fresno City College, remembers the joy of growing up in Fresno and Amy K. Noel of Fresno State talks about what she learned from a book by Jack Kerouac about living in the moment.
The Vision section cover, coming up Sunday, is another of David Mas Masumoto's letters to the Valley. This time it's called "Flowers for Soldiers" and it's a letter to his uncle, who was killed while fighting in World War II. Victor Davis Hanson's family farm is just up the street from a fatal car accident that happened recently in Selma. The driver ran away from the scene. He writes about how our lax immigration policy, one that is predicated on a cynical violation of the law, places people unnecessarily into truly tragic circumstances. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times analyzes the competition between Al Gore "Ozone Man" and Hillary Clinton, whom she now sees emerging as "Ozone Woman."
On the Opinion page, we discuss the financial crisis facing people who overextended themselves on their mortgages during the real estate boom. Now their monthly payments are sky high and foreclosure statistics are reflecting scores of families losing their homes. We also give a slap to Bill Conrad, running against Tom Berryhill in the 25th Assembly District, for sinking to a new low in campaigning. You thought it couldn't go lower? Wait til you see what this slimy team came up with.
Our letter writer of the week is Carrie Krikorian Zulewski, a hairdresser and fundraiser who most often writes about the schools. Jim Boren analyzes the sorry state of the sheriff's race, with none of the candidates standing out from the rest. Look for the Word for Word column of quotes on the back page, and a new feature, the Valley's Top 10 List. This week, it's the Top 10 things Madonna should do when she comes to Fresno. We'll soon be listing the top 10 gifts for Valley graduates so take advantage of opportunity to join in. We'd love folks to come up with their own lists.
It never ceases to amaze me the way the Fresno County Board of Supervisors constantly has to be dragged and goaded into exhibiting leadership. When they run for office, they say they want to make decisions for their constituents. Then, too often when there is an opportunity to be forward thinking, smart, bold and courageous, they take a pass. They are making it increasingly clear that they are more comfortable following others.
The latest example is on the needle exchange decision. Susan Anderson is the only official on the board who was bright enough to remember that one of the board's responsibilities is to protect the public health. Here we have record-breaking numbers of communicable diseases, the grand jury and the county health officer are there to back the board members up with facts and give them political cover, and yet and still they sit, wringing their hands, waiting for other people to lead first.
This is not what I expect from people elected to lead one of the fastest growing areas in California. I want dynamic leaders representing me, not people who are afraid to get out in front and challenge others to keep up with them.
I wrote over the weekend about the new Clovis online automatic message form. I sent in two messages to the city - one complimenting them on the beautiful wildflowers and an inquiry about some campaign related graffiti on a block wall along Clovis Avenue - and I promised to report back on city officials' responsiveness.
I have to say I'm impressed with the results.
I sent in my messages to the city late Saturday night, before 11 p.m. When I got up and checked my email Monday morning, I had a thank-you response on my flower compliment waiting for me, before 8 a.m. And I just checked my personal email and see that the other issue has been resolved as well: "The wall has been painted over and the graffiti is no longer visible."
Of course, I'll have to drive by to make sure that's the case, but assuming it is, that's a pretty effective response time, I think. It's all part of the "Clovis way of life."
Talk about a tasteless campaign stunt. Former Modesto City Councilman Bill Conrad says Assembly opponent Tom Berryhill is unfit for office because he’s a heart transplant recipient. The way that Conrad figures it, Berryhill could die in office because of it.
And either could get hit by a truck. Now we have to check insurance actuarial tables to see who to vote for?
“Can you imagine the costs to taxpayers for a special election when poor health renders him unable to fulfill the duties of office?” Conrad said in a mailer to 25th District voters. “Republicans deserve a strong candidate.”
They are running in the GOP primary in the June 6 election.
Berryhill said his health is good, and Conrad is playing dirty politics. I agree. This is very low, even in the current nasty political environment when just about anything goes.
Berryhill is 52 and his heart issues came after exposure to pesticides and herbicides while working on his family’s farm, according to the Associated Press. That caused the need for a heart valve replacement when he was 21 and a heart transplant in 2001, the AP reported.
“What (Conrad) failed to tell you is if you live through three years without any rejection, you have a normal life span,” Berryhill told the AP.
