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I read an article today about six teens who face felony vandalism charges 
because of the dedicated sleuthing of a mother whose house was hit by the pranksters.
Katja Base, of Norco, California, said she did it to teach her own kids a lesson about accountability.
Base canvassed local supermarkets, to see if any had experienced a run on toilet paper in the days leading up to the shenanigans. Once she found one that had, she went to the tape -- the videotape, that is -- to gain further clues to the culprits' identities.
I guess there's something to be learned from watching crime TV shows. If you're thinking about doing a little late-night toilet papering, watch out! You'll never guess who might unmask you.
I have to say that growing up I was never a victim or perpetrator of TP hi-jinks. Has this ever happened to you or someone you know?
(Photo: Bee file)
I'm usually pretty cold to celebrity spew masquerading as news, but this flap over Mel Gibson and his alleged anti-Semitic remarks has me interested. The "Mad Max" and "Lethal Weapon" star was pulled over for drunken driving recently in Malibu, and according to leaked reports, railed at Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, blaming Jews for "all the wars in the world," among other slurs.
There are further allegations that the LA Sheriff's Department sanitized its report of the incident and tried to downplay the actor's behavior. The department now says it will investigate the matter.
Gibson's been accused of anti-Semitism before, most famously in the context of his recent hit movie about the life of Jesus Christ.
There is now a lot of speculation about whether this is a catastrophic blow to Gibson's career. My guess is, no it isn't. Anti-Semitism runs so deep in this world, and the attention span of Americans is so fleeting, that I doubt Gibson will suffer much at all from this episode.
Fresno County isn't the only region opening a new juvenile hall facility. San Mateo County's a taking softer, gentler approach to juvenile offenders.
"At the county's new $148 million youth services complex, the premise is treatment, not punishment, and the message is delivered in the very walls: soothing pastels to calm testy moods, skylights letting in swaths of sunlight and open space for stretching growing muscles," says a story in the San Jose Mercury News. "Unlike other California counties that are greatly expanding their juvenile halls, San Mateo added only a few lockup beds and instead created homier settings for girls, substance abusers and the mentally ill. The juvenile hall is surrounded by a network of services for young people in trouble, from run-amok kids who exhaust their parents to teens who kill. The complex, whose first phase opens in September, is already eliciting praise from advocates and justice officials statewide."
About 1,200 of Fresno County Schools Superintendent Pete Mehas' closest friends gathered Saturday night in the new Exhibit Hall in downtown Fresno to pay tribute to Mehas' 44-year career in education. Among the guests were former Gov. George Deukmejian and Jack O'Connell, the curent state superintendent of public instruction. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent a video message that was both humorous and serious.
These kind of events can go on forever, with every politician trying to get face time by offering a resolution or plaque to the honoree. Fortunately, there were few speeches from pols. A well-edited video summed up Mehas' career, which started at Roosevelt High School as a teacher.
Mehas is in the last year of his fourth term as county schools superintendent. A story in today's Bee recounts Mehas' long career, recounting the highs and lows. That includes some questionable hirings and missteps in dealing with union leaders at the county department of education. But the positive parts of Mehas' tenure more than outweigh the negative. He became a statewide voice for education, and that helped school districts in the Valley.
At Saturday night's dinner, it was announced that the building housing the Fresno County Office of Education, located on Van Ness near Fresno Street, will be named for Mehas. That building is only a few doors down from the malt shop run by Mehas' father when Mehas was growing up.
A story in today's Bee talks about how complex the NCAA compliance rules are -- so much so that they are listed in a 494-page manual. While a lot of college sports fans like to make the NCAA out to be the bad guy, the reason the agency has so many rules is that so many colleges cheat. For every rule that the NCAA has created to protect the integrity of college athletics, there are several coaches trying to get around it. That means the NCAA must tighten the rule, making it even more cumbersome.
It's easy to lay this off on the NCAA instead of putting the blame on the coaches and colleges that cheat. They are the problem, not the NCAA. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing cheaters whine about how tough the NCAA is. My criticism of the NCAA is that it's too lenient of repeat cheaters. The answer is simple. Ban the cheaters. That will never happen, of course, because there's too much money in college athletics.
Fresno State is fortunate that it still has a basketball program after all of the violations under coaches JerryTarkanian and Ray Lopes. Bulldog basketball fans can thank the NCAA for being such a softy in dealing with Fresno State, whose motto is "I'll never do it again. Honest."
Saturday's Op-Ed page is filled with commentaries by The Bee's young readers. Jennifer Goolkasian, a graduate of san Joaquin Memorial High School, writes about her fun experiences as a member of the high school band (she played the xylophone!). Brenda Rankin, a senior at Fresno State, is lamenting the loss of her summer vacation because he has to feed her resume. And that means lots of volunteer work to look better on paper for graduate schools. Anthony Chuka Ogwu-Oju is home on summer vacation from Harvard and he shares his thoughts about the immigration debate.
In Sunday's Vision section, Drake Bennett of the Boston Globe's Ideas section analyzes why Bill and Melinda Gates' philanthropic dollars are spent so effectively. Victor Davis Hanson of Stanford's Hoover Institution (via Selma) says Americans should appreciate the affluence we enjoy because our good life could come to an end. Our featured letter writer this week is Michael Alexander Varin, 29, who describes himself as libertarian, but not necessarily Libertarian Party. He thinks partisan politics is destructive.
Jim Boren, editor of the editorial pages, writes about how we put together the editorial pages and the role they play in our democracy. He invites your suggestions for improvements. On the Op-ed page, we have a debate addressing this question: Will Democrats be making a mistake if they oust Sen. Joe Lieberman in next month's primary?
Our top 10 list this week is "Things to do when the power is off." No. 10 is "Dream fondly of tule fog." (It does sound good right now, doesn't it?) Perhaps you can guess No. 1. Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe challenges commentator Barbara Dafoe Whitehead of the National Marriage Project for her observation that popular culture is hostile to parenting. Goodman is not sure she's living in the same world as Dafoe as she points out that the bump beat has never been so hot. Looking at the popular magazines, the public can't get enough of Angelina, Brad, Tom and Katie etc. and their baby news. The Bee's award-winning editorial cartoonist, SW Parra, weighs in on the heat.
Enjoy!
Valerie Godines, a writer for the Orange County Register, has drawn one of the most compelling and vivid first-person portraits of a struggle with bipolar disorder and child abuse I have ever read. For anyone who lives with, works with or cares for family members suffering from mental illness or child abuse, don't miss this amazing chronicle of insanity and healing. From the author: "Hello there. My name is Valerie Godines. I have been in journalism for 19 years. My series is about bipolar disorder. I decided to go public with this, because I learned during my illness that we're still so afraid to talk about mental illness. It is something that so many people are so ashamed of. I really, really want to try and change that. This series isn't just about bipolar disorder. It's about the human spirit, how we survive the unimaginable. It's the true story of a woman who falls apart and is gingerly put back together. It's about a woman who thought she killed her daughter. It's about a daughter who saved that woman."
This is sheer courage.
It must have been a shock to the system for regular listeners to Kingsburg-based KFYE, FM 106.3 who tuned in for their usual serving of Christian music, sermons and Bible stories on the station, only to hear the sounds of "all sex radio, all the time."
The new format was installed by the station's new owner, Jerry Clifton, of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Pro-active Communications-Fresno. Clifton was coy about his motives when The Bee's Rick Bentley asked him about the change. (Here's today's story.)
But it's probably very simple: Sleaze sells. Oh, boy, does it sell.
Some area residents and former listeners are outraged, of course. They want the Federal Censorship Commission -- uh, Communications Commission -- to step in and levy hefty fines, which the FCC now does in its role as state-appointed monitor of morals.
Ah, well. It's at least a momentary diversion from the real obscenity that surrounds us in this Valley -- the poverty, violence, despair and hopelessness that blight so many lives.
Not every California city is worried about job creation and fixing potholes. In Santa Cruz, the City Council has been debating a measure to ask city voters in the Nov. 7. election to say whether they think President George W. Bush should be impeached. On Tuesday, the council finally voted 4-3 against putting the question on the ballot. Here's the Santa Cruz Sentinel's report on the emotional debate on Tuesday night.
Councilman Tim Fitzmaurice pushed the impeachment measure because of the war in Iraq and wiretapping of American citizens, according to the Sentinel. But a majority of the council decided that the symbolic measure shouldn't be on the ballot. But don't even think that was because the president has some supporters on the Santa Cruz council.
The council had its say on the Bush administration. According to the Santa Cruz newspaper, a resolution was passed that said "President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney have committed high crimes and misdemeanors" and that warrants "their impeachment and removal from office."
So there you have it. Why put the impeachment question on the ballot when the City Council can speak so clearly for its citizens?
Getting Fresno County's Measure C extension on the ballot was the easy part -- though it may not have always seemed so to the two dozen community members who spent more than a year crafting the spending plan for transportation improvements.
The biggest obstacle now, of course, is the onerous two-thirds majority required for such tax measures. There is always a significant fraction of the electorate who believe they should get all the services they want without having to pay for them, and routinely vote against any tax, for any purpose. It takes two voters with a modicum of vision to overcome a single such shortsighted voter.
The need to extend Measure C is clear. The new spending plan shifts a lot of money from huge freeway projects to other needs, such as mass transit -- cleaner and more frequent buses, for instance -- and rail consolidation in Fresno. A lot of new money will be available for repair and maintenance of local streets and roads throughout the county.
The original Measure C, passed in 1986, kept Fresno County from transportation collapse. With the growth anticipated in the near future, we need this extension just to keep running in place.
Now this heat is more than just yucky -- it's turned deadly. An article in today's Bee says that authorities in Fresno County are investigating as many as 14 deaths that may be heat related. Statewide the number of casualties may be over 50.
Mayor Alan Autry described it the other day as "killer heat." And he has reacted quickly to help give citizens relief.
Fresnans who need relief from the heat can call (559) 621-HEAT (4328) to get a ride to an air-conditioned community center. A Handy Ride vehicle or a taxi will take them to and from the closest center. Autry also has 14 city buses ready to help county residents in unincorporated areas.
County and education officials are also responding to the need for relief, especially for members of our community who are most vulnerable.
My friend Linda's air conditioner went out over the weekend. She put out a call for help on an online network of mostly local friends we have through a Yahoo group, and immediately another friend, Denise, helped her by donating a portable air conditioner that she can use until she gets the problem resolved.
This is how we will get through this -- by all pulling together and helping each other out.
Every Saturday, The Bee turns its Op-Ed page over to its readers. We are one of the few newspapers in the country to do that. I'm the primary editor for that page, so I'm often asked for advice about writing. One of my favorite sources of writing advice is the Poynter Institute. It has a crack faculty and a premier Web site that is newsy, witty, humorous and educational. Dr. Roy Peter Clark is one of the best writing teachers I've ever met. A few years ago, I had the most joyful week-long session at Poynter with him, Chip Scanlan and Don Murray of the Boston Globe. I will never forget it. Roy has a new blog on writing tools and this should give you a taste of his sense of serious fun. One of his recent entries is called "Get the name of that bra." Now, who could resist such a title? He also has a new book coming out soon, a collection of columns he is calling "Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer."
I've already signed up to get it the minute it comes out.
The Los Angeles Times reports today that L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is very demanding of his staff to the point of being treated like a rock star.
"It's up to a swarm of harried aides to keep the boss hydrated and happy, primped and pampered, ensuring that he has clean hands and fresh breath (he gobbles Listerine strips by the pack)," the Times reports. "Villaraigosa is chauffeured around town by police in a black GMC Yukon. Two personal assistants, assigned to him in alternating shifts, tend to his needs, shadowing him from morning to night and keeping him in view at all times should he need anything."