I received dozens of emails this week from people who saw my Sunday column about a friend's mother who died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. Every person who emailed me had a personal connection to this disease, and every story was a personal tragedy. This is a terrible disease that afflicts a lot more people than I had realized.
It slowly takes your mind, and affects every relationship you have. Finally, you don't know your family and friends. You don't even know yourself. There are no happy endings. That's why it's scary.
The Alzheimer's Association has a lot of helpful information on the disease. Check it out here.
The Alzheimer's Association says family members also need support -- not just the patients. Family members are under tremendous pressure, and they may not even realize it. The disease affects everyone's quality of life.
Everyone's buzzing about the "American Idol" show, which has part one of its final competition tonight.
This is all fun and everything but folks are starting to scare me. In a study released by Pursuant Inc of Washington, D.C., researchers found that 35% of all respondents believe that their votes on "American Idol" count as much as or more so than voting in a U.S. presidential election. Ladies and gentlemen, that is just goofy. Singers don't send your children to war, they don't take money out of your weekly paycheck and they don't decide if your father will go to prison for crossing the border. The president (and many, many others) do. According to the study, one in 10 of the entire United States adult population has voted for a contestant on the show in 2006. That's just great. I hope all of them and many many more take that voting spirit into the elections June 6.
The prom pictures are back -- and the verdict is in. The kids just can't stop looking at each other... It's hilarious. I'm not sure what's more exciting, the actual night of prom or looking at all the pictures. MySpace is filling up with prom pictures. Last night I was running around until almost 10 p.m. picking up prints because the kids in my daughter's group were all exchanging the photos they took with their disposable cameras. We are fortunate to have Jill Harkness in our group of moms -- her hobby is photography and she takes fabulous pictures. Hers were amazing.
From all reports from the foreign students we know, American prom lives up to its international legend. These kids have lifelong memories that they will treasure always. The boys never looked so good and the girls absolutely could stop traffic. All that time, money, drama and effort, well, everyone we talked to thought it was all well worth it.
And so, the moral of the story for sophomores and juniors... start saving money and making plans now for prom next year!
While we were at San Francisco airport recently, there was a very industrious entrepreneur hard at work there in the ticketing area of the international terminal. For $5 a bag, he tied up your suitcase with rope, sealed it completely in shrink plastic with only the handle sticking out. He claims this is a win win for everyone except the luggage thieves.
The passengers and airlines both like it, he says, because the chance of theft or damage to the luggage goes way down. He'll even put it in a box for you if you really are a safety person. He also said it's a way to make sure nobody sneaks anything in your suitcase. According to an airport spokeswoman, if there is any issue in customs when the case is X rayed, they'll cut the plastic, look inside and even send it back to be rewrapped. The service is especially popular when the destination is a country that has a reputation for lax luggage security.
Living in Clovis, we get this free publication in the mail, Connecting with Clovis, which comes out quarterly. The latest issue contains an article from City Manager Kathy Millison about a new online automatic message form.
According to the article, "With the growing size of the city, it has been necessary to find ways to streamline the process for responding to citizen requests without sacrificing accountability and effecty response."
I'm testing the responsiveness of the new form. First, in the interest of being positive about my community, which I really enjoy, I submitted a compliment about the beautiful wildflowers blooming around town just a few weeks ago. Then I submitted a complaint, or inquiry really, about some graffiti/campaign advertising along Clovis Avenue. In bright red paint on a cinder-block wall, between Gettysburg and Ashlan avenues, it says, "Vote 4 Bill for Clovis School Board."
I'll let you know how soon I hear back from the city. But if it's an effective means of relaying information to city officials, other Valley cities could learn from the example. I think a lot of citizens like the idea of being able to communicate on their own timeline. I, personally, don't like taking care of business over the phone. I welcome this kind of interaction to solve problems, when I'm in the mood to deal with things, even if it's 11 p.m. at night.
Saturday is Valley Voices day on the Opinion pages, a day reserved for commentaries by local writers. This week, we've got Clifford Garoupa of Fresno City College sounding a warning that the Legislature and the community are ignoring the methamphetamine problem. Wayne Steffen of Fresno Pacific University writes about public officials getting their egos confused with their jobs and Paul Kaser of Reedley College discusses "The Da Vinci Code."