The Times found all this out when it obtained a copy of a memo entitled, "Staffing the Mayor." These are the instructions in the memo that I particularly like: "Your job is to remain at all times within the mayor's line of sight. You should constantly adjust your position so the mayor can see you and call you over if need be."
You better not lose eye contact with the king or you'll be sweeping hallways at City Hall.
If you have teenagers at home who are involved in the dating scene, you already know the romantic dramas can get pretty intense. Most of it is typical of the age, but a new study reveals that teen dating is becoming increasingly violent, destructive and pathological. It's important to teach teenagers to set firm boundaries against physical violence and to recognize when a partner is becoming abusive emotionally, psychologically or physically. Pam Kallsen of the Marjaree Mason Center, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, sent me this note yesterday from the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence:
Unprecedented Levels of Teen Dating Violence and Abuse Uncovered
In March 2006, Liz Claiborne Inc. commissioned Teenage Research Unlimited (TRU) to conduct a survey to delve deeper into the issue of teen dating abuse, gauging the degree to which teens have been involved in abusive/controlling relationships and to understand youth perceptions regarding what is and is not acceptable behavior in a relationship.
The findings were astounding. The results show that alarming numbers of teens experience and accept abusive behavior in dating relationships and that the problem gets worse as teens get older and into more serious relationships. Many teens also feel physically and sexually threatened.
The reports of abuse extend across suburbs and cities, all ethnic groups and regions; yet teens in the South and the Midwest report abuse in greater numbers than other regions. Alarming acceptance of physical violence among Hispanic teens.
To read the full report visit : http://www.loveisnotabuse.com/pdf/Liz%20Claiborne%20Mar%2006%20Relationship%20Abuse%20Hotsheet.pdf
In 1986, Fresno County voters approved a visionary tax proposal that set the stage for the county to confirm its place as the capital of the San Joaquin Valley. It wasn't just a transportation plan that was established, but also an economic engine that has helped drive growth, jobs and prosperity in the region. Now that tax, Measure C, is up for renewal, and it is crucial to the county's future that it wins approval from voters on Nov. 7.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to formally put the measure on the ballot on Tuesday. The plan is to have the half-cent sales tax extended for another 20 years, although it won't be exactly the same as its predecessor. The first tax was mostly for freeways, and this is a more balanced transportation plan now that the freeways in the area have been mostly built.
The biggest political hurdle in the renewal is the two-thirds majority that is now required for approval. That won't be easy to accomplish, but so far there's no organized opposition.
The measure would raise $1.7billion for freeways, local roads, bus systems and other transportation projects. All that is needed to help accommodate the massive growth that is expected in the region over the next several years.
I can never resist an invitation to bolt out of the office and tap into my inner girly girl with a tea party. In the U.S., high tea is more popular with women -- although in England, everyone does it about 4 p.m. Clovis has its own version in Old Town, where high tea is served at the Victoria Rose Cottage. It was a hotel and a tea room in its previous lives, and I remember taking my 8-year-old niece there years ago. We dressed up with our hats for the occasion and they put ice tea with lots of sugar in her little teapot. Her own mother isn't really the lace and tulle type, so this was a real adventure. We had so much fun there that even though she is now about 15, she still remembers that lunch. There aren't too many meals that stick with children like that.
The old Clovis Hotel has been remodeled again with even more frou frou than before. There are enough flowers in that place to cover a float at the Pasadena Rose parade. It's so dainty, it should have a "fragile" label. This is a period place that just fits perfectly in Old Town. Actually, there have been several other tea houses in Fresno over the years, some in downtown and the Tower District, one in Piccadilly Square and I've always loved them all. They didn't all last forever, but while they were here, they added a wonderful diversity to the fare.
I went with my most glamorous friend, who of course, wore a huge picture-brim hat with a silk flower on the brim. She wouldn't be herself without it. This little break was so delightfully different from the everyday routine. There were tablesful of women of all ages with hats on, including a full party in the back of that red-hat club you hear so much about. What I really like about this experience is that everything just goes against the popular trends. The food is slow, not fast. The food is little, not big. The music is old, not modern; soft, not loud or pounding. The décor is over the top, embellishment upon embellishment, and it just works. There's plenty of time to talk and you can actually hear each other.
If you're one of those people who has trouble deciding what to order on the menu, high tea is just perfect -- it's a little bit of everything. Four or five kinds of sandwiches, a little quiche, salad, cake, fruit, tea, scones, lemon curd, jam, devonshire cream. While most of the new restaurants in town are piling enough food on your plate to feed a family of four, the portions are just tiny little delicious samples. There is something to be said for that! There are flowers on each plate for garnish. You're perfectly satisfied when you leave -- but not guilty or uncomfortably full.
There is also a little gift shop with hats and dolls and other sissy things. It's the kind of experience where you take pictures.
This adds a nice variety to the Valley's choices. Sometimes you're in your pin stripes at the Downtown Club, sometimes you're tossing down birthday margaritas with a sombrero on your head and sometimes you feel like tea with scones. Isn't this what they mean by "having it all?"
There's nothing wrong with a county department head -- in this case Fresno County Sheriff Richard Pierce -- passionately arguing for money during budget hearings before the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. The problem with the way this process has been working over the past few year is that Pierce refuses to share the inner workings of his budget with the supervisors who fund him, and then suggests that they are soft on crime if they dare question his budget.
That unhealthy dynamic must change when the new sheriff's administration takes over in January. Either Cal Minor or Margaret Mims, the runoff candidates in the November sheriff's election, should pledge to keep the board and the county administrative office in the loop on the budget.
On Wednesday, Pierce and Supervisors Susan Anderson and Bob Waterston got in a heated exchange over the sheriff's budget. Waterston even called Pierce a "big bully" over the way he has conducted himself in budget hearings. Pierce also didn't distinguish himself when he told Anderson, one of the most respected supervisors, "I resent your implication that someone is deliberately budgeting wrong. I have managed budgets far longer than you have ever been a supervisor or a department head." Here's Bee reporter Kerri Ginis' story in today's Bee on the issue.