The Vision section cover, coming up Sunday, looks at cameras in the courtroom. This is not "Judge Joe Brown" we're talking about but the highest court in the land. Justice David Souter says there's little chance he'll become the high court's answer to Judge Judy any time soon. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, howevers says the Supremes preside over one of the most important in our government, a government that prides itself on being open and accessible. Cameras would help people understand what justice really means. People weigh the pros and cons of this debate. Victor Davis Hanson comes down hard on the CIA, suggesting that if there isn't a drastic change in its arrogant culture, it may be time to just lock the doors up for good.
On the Opinion page, we present our traditional recommendations on all the races in a handy little box, very convenient for those family debates. Our letter witer of the week feature, compiled by Pam Rowse, is Lee Webster Sr., "a conservative Republican with empathy for the less fortunate" in his own words. Jim Boren has a tender and informative column on Alzheimer's disease, which recently took the life of a dear friend. Paul K. Harral of the Fort Worth paper's editorial pages, says Christians are needlessly overreacting to the "Da Vinci Code." Jim Jenkins warns parents not to sound like dorks when they are out shopping for colleges with their kids.
Look for the Word for Word column of quotes on the back page of Vision, and a new feature, the Valley's Top 10 List. This week, it's the Top 10 reasons for video policing in Fresno. It's fun -- and there is an opportunity for you to join in. We'd love folks to come up with their own lists. Don't miss Maureen Dowd comparing the popularity of Ally McBeal in the past to the new "Grey's Anatomy." The networks are after women viewers and women characters and dreamy guys are one way to capture our attention.
I saw a mention in today's paper about the opening of the Clovis farmers market. I live in Clovis and love the farmers market, but I just have one question: Why can't they start it a few weeks earlier and run it a little later into the fall? As it is, it runs through the hottest part of the year here.
Many Friday nights, it seems like a fun thing to do, but I just don't want to be outside in that miserable heat (to me, anything over 85 is miserable and I just don't do 100-plus degrees).
The farmers market in San Luis Obispo, which I visited last week while I was over there, runs every Thursday night of the year except for Thanksgiving and very rainy nights. I would love to stroll the streets of Old Town Clovis, listening to live music, watching my daugther dance and smelling all the vendors' delicious foods on a breezy April or cool(er) October evening.
Mayor Alan Autry wants to spend $1.2 million in the next city budget for "video policing." The program would start with 75 cameras in public places such as Roeding Park, Manchester Center, the Tower District and the Fulton Mall.
Being under constant surveillance has become a fact of life in 21st century society. You're on camera when you go to the ATM, at the grocery store, in most shopping center parking lots and often at work. The NSA has our phone records. The Patriot Act allows all sorts of government snooping.
This may not be a big deal to some, but I'm worried that we no longer have a right to privacy. Maybe the city will install listening devices in public places so they can hear our conversations while we're sitting on a bench at River Park or having lunch at a restaurant. You never knows who is plotting the overthrow of something. If they can watch you on camera in public places, why can't they listen to you?
The privacy battle has mostly been lost and technology is our master. But there are ramifications. Maybe it will help police catch more bad people. That's definitely good. But there are many trade offs. Am I just being paranoid?
We're off to San Francisco after work today to fetch our next round of European visitors, this time two teenage girls from Iceland -- Elin, who was an exchange student at Bullard and Sunnyside high schools a couple of years ago, and her cousin, Augusta. We find when our exchange students return, they always come back in multiples -- with their friends or family! That's just great with us. The more, the merrier!
This does give me an opportunity to gripe again because there is no efficient low-cost shuttle service from SFO to Fresno. It's frustrating. My husband and I worked the early shift today and we'll be putting in the 8-hour round trip, by the time we wait for the plane, drive to and fro etc. That's just dumb. Still, the cost of flights from Fresno to LA and SF are completely unreasonable so many of our students, traveling on tight budgets, buy the tickets to the bigger cities.
If anybody has ideas, I'd love to hear them.
Speaking of the city and transportation issues, I got a press release recently from Bluewater Network that hybrid solar ferries, powered by the wind and sun, will carry visitors to Alcatraz under a new 10-year contract between the National Park Service and Hornblower Cruises and Events. Apparently the move to hybrids is not just in the world of cars, but in the world of boats, as well.
Ya gotta love those Major League Baseball players who used pink bats on Sunday to honor their mothers and to help raise money for breast cancer research. According to the Associated Press, "The response has been phenomenal," in the words of Louisville Slugger president John Hillerich.
Major League Baseball granted special permission for players to use baby pink bats for Mother's Day only, part of a weeklong program to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Dozens of players signed up for the bats and several players wanted their moms' named burned on the bats. Kevin Mench, a Texas Rangers slugger, also planned to have a bat for his grandmother, who died of breast cancer.
More than 400 bats were being made for 50-plus players. Great idea.
Last week, while I was on vacation, my mother, my daughter and I went to Pismo for an overnight getaway.
Wednesday night, we did the usual things you do in Pismo - had a nice seafood dinner, walked on the pier, ate ice cream and watched the skateboarders and a trick bicyclist. But we made sure we were back to our hotel room in time to catch the results show of American Idol.
When the two contestants who received the lowest number of votes were revealed, we were a little surprised, but not too worried. Rocker Chris Daughtry and crooner Katharine McPhee - "Don't worry," I told my mom. "Chris isn't going home."
Minutes later we were absolutely floored when Daughtry was sent packing. Many people, including the odds makers in Vegas, favored Daughtry to win the competition.
Our grieving continued the next morning. We listened as Meredith Vieira on "The View" wailed about the injustice of such a talented performer not making it to the finals.
But Star Jones quietly called Vieira on the carpet: "Did you vote?"
Just like in the bigger elections that shape our city and our nation's path, we can't complain about the outcome if we don't take part in the process. Do you vote? If not, don't complain about who's running things or how they do it.
And for the record, I voted.
Wow. . . Dot-com millionaire Steve Westly is putting a lot of his own money into his campaign for governor, and the flow of cash keeps coming. This memo came today from Westly's campaign. Westly is running against Treasurer Phil Angelides for the Democratic nomination:
"Today, Steve Westly made another personal investment in his campaign for governor -- $5 million. This brings his total contribution to $32.5 million.
"Steve Westly has said from day one that he would contribute the personal resources necessary to effectively share with the voters his vision for a brighter future for California. He's in it to win it. Period.
"In Steve Westly, Californians have a candidate who's put the money he earned at eBay into a cause he believes in, for the honor of leading a state he believes in."
Nick Velasquez
Press Secretary
Westly for Governor
Don't miss Leonard Pitts' excellent column on Mexico's proposed drug legalization ideas in today's Bee. It's perfect.
We spent hours this weekend in rapt discussions over "Brave New World," a novel by Aldous Huxley. Our exchange daughter, Merete, has to write an essay that demonstrates her understanding of dystopias, which are basically dysfunctional societies. She has to compare the novel with a film that imagines a future in which some aspects of present day life are taken to a destructive extreme. My mind kept wandering as we discussed this book because real life kept jumping in and distracting me from the task at hand.
For example, "Brave New World": refers often to a government approved drug called"soma" which was essentially given to the masses to keep them pacified, to keep them from questioning the government. I couldn't help but think of Mexico's recent idea to legalize possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use... That's rather a a nice plan to neutralize people's frustrations rather than getting really angry and thinking critically about the way their country is ignoring the educational and economic needs of its citizens, hmmmmm?
From the novel: "I don't understand anything," she said with decision, determined to preserve her incomprehension intact. "Nothing. Least of all," she continued in another tone "why you don't take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You'd forget all about them. And instead of feeling miserable, you'd be jolly. So jolly."
First Lady Laura Bush has suggested that pushing for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages should not be part of the election campaign this year, as some of her husband's advisers are said to be planning. Good for her.
Here's the transcript of her interview on Fox News.
The issue of same-sex marriages is clearly divisive. Even worse is the notion of using the Constitution as a vehicle for restricting the behavior of citizens and residents. Throughout its glorious history, The Constitution has been entirely dedicated to putting limits on government, not on the people of this country. The one exception was Prohibition. That worked so well it took another amendment to wipe it off the books.
The issue of defining marriage is best left to the states, and they ought to tread very lightly.
We've decided to support State Controller Steve Westly for governor in the Democratic primary on June 6. We offer our reasons in this editorial in today's Bee.
Here's the opening paragraph of the editorial: "The choice in the Democratic primary for governor is a simple one. California needs a chief executive who can pull together the many political constituencies required to resolve the serious problems facing the Golden State. Controller Steve Westly is a Democrat who can work with Republicans and independents. Democratic voters should support him on June 6."