The contentious National Park Service plan to protect the Merced River in Yosemite ran into another road block Wednesday when U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Ishii said a revision of an earlier plan wasn't enough to satisfy the demands of an appellate court. He said a new plan is called for.
The environmentalists who have been fighting the Park Service over the plan -- not surprisingly -- were "delighted" with the decision, according to The Bee's Mark Grossi in today's story. The Park Service was less than thrilled.
Yosemite is always contentious. The park is a treasure, and everyone wants a piece of it. That's fitting, because it belongs to everyone. But it's terribly hard to find a balance between the need to protect a sometimes fragile environment and the right of the American people -- and the people of the world, for that matter -- to enjoy this jewel in every possible fashion.
Who knows how this will turn out? The one certain thing is that, in any issue involving Yosemite, passions will run high. If nothing else, that's testimony to the power this natural wonder has over those who love it.
While we were on vacation last week, my husband and I took our three daughters on the train trip to Hanford. We were accompanied by his sister, her children's babysitter and her three children. The kids all had a ball! 
It's about a half-hour trip -- just about the perfect length for squirmy little ones -- and once there, we walked downtown and had lunch and ice cream at the Superior Dairy.
Talking to my brother later, he asked what attraction Hanford holds. Quite a bit actually.
Hanford has a quaint old-fashioned downtown, the kind many of us remember from towns we grew up in. It has preserved many of its historic buildings and sights, making it a tourist destination spot in the Valley. This link gives information on many of its popular destinations. My oldest daughter Alyssa took this trip as a school field trip when she was a second-grader at Manchester GATE School.
We weren't the only Fresnans who took the train to Hanford that day. We spotted two other groups of parents and children who boarded and returned on the same trains we took. One young father and his two little boys were having lunch at Superior at the same time we were there.
Katie, 3, had been talking about riding the train for weeks. Kids love to do new things, and going on the train gives parents a chance to enjoy the trip with their excited children, rather than having to focus on the road. And the cost was really quite reasonable for the memories that will last a lifetime.
(Photo/Special to the Bee: From left, Connor Haubursin, Katie Boyles and Shayna Boyles ride the Amtrak train to Hanford.)
There's a lot of buzz going around nationally about teaching babies sign language. I'm intrigued. Does anyone have experience with this? Is it helpful?
A Fresno mother, Kelly Barnhart, is doing a lot of teaching about baby signing in the Valley. I really like this idea. One of the scariest and most frightening parts of being a young mother was not knowing what was wrong with the baby. It would be great if she could tell you she wants her doll or lunch or "Sesame Street."
Wells Hills College Child Development Center staff members were trained in Sign 2 Connect curriculum last semester. They also received training in American Sign Language to assist with behavior management, classroom management and bridging diversity.
Kelly says that babies cry less when they can tell their parents what's wrong. She's found that the benefits of signing in a childcare setting are lower noise levels in toddler and pre-school classrooms by reducing frustrated screaming and crying. Signing minimizes stress and frustration for the caregivers, who are responsible for meeting the needs of multiple children at once. Signing reduces the "guesswork" in meeting each child's maintenance needs resulting in more available time for positive, developmental interaction."
Nancy Jeffcoach, site supervisor in Lemoore, said that once all the staff is trained she's hoping that the parents will also be trained in using sign language.
With young children's ability to learn language, it would seem that this would be a terrific way for children to learn a second language before they even go to school. Wouldn't that be a big plus? Let's see now, maybe even the noise from sibling squabbling would go down if the kids were required to use their sign language. Come to think of it, I think angry signs have been a popular method of communication among kids for a long time!
Kelly teaches signing classes at Mommy Matters at Champlain and Perrin; Sign 2 Connect is located at 6095 North San Pablo Street, Fresno, CA 93704. For more information, phone 559-431-7446, fax 559-432-4646.
Yesterday an old friend and I met for lunch in the Tower District. Wendy lived in the Tower for years before she moved away to Santa Rosa, where she is now a teacher.
As we waited for our food, she lamented how so many Tower businesses seem to be gone, leaving empty storefronts where thriving businesses used to be.
I hadn't really noticed this, so this morning on my way in to the office, I made a point of driving down Olive Avenue between Van Ness and Palm. I saw a couple of vacancies on the south side of Olive in the heart of the Tower, but the situation didn't seem too dire to me. A few more as I reached the western edge before turning down Palm.
I know several new restaurants have popped up in the Tower in recent months -- we had wanted to try out Jay Ghazal's new spot, M, where the Daily Planet used to be, but it's not open for lunches (I love Samba!). Other newer dining options include Million Elephant Cafe and Bar, Lipari's Italian Grill on nearby Fern Avenue and Palomino's where Java Cafe was for years.
What do you think? Has the Tower District hit a rough patch? Or is this just normal turnover in a lively section of town?
You don't go to college football games any longer just for the football. It's about tailgating, socializing and what's being called the "entertainment experience." Oh, yeah, and Fresno's State's Pat Hill is putting a competitive football team on the field every Saturday in the fall.
But much more is needed to put people in the seats at Bulldogs Stadium. That's why there will be a new football scoreboard this year costing $1.6 million. The scoreboard will include a 24- foot by 32-foot video screen. Athletic Director Thomas Boeh told our Editorial Board Tuesday the scoreboard will be funded totally by advertisers, who'll get space on the high-tech device. The project will also include a new video marquee on the corner of Cedar and Barstow avenues.
"What you'll get is a better entertainment package for the fans," said Boeh.
The problem is that fans these days need to be stimulated at all times. So between plays, they must see cool video on a scoreboard -- it's like being at home, with commercials, too. The idea of waiting 30 seconds for the next play apparently is just too excruciating. No wonder we think everyone has attention deficit disorder.
Many times we hear horror stories about foster children being moved time after time. I was talking yesterday to Catherine Huerta, acting director of Fresno County's Department of Children and Family Services, about that problem. She said foster children often test their new caregivers.