It's been quite a year for prom preparations. As Mel Gibson notes in that funny movie, "What Women Want," prom is all about the dress. Our exchange daughter, Merete from Norway, has had a whirlwind dress-hunting adventure through five cities looking for "the one." It's been interesting this year because her parents just happened to be visiting from Norway right in the middle of the national dress-hunting frenzy. It's good for them to see what host parents do to make their American prom a night they will never forget.
We spent one marathon day hitting store after store in San Francisco. Kari, Merete's mother, was up for the challenge of finding the perfect "prom" dress, though she didn't really know what that meant. She'd hold up a dress and Merete would say, "That's really pretty, but it's not a prom dress." What is a "prom" dress? Kari kept asking. So we showed her a few typical examples. But we hastened to tell her it shouldn't look like a "pageant" dress and it shouldn't look too much like a "prom" dress. Too prom-y. Understand? Well, no. The best I could do was tell her when Merete put on the right dress, she would know it.
In San Francisco, we must have tried on 40 dresses. I say "we" tried on the dresses, because it really feels like that. All three of us dashed through the display racks, carrying all the "maybes" around with us, then waited in lines for dressing rooms -- sometimes half an hour at really popular prom stores like Macys Union Square. Kari got a real kick out of the cranky American moms she watched in the dressing rooms while their daughters tried on prom dresses. She could mimick those women's faces just perfectly. The women we met up with at the end of the day at Nordstrom were openly frustrated, upset at the cost, upset at the time, just tired of shopping for this event that several said was just way out of hand. The dads and boyfriends lined up outside the fitting rooms to offer their opinions about the dresses also amused our visitor. One boyfriend was very patient, but he knew the reality of the situation -- "My opinion doesn't really matter. She'll get whatever she wants." So young yet so wise! Merete was matter-of-fact and said the dads are there for just one reason, to make sure nothing's showing. Again, how soon they learn!
Merete's father, Paul, was really thinking this was all a little excessive. At dinner, Merete said she'd like to go to a shop in Capitola, which is right near Santa Cruz, their next stop. She found her Christmas formal dress there. No, Paul said firmly. "I don't want to take up our traveling time with more shopping." Merete's little bottom lip came out, she put her head down on the table in a classic princess pout. I was impressed with Paul's impressively strong stand in the face of an advanced case of prom panic. My husband and I looked at each other, wow.
The next day we talked to Merete on the cell phone. How's Santa Cruz? Good, she said. We're in Capitola shopping. Ha. We knew it. He was spineless just like the rest of us.
She has found the perfect dress, by the way, right at home at a little boutique called Starlett O'Hara in Fig Garden Village. It's short and brown with sequins and beads on the bodice. Very pretty on her. She found two good dresses there, in fact. Her dad got another shot of culture shock when the store refused to sell them the first dress Merete liked. They have a registry there, the clerk explained, and they won't sell the same dress to two girls going to the same prom. How awful would that be to see a girl in the same dress? In America, it's a trauma. Paul didn't know whether to be amazed or amused; he'd never experienced a store that wouldn't take your money for merchandise. Seemed perfectly sensible to me, although it is upsetting when another girl gets a great dress first. Anyway, it doesn't matter because Merete found another one. Kari told me that she thought Merete might be starting to panic. The shoes were no problem. She found a pair of strappy bronze sandals while touring Las Vegas with her folks.
For all those mothers, fathers and boyfriends who are getting really impatient with the stress of the whole prom thing, remember this. We've sent off a whole lot of girls to their first proms and afterward they always say the best part was the preparation: the shopping for the dress with their moms, dads, sweeties or friends; getting just the right accessories and, of course, the pampering -- manicures, pedicures, getting their hair and makeup done. At the end of the night, prom itself is just a dance, but all this attention on them, well that is something many girls remember all their lives.
Are you having a big prom adventure, too? Whoa, let's talk.
I have spent a lot of time pointing out the many problems of California's Department of Motor Vehicles, and I usually put off dealing with this agency when I have business with it. Over the years, it has not been a very customer-friendly agency.
But I think the DMV is getting its act together. I renewed my daughter's car registration online today, and it took about three minutes. I received a notice right after I clicked to submit my credit card payment saying "Congratulations." I was done. Finished. No check to write. No stamp to find. How cool is that?
You might give it a try. There's 24-hour access. Don't stand in line. . . go to the DMV site and renew your vehicle registration in minutes. You can also do it by phone by calling 1-800-921-1117. You can do a lot of business with the DMV by computer or by phone.
Of course, if you like standing in line down at the DMV office, you can do that, too.
Saturday is Valley Voices Day on the Opinion pages, a day reserved for commentaries by local writers. This week, we've got Dr. Tom Eliason, a retired cardiologist, writing about what he's learned since he began caring for the poor one day a week at Holy Cross Center. Wayland Jackson, a retired teacher, also is writing about lessons he's learning during volunteer work at the Fresno Rescue Mission. He's finding illiterate men there who actually hold high school diplomas and college degrees from schools in the Valley. And he's none too happy about the teachers who pushed them through. Larry Dunn of Fresno Pacific University talks about the importance of mothers who are willing to campaign for peace.
The Vision section cover, coming up Sunday, analyzes Freud. It's the guy's 150th birthday, so the timing seems right. Steve Parra, The Bee's graphic artist, has a fun little "Freud at a glance" graphic that gives simple explanations for his theories on things like the id, ego and superego. Victor Davis Hanson suggests in his column that the money that Mexicans send home while working in the United States actually hurts everyone involved. The workers live in poverty here, and the money they send home is helping to enable Mexico to keep cheating its residents of a good standard of living.
On the Opinion page, we present our recommendations on the sheriff's race and congratulate the winners of the Academic All-Stars competition. Our letter witer of the week feature is Joe Hemphill, who writes prolifically despite debilitating cerebral palsy. Jim Boren answers folks who wonder why The Bee makes recommendations in the election. Are we trying to tell people how to vote or what? Look for the Word for Word column of quotes on the back page, and a new feature, the Valley's Top 10 List. This week, it's the Top 10 reasons for the Valley's high car-theft rate. It's fun -- and there is an opportunity for you to join in. We'd love folks to come up with their own lists. Don't miss Maureen Dowd comparing the popularity of the two Presidents Bush -- both had pretty lousy numbers. Annette Amelia Oliveira writes a memoir of her mom, who could really play "Deal or No Deal" with nerves of steel. Thomas L. Friedman gives even more reasons for making drastic changes in our lifestyle to escape dependence on forein oil. Some pretty ugly folks are in control of that oil and so long as we need them, they've got a grip on our throats.
Just when you think it can't get worse, more news erupts about this administration's cavalier attitude toward our constitutional rights. USA Today and the New York Times are reporting that the government is paying AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth for records of domestic phone calls -- billions of them -- to build a huge database for the National Security Agency to mine in its efforts to identify potential terrorists. Civil libertarians are appalled, and so are members of Congress from both parties.
President Bush hastily remarked, in defense of his administration, that "We're not mining or trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans." Well, yes, we are. Bush added: "The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval." With all due respect, that's hogwash. One of the complaints arising out of earlier revelations of the NSA's domestic wiretapping is that in many cases the eavesdropping was done without warrants.
And now the president wants to appoint the chief NSA wiretapper, Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, to run the CIA. One day, someone in this bunch is going to tell us that "It became necessary to destroy the Constitution in order to save it."
Sometimes elected officials don’t know a good deal if it slapped them in the face. That’s the case with the North Central Fire Protection District board members. They deadlocked 2-2 again on a proposal to have the city of Fresno take over fire protection, giving them better coverage at a reasonable price. But the North Central board -- at least two members -- seem paralyzed by the prospect of having to make a decision of this magnitude.
Board chairwoman Cheryl Belluomini and board member Ken Abrahamian opposed the $4.33 million contract with the city. Three "yes" votes are needed to make a decision, and the opponents are blocking the majority vote by standing pat.
Everyone who spoke at the meeting Wednesday favored the contract. The firefighters union supports it. Residents support it. Apparently only Belluomini and Abrahamian oppose it, and they sure haven't explained their reasoning very well. Whose interests are these board members looking out for?
Board member Dennis Yates said he does not understand why Belluomini and Abrahamian are are opposed. I don’t either. It doesn't make sense, especially if you are interested in improved fire protection for North Central residents.
The editorial board gives its recommendation on Proposition 82, the state preschool initiative. We discuss North Central Fire Distict's missed opportunity for consolidation progress and urge U.S. policy makers to show neither ridicule nor indifference to Iran's strange overtures and avoid making veiled threats to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
On the Op-Ed page, George Will says John McCain is way too fuzzy on the First Amendment; Clarence Page predicts a future presidential matchup between Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and J. Kenneth Blackwell of Ohio, and Suzanne Gordon talks about what nurses would really like to see happen during the national celebration known as Nurses Week.