When they go to a new family, they want to see how serious that family is about taking care of them. So they will test them to see how committed they are. If the families don't understand the reasons behind that acting out, they might give up. "What the children need," Huerta said, "is a family that will not give up on them." Amen to that -- don't we all need that unconditional love from somebody?
Huerta said good foster families "are like gold." "My obligation," she says "is to be there for them as a constant support. Our expectation of them is huge. If we could turn it around and provide support for those families, we would see the biggest difference."
Even the best foster families, however, are second choice to a strong, healthy natural family. Cathy said it is vital to provide as many resources as possible to struggling natural families, to connect them with the services that already exist in the community. Agencies like Exceptional Parents Unlimited can really strengthen a family.
She mentioned a new program called "differential response." In this program, families in crisis are red-flagged early -- before the children are hurt. I like this because I'm a fanatic about early-warning systems, about solving problems when they are small and manageable, rather than later when they are desperate and expensive.
My sister and her family are long-time residents of Santa Barbara -- poor kids! -- so I've been paying fairly close attention to the stories recently about the implosion of the newspaper in the town, the News Press.
Several top editors there have resigned, including well-respected Editor Jerry Roberts and columnist Barney Brantingham. The community is in an uproar, and billionaire owner Wendy McCaw, currently vacationing in Europe, has been vilified, along with her publisher, Travis Armstrong, for heavy-handed tactics and intrusion in the news process.
The Los Angeles Times has a good account today of recent developments, and Brantingham, a well-loved 46-year veteran of the Santa Barbara paper, wrote a lengthy piece for the Santa Barbara Independent, an alternative weekly in the community. It's wild stuff, but it's also serious business.
The credibility of the Santa Barbara newspaper is just about shot, and that's terrible news in this business. In the end, newspapers have little more than their credibility to sustain them. It's very sad. Several very good journalists are out of work, and Santa Barbara is without a reliable newspaper. Everyone loses.
I'm appalled at some of the language floating around about the 11-year-old sexual assault victim. There are many questions unanswered in this case but a few things we know.
-- There are two categories of people involved in this case. There are adults and there are children.
-- This child was injured sexually by someone.
-- This young girl is a foster child, certainly one of society's most vulnerable of children. She is in foster care, which means she had to be taken from parents who could not care for her. She is in a group home and not with family members, which means she does not have the protection and support of extended family members. She does not live in Fresno, which means she has little community support. Who knows what traumatic events she has suffered or witnessed in her short life? What kind of people have guided her and advised her all her life?
Yet there are some who would make this child somehow a contributor to her own trauma because of how she looked, what she did or what she said. Using words like "bad choices" applied to a preteen are ridiculous. We have age of consent laws created specifically because children are too young to understand sex, too naïve to understand that they are easy prey for pedophiles and rapists. All efforts should continue to focus on protecting this vulnerable child and all energies should be expended on finding the predators who hurt her, prosecuting them and then removing them from society so they cannot harm any other children.
In the meantime, I can only hope that she is in a safe place, with caring adults who are able to comfort her and protect her
My main route to work each morning takes me down Wishon-Fulton from my home near Fresno High. I'm constantly bemused -- and sometimes concerned -- by the number of drivers who barrel down that stretch at 15 or 20 or 25 mph over the 35 mph limit.
Occasionally I'm cheered by the presence of a motorcycle officer stationed along the route with his radar gun. Wish we had more like him.
Today I was passed by a fellow in a hulking pickup truck; must have been doing 50. I caught up with him at McKinley, where he was stopped at a red light. I eased over into the right lane and passed him when the light turned green. He blew past me and was waiting again at Olive. Same thing. I cruised on by, he caught up and passed. Again at Belmont. Again at Divisadero.
All I could think was, wow, he beat me to every red light. What a man.
Sunday's story about Fresno 
/>Yosemite International was very good news. We get a lot of visitors from out of town and the less we have to leave town to pick up guests or catch our flights, the better. We like FYI very much and almost always fly out of Fresno. It's a good airport and we'd always rather leave from here. But it all comes down to the fares for our visitors, who are quite often students on very tight budgets. When we get more competitive rates, there will be no need to go through all the hassle of driving north or south, paying to park the car, getting hit with hotel bills going and coming - ugh.
Is it too greedy to wish for some nonstop Mexicana flights to the Mexican Riviera? I'm dreaming now. Think of that - get on the plane in your beach clothes in the morning, snooze for a couple of hours in the air and by lunch time you're eating shrimp, drinking limeade - or something -- on the beach at Mazatlan and speaking Spanish. Sigh.
While we are on the topic of airports, I just heard about a program I really like called the "Read and Return" program. At certain airport bookstores run by Paradies, you can buy a book when you leave on your trip, then return it within six months for a 50% refund. They even tape the receipt to the inside of the book so you don't lose it. You can also buy "pre-read" books there for 50% off. I like that idea! Similarly, the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants, owned by CBRL Group in Lebanon, Tenn., have developed a following for a program that lets travelers buy an audiobook at any of their 519 locations in 41 states. They can then return it in at any other store minus a weekly fee of $3.49. I'd sure like to see similar programs in Fresno. Even without a program by the bookstore, putting bins out so travelers could donate books they've already read to our library just might work.
These are the days I hate living in this Valley. The annual summer stretch of consecutive days with temperatures above 100 degrees. Too hot to run. Too bright outdoors. Too smoggy to breathe.
You'd think we wouldn't even want to talk about it, but that's about the first thing people bring up, especially if they're making small talk as they cross the ocean of asphalt between the car and the blissfully air-conditioned building. "Hot out already, isn't it," I heard one lady say to another at 8:30 a.m. today, on my way in to work.
Still almost 90 degrees when the weather report comes on during the 11 o'clock news broadcast at night.
It's just miserable. I'm thankful I have a job where I'm mostly inside, out of the nasty heat. I've got my little desk fan blowing on me as I write this.