SW Parra has an editorial cartoon on the Juan Arambula debate that is not to be missed.
Well, we have a full-blown case of prom fever at our house, how about you?
A few weeks ago, the conversation among our exchange daughter, Merete, and her girlfriends was all about "who." Would the "special" boys ask them, should they drop hints to their favorites or enlist friends to do so? Should they do the asking if no one asked? Or should they all just go to prom together, dance with everyone and pass on the whole "prom date" drama?
Two of the girls voted for making it a "girls night." Merete wanted the whole traditional package -- to go to prom with a very nice American boy. It took some arguing with her friends, but they all agreed to go as couples. Merete was full of nonstop questions about how the perfect prom date happens. It's pretty complicated to explain American high school dating customs and even worse to explain why we do things as we do . In the end, it happened very simply and very 2006. She got invited by a series of text messages that began "Are you going to prom?" What do I say, she asked us, yes or no? We told her that's the traditional, safe opening line for a prom invitation to come. She just smiled and she took it from there...
This morning, I said goodbye to Room 16, the sixth-grade class at Kirk Elementary School, where I volunteer one day a week in the fluency program. Mrs. Scholz is the teacher and she is a wonderful educator. I saw first-hand the range of reading skills in this class, and the daily challenge for Mrs. Scholz to get the best out of children who have such varied abilities. She was up to the task, and the children were eager to learn.
The Bee sponsors Kirk and 26 of my colleagues volunteered at the school this year. The volunteer program ended this week, as Kirk prepares for end-of-the-year activities.
The school in southwest Fresno is making good progress on improving student performance. The teachers and Principal Carla Manning are working hard on behalf of children who don't have the same advantages that children from the north end of Fresno have.
The children gave me a hand-made card today. They called me Mr. Wednesday because that's the day I go to Kirk. My Wednesdays won't be the same -- at least not until school starts again in the fall. It was a joy to meet Alejandra, Jimiesha, Melina, Melanie, Dashanae, Yaritza, Perla, Maria, James, Albert, Daisy, Latori and the other children from Room 16.
There was real heartbreak at Grizzlies Stadium on Monday evening, and not just because the Grizzlies managed to blow a lead late in the game and lose to the Portland Beavers in 11 innings.
The real tragedy occurred in the stands right behind the visiting team's dugout, along the third base line. A young boy, perhaps four or five years old, was enjoying the game with his family when a foul ball came flying into the stands nearby. The man who caught the ball handed it over to the boy -- Bravo! -- and the look of joy on the kid's face was apparent even from the upper deck.
Over the next couple of innings, the boy played with the ball, showing it off to anyone who would look and tossing it up in the air, playing catch with himself. About the sixth inning, he dropped the ball on the roof of the dugout. It trickled forward and over the edge into the Portland dugout.
I expected to see a Portland player stand up and toss the back to the lad, but no. He grew increasingly frantic; his parents tried to get the attention of someone in the dugout. No help. After a couple of innings, the family packed up and left, the boy drained and saddened, draped in his mother's arms.
What's with those Portland guys? Wasn't it enough to send the fans home disappointed in another Grizzlies loss? Did they have to break the heart of a little Fresno boy in the process? Bah. There oughta be a law.
Jim Delsing, a former major league baseball player, died Tuesday in Missouri at 80. His passing recalls the weirdest event in baseball history.
Delsing was a young outfielder with the St. Louis Browns in 1951, when the owner of the Browns, the legendary Bill Veeck, cooked up his most memorable prank. Veeck signed an unknown player named Eddie Gaedel to a contract. On Aug. 19, manager Zack Taylor sent Gaedel up to pinch hit for Frank Saucier, leading off the second game of a doubleheader. Big deal, right? Not big at all: Gaedel, a stage performer, stood 3 feet, 7 inches tall and weighed all of 65 pounds. Detroit Tigers pitcher Bob Cain walked him, of course, in part because he got to laughing so hard he could barely throw the ball to the plate.
Gaedel trotted to first, was replaced by pinch runner Delsing, and then walked off into baseball lore to the standing ovation of the crowd.