How many weeks will the stretch last this year? It's a contest you don't want to win, but can't help keeping track of.
At least it's a dry heat -- mostly.
I've been getting a good response from frustrated teachers to my column Sunday that pointed out the lack of science instruction in our public schools because of the emphasis on basic subjects. Here's one of the letters:
Dear Mr. Boren,
Your article reflects the thoughts of most elementary school teachers in this country and is the reason why many older teachers are retiring sooner rather than later.
No Child Left Behind is driving the curriculum. Mandatory minutes for reading, language arts and math are progammed into the day with an extra 30 minutes intervention in reading daily and extra 15 minutes extra for math. We were told to drop most science, social studies, art & music and even P.E. is neglected in favor of more prep for subjects tested on high stakes state tests. Even though our 5th graders are tested in science, the lower grades are discouraged from teaching it so there is little cumulative background knowledge being laid down. We used to have time to teach children how to write and appreciate poetry and enter creative writing contests. No more. We are told to focus all of our efforts on the lowest achievers and as a result we are leaving behind or short-changing our brightest and best.
I know this issue has been addressed by Bill Gates and his foundation -- that is, the lack of science knowledge specifically. Is there any way to start a grass-roots movement to bring this issue before our lawmakers and make them realize that what we are doing in the classrooms will serious impact us in the future if we neglect the potential scientists, artists, musicians, and social scientists sitting in our classrooms today?
Yours truly,
Carol Rasmussen
Retired 3rd Grade Teacher
Merced
A row of eucalyptus tree that has stood along 
Chestnut Avenue on the Fresno State campus for some 80 years will come down to make room for the long-awaited widening of the street, according to a Bee story Saturday. That has some people upset, and normally I might find common cause with them.
But I have a hard time rooting for eucalyptus trees. They make a great windbreak in open country, but that's about the only thing good about them. They don't have much of a root system, and often topple on their own. They aren't native to the Valley and they shed those messy little balls and some truly nasty sap, which can wreck painted surfaces.
When I was in college, the parking lot of my dormitory was ringed by eucalyptus. At the end of one year, a friend, who was graduating, had packed up all his belongings in his car. He came back inside for a last cup of coffee and a final round of farewells. As we sat in the dining commons, we heard a tremendous crack, followed by a huge crash. We ran outside to find that a giant limb from one of the trees had fallen smack on top of my friend's car. The car and all his possessions were destroyed. He didn't like eucalyptus trees much, either.
(Photo by Bee photographer Kurt Hegre.)
The San Francisco Chronicle tells us that it isn't only the University of California system that has been quietly handing out taxpayer-financed perks to its executives. The Chron reports that extra compensation worth millions has been given to California State University campus presidents and other top executives when they leave the system. And, of course, it's done without being publicly disclosed. Here's the Chron story.
The problems in the UC system and now this disclosure raise questions about whether California's two four-year systems need more oversight. The UC Board of Regents and the CSU Board of Trustees seem to be out of the loop. It's time for the state Legislature to get more involved in how the two systems spend their money.
The Chronicle's two-part series on CSU will conclude Tuesday with this story: "A look at the special compensation policies benefiting CSU's inner circle of executives."
Every Saturday, The Bee turns its Op-Ed page over to readers. This week we have commentaries from W. Daniel Garst, who writes about his experiences teaching in China for 10 months; Marie V. Banuelos of Hanford, former superintendent of the Hanford Joint Union High school District, says the exit exam is just as much a test of the schools as the students; and Stephen Varvis, director of business and civic relations at Fresno Pacific University, writes about business ethics.
On Sunday, the Vision cover story is an excellent summer read by Victor Davis Hanson of Selma, who is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution. This week he discusses the peaceful coexistence of Harleys and Hobies, speed boats and mountain bikes. These side-by-side playmates on a recent weekend at Hungtington Lake said a lot about our society and our remarkable ability to get along with one another.
Bee editorial page editor Jim Boren doesn't buy the current notion that teaching reading and math and teaching science is an either/or choice in our elementary schools.
On Sunday, the Vision cover story is an excellent summer read by Victor Davis Hanson of Selma, who is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution. This week he discusses the peaceful coexistence of Harleys and Hobies, speed boats and mountain bikes. These side-by-side playmates on a recent weekend at Hungtington Lake said a lot about our society and our remarkable ability to get along with one another.
Jim Boren, Bee editorial page editor, doesn't buy the current notion that teaching reading and math and teaching science is an either/or choice in our elementary schools.
Kathleen Parker of the Orlando Sentinel, writing about the new Superman movie, says there is nothing heroic about a father who woos girls on rooftops, then vanishes in search of himself.
George Will, who recently lost his mother Louise to dementia, talks about the torment this disease exacts on the family and the victim.
James Pinkerton of Newsday comments on Billy and Franklin Graham's ability to work with political power around the world to gain access to people. The torch is being passed from father to son and he wonders what will be the long-term effect of their preaching.
Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe is really enjoying her lobster dinners in Maine, even though some people are challenging the cruelty of boiling live lobsters. It's hard to be a purist about the food chain. Is it really right, for example, to use all that jet fuel to fly baby lettuce across the country?
Each week we feature a local letter writer in a little Q and A: Sunday it's Ron Kryngel, a real estate investor and father of two, who likes politics and hates the war in Iraq.
Valley's Top 10 lists the most annoying things about summer. No. 10 is that burning smell when your bare legs hit the car upholstery. We love to get reader suggestions on these lists. Jump in.
Fresno Republican Mike Der Manouel Jr. says in a GOP political blog that Cal Minor, a retired California Highway Patrol captain, will easily defeat Assistant Sheriff Margaret Mims in the November runoff election for Fresno County sheriff. The main reason, according to Der Manouel, is Fresno County is a solid Republican county. Minor is a Republican and Mims is a Democrat. Der Manouel predicts a landslide for Minor. Read his blog posting in the FlashReport here.
It's not surprising that Der Manouel, chairman of the Lincoln Club of Fresno County, would go with Minor given his opposition to anything and anyone connected to the Democratic Party. But Minor has to be considered the favorite after running first in the June primary in a five-person race.
Mims, though, won't be a walk-over, and Minor supporters could be surprised at the aggressive campaign that Mims is planning for the runoff election. This campaign could get very nasty because both candidates have soft spots that can be exploited.
The latest threat to Valley water supplies is self-inflicted: our home landscaping. A new study from the Public Policy Institute of California says the use of water to irrigate lawns is dramatically higher in the Valley and other inland areas of the state than it is in coastal California. That's partly because of the hotter, drier climate here, but the bigger culprit, the study concludes, is land use policies that favor larger lots and less multifamily residential construction.
We also don't do nearly enough to conserve the water we have. Landscaping currently accounts for at least half of all residential water demand, according to the report.
The growth that's expected in the years ahead will only make the situation worse, especially if we go on about our business-as-usual lives with respect to critical resources like water.
We'll have more to say on this issue in an editorial on Sunday in the Vision section of The Bee.
It looks like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is part of a growing number of elected officials concerned about drivers using cell phones. He said that he would support legislation requiring a hands-free cell phone device when driving, according to this Los Angeles Times story.
State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, has a bill that would ban drivers on cell phones unless they are talking on a hands-free device such as an earpiece, a headset, a speaker phone or the wireless Bluetooth technology.
The governor's position should help Simitian's efforts. His legislation has been blocked every year since he joined the Legislature in 2000.
Many cell phone users try to downplay the danger of being on them while driving, but every study that has looked into the issue has concluded that driving while on a cell phone is substantially more dangerous than any other driver distraction, including eating, changing the radio station or putting on makeup.
Here's a column I wrote recently explaining Simitian's bill.
The National Asset Database is a list of more than 77,000 potential terrorist targets submitted to the Department of Homeland Security by the individual states. The department's own inspector general issued a report Tuesday that calls many of the listings into question.
Indiana, with 8,591 potential terrorist targets, had 50 percent more listed sites than New York (5,687) and more than twice as many as California (3,212), making the Midwestern state the most target-rich place in the nation. Washington state lists nearly twice as many national monuments and icons as Washington, D.C.
Some highlights of the list: 1,305 casinos, 25 golf courses, 24 swimming pools, 44 recreational centers and 163 water parks. Other vital national "assets" reported included 159 cruise ships, 34 Coca Cola bottlers, 244 correctional facilities, 718 mortuaries, 571 nursing homes and 3,773 malls, of which only 399 met the DHS criterion of having more than 1 million square feet.
Other critical installations included a Bass Pro Shop, several Wal-Marts, a yacht repair business, Old MacDonald's petting zoo in Woodville, Ala., an unnamed "beach at end of [a] street," a "Kangaroo Conservation Center" and the Sweetwater Flea Market, which is 50 miles from Knoxville, Tenn.
A story by The New York Times' Eric Lipton quoted Brian Lehman, who runs the Amish Popcorn Co. in Berne, Ind., which has five employees and grows and distributes popcorn -- and made the list:
"'I am out in the middle of nowhere,' said Lehman 'We are nothing but a bunch of Amish buggies and tractors out here. No one would care.'
"But on second thought, he came up with an explanation: 'Maybe because popcorn explodes?'"
The DHS inspector general noted, with no apparent irony, that many listed "assets" are "unusual or out-of-place" sites "whose criticality is not readily apparent." No, really?
The Bee's music writer, Mike Osegueda, got a call a few days ago from Tatiana, a very friendly woman who's part of a group that's hosting a slew of French students this summer for three weeks. She and her husband will host a boy. They have no children so they are looking for advice on the best places to take their guest and the other visiting teens while they are here. If you are a teen or have a teen, what's your advice to help Tatiana out? Here's Mike's list, in random order off the top of his head, followed by my suggestions:
-- First, find out what your guest is into -- sports, rock, hip hop, theater, nature, hiking etc. and go from there
-- Grizzlies baseball
-- Social hubs for hanging out are generally River Park, Fashion Fair, Fig Garden Village
-- Young rock shows at The Belmont
-- Art Hop
-- Starline
-- Yosemite and all the national parks
-- For day trips, there's Great America, San Luis Obispo, the whole central coast
Mike then referred her on to me and to his list, I would add all these ideas:
-- Bass Lake (lots of toys to rent there) or check your favorite lake for rentals
-- The backyard swimming pool (pick up some games, floats, squirt guns etc.)
-- River rafting if the water's good or try a canoe tour given by the San Joaquin River Parkway folks
-- Night bowling
-- Food: I like restaurants with a little something extra going on, like belly dancers or the singers at Macaroni Grill. John's Incredible Pizza has lots of games, rides and laser tag. Jamba Juice and Starbucks are always a hit. Chipotle, Red Robin, Edo-ya, both Yoshinos, actually any teppanyaki restaurant is usually a new and different experience for them. Lots of the international students are crazy for Taco Bell. (I've been known to pack taco ingredients into my suitcase when going abroad!) For the French, La Boulangerie de France in Fig Garden is always impressive -- it's an astonishingly authentic taste of home.
-- Picnic and games at Woodward Park, great for pictures; kids into animals like the zoo.
-- Tennis at the public courts (in many countries, it's prohibitively expensive to play)
-- For the athletic, the gyms are a fun place to play
Oh, and there is always the Underground Gardens.
Enjoy!
Scrolling through the political Web site Roundup, I found an odd item about a German businessman who is establishing an airline for smokers. Takeoff for the smokers' airline is scheduled for March 2007.
Alexander W. Schoppmann's project is aimed at Asian business folks and Europeans who lke to smoke while they fly. Actually, they like to smoke all the time. The airline is called SMINTAIR, according to Roundup. That, of course, stands for Smokers' International Airways. Here's a story about the venture.