Veeck later wrote: “If the thing had been done right, Delsing, running for Gaedel, would have scored and we would have won the game, 1-0. I was willing to settle for less than that. I was willing to win by one run, regardless of the final score, as long as that run represented Eddie Gaedel. As it was, there being a limit to the amount of help you can expect from either the St. Louis Browns or fortune, Delsing got as far as third base with only one out and was then left stranded. We lost the game, 6-2.”
About 18,000 people were on hand for the episode, a great crowd for the lowly Browns. Veeck wrote a decade later: “Even today, I cannot talk to anybody from St. Louis without being told that they were there the day the midget came to bat. If everybody was there who says he was there, we would have had a tidy gathering of 280,000.”
Major league officials, an unimaginative lot even then, went ballistic. There was considerable harrumphing, and Gaedel was banned from the game.
Here’s the full account from Veeck’s delightful 1962 autobiography, “Veeck as in Wreck.”
Often in politics, you have to compromise to get something accomplished, and victories usually come in small bits and pieces. That’s why the bond package passed by California lawmakers last week is good for the state and the San Joaquin Valley. If the bonds are approved by voters in November, they will help make the region and the state better.
The legislative compromise represents huge progress toward repairing the state's infrastructure. The Valley didn’t get funding for a dam at Temperance Flat, and the loss of that project has thrown local officials into a tizzy. Temperance Flat funding would have been good, but that dam won’t be built for 20 years. We need it, but we also need help in so many other areas. So let’s talk about what the region did get.
There’s $1 billion for Highway 99, as well as $2 billion more in other transportation funding that the Valley has a large claim to through the funding formula that gives money to “self-help counties.” We qualify in Fresno County because of our willingness to help pay for our own transportation costs through Measure C.
And there’s also money for farmworker housing, retrofitting aging school buses and other funding to improve air quality. Where do you think most of that money is going? Valley universities and colleges and K-12 schools also will get money through the education part of the bond package.
This public works package, which voters will have to approve in November, bond proposal was the subject of a major compromise by Democrats and Republicans. Finally, they are working together. The $37.3 billion proposal has $19.9 billion for transportation spending, another $10.4 billion for schools and $4.1 billion for flood protection.
This package isn’t perfect, but it’s about as good as you can get in a political system that seldom shows meaningful results. We should be celebrating the parts of the bond package that are good for the Valley, and working to get Temperance Flat funding in the next bond.
Need a real clever fund-raiser for your club or organization? I was invited to speak to the National Women's Political Caucus last week. While I was there, I noticed that they have a terrific way to raise money and catch up on everyone's news pronto: Happy Dollars.
The price is $1 for 30 seconds and for the buck(s) you can stand up in the meeting and give a plug for your pet project, brag on your kids, show vacation photos, campaign for a candidate you like -- or whistle the Fresno State fight song if you want. A member actually stands by your side with clock in hand and alerts you every time you hit another dollar mark. It's a super idea and you have no idea how fast people can talk when they are on the clock. Members pay up on the spot and they are remarkably cheerful about doing so. This group gets my award for the most effective use of meeting time. They collect the Happy Dollars while they are waiting for dinner to arrive. Not a moment gets wasted there.
For example, Howard Watkins had no problem spending $5 spreading this news:
"Our daughter, Robin, last week received the Outstanding Leadership Award
from the Business Mentoring Program at Long Beach State for her work in
coordinating a major fundraiser and alternative Spring Break which resulted
in 35 fellow students spending their time in Louisiana helping to cleanout
and rebuild homes damaged by Katrina. She also graduates Long Beach State
on May 24th and will be featured in the June issue of Fresno Magazine.
My wife, Christine, retires from Fresno Unified School District on June 2nd
after 33 years of teaching English (Tehipite, Edison, Roosevelt, CART, and
Hoover). Our son, Adam, graduates Harvard Law School on June 8th.
I turn 59 on June 16th. Our son and his fiancée, Louise Francois, get married back East on June
25th.
My wife and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary on July 4th. (Great
date for an anniversary--I never forget it.) We have a West Coast meet-and-greet wedding reception and family reunion in late July."
Betsy Blossom spent a goodly sum talking about a recent fund-raiser she attended for the Yang family in Clovis, which recently was hit with a devastating fire. She was most tickled, however, over Bee photographer Craig Kohlruss's picture of t |