This statement on SMINTAIR's Web site explains the airline's goal: "Allowing our guests to smoke is one of the freedoms we are happily prepared to grant. Non-smokers will find the cabin air more refreshing than on any other flight with any other airline, as SMINTAIR adds fresh outside air to the conditioning system! This is more expensive, as it burns more fuel, but it is seen as an additional service to our guests."
The Bee's story today about businesses that leave their doors wide open on Fresno's blistering summer days was interesting. The story sprang from a couple of letters we published, one from Ken and Betty Cornelisen on June 26 and the other from Jan Ritchey on June 28.
Some businesses believe that leaving their doors open is more inviting to shoppers, enticing them to come inside and leave money. Maybe so, but I wonder how many casual shoppers there are wandering the malls when it's 106 degrees outside. And the waste of energy in a state that's often on the edge of power shortages is troubling.
But then I don't get the "shopping" thing anyway. I generally have in mind exactly what I want, and I usually know exactly where I'm going to get it. That might cost more, but it sure saves a lot of time.
The Fresno Fuego soccer match at Grizzlies Stadium tonight will be a good test to see if soccer can draw fans downtown. It's the stadium's first soccer game, which raises the question of why this hasn't been tried before. When the stadium was being pitched to the public, one of the selling points was that it would be a good venue for San Joaquin Valley soccer fans. Proponents claimed that rabid Valley soccer fans would be driving from Modesto on the north to Bakersfield on the south to Grizzlies Stadium for a competitive soccer match.
But I read in The Bee today that this is the first soccer match in the stadium since it opened in 2002. No wonder the ballpark hasn't reached its potential. Other than Fresno Grizzlies games, there haven't been any regularly scheduled events. In addition to soccer, we were told there'd be an ongoing concert schedule and other events at the downtown stadium. But non-baseball events at the stadium have only been on an occasional basis.
It's time that this stadium is used to its full potential. The Fresno City Council should be asking why more non-baseball events haven't been scheduled at the stadium.
There's still plenty of time until the November election, but it's going to be very difficult for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides to defeat Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Coming off his June primary win, Angelides should be riding a wave of momentum. Instead, it seems that he's just languishing. That's not a good sign against an opponent who is an international celebrity.
One problem: Angelides, a policy wonk, is not a very good campaigner. He's better in small groups where he can explain his proposals in depth while punching holes in the governor's initiatives. But if Angelides can't connect with the masses, he'll never catch Schwarzenegger, even in this blue state that should be easy pickings for a Democrat.
In addition, some legislative Democrats act as if they don't care if Schwarzenegger is re-elected. They handed the governor legislative wins with the infrastructure budget package they put on the November ballot and then allowed a relatively smooth passage of the state budget.
If it weren't for the public employee unions, such as the California Teachers Association, you'd have to wonder if Angelides has any chance at all. But he still has almost four months to turn his campaign around and you never know if Schwarzenegger will make a big political mistake on his way to re-election.
Today's editorial praising the American Library Association's decision to hold its annual convention in New Orleans -- despite the state of the city -- inspired a couple of local folks to point out that Henry Madden Library Dean Michael Gorman of Fresno State, ALA president when Katrina hit, was leading the team that made the decision. His term ended during the convention. Lanny Larson of the university's communications office also remembered that it was Gorman who got libraries around the nation, including Fresno State's, to hire librarians displaced by
the hurricane and subsequent flooding.
I wish the World Cup had been scheduled to end in the middle of this week, instead of on Sunday. That would have helped me through the dreariest three days I face each summer: major league baseball's All-Star break.
Three days without any games that count. Three days of hype and promotion for a game that's usually as boring as all get out. Three days of holes in the sports pages where game stories should be. Aargh.
I understand what a treat it is for the players who are selected to the All-Star teams, and I applaud them for the honor they have won. I also understand what a treat it is for the rest of the players -- and the umpires, managers, coaches, ushers, ticket takers, vendors and sportswriters -- to get three days off in the middle of a long season.
But today is the beginning of what will seem, by Thursday, an interminable wait for me. Ah, the trials and tribulations...
The Bee's front-page story today about Terry Pettis' troubled history as a Fresno State basketball player raises serious questions about whether the university athletic department ignored rampant marijuana use on the basketball team because it was trying to fill seats at the Save Mart Center. Pettis, who will be sentenced Tuesday for the 2004 murder of 18-year-old Rene Shannon Abbott in a parking lot near the university, agreed to a series of interviews with The Bee's Vaughn McClure.
A Fresno County jury convicted Pettis of Abbott's murder on May 26 following a four-day trial. Pettis still denies that he killed Abbott, despite overwhelming evidence that easily persuaded the jury of his guilt.
But this is the part of the story that stuns me: "Marijuana was a problem my whole time at Fresno State," said Pettis, who spent 19 months with the Bulldogs, "and they [school officials] looked past our marijuana tests my freshman year. The people that looked at our marijuana drug tests my freshman year, it didn't matter to them because we were winning."
That's a statement that Fresno State leaders need to explain or rebut. But as usual in these situations, they refuse to talk publicly. Their hands apparently are tied by student privacy regulations. But whose privacy is being protected since Pettis is talking and his life has already been examined in-depth because of the murder case?
Pettis claims to have failed drug tests nine times during his short time on the basketball team. Here are two more crucial paragraphs from McClure's story:
Current school officials also said they could not discuss Pettis' allegations. Linda Gannaway, coordinator of Fresno State's student-athlete assistance program, pointed to the school's drug-testing policy, which at the time stated an athlete was to be suspended for a year after a fourth positive test.
"I probably failed three drug tests during the time I got back on the team [sophomore year]," Pettis said. "I wished they would have suspended me for that whole year. ... I wish they just would have taken me away from the [basketball] program."
Call me naive, but I think someone at the university needs to either say that Pettis is lying or tell us why they allowed the basketball program to become a haven for marijuana use.
Jamie Lee Curtis is more than just the Scream Queen? 
She's a best-selling children's author.
Last night before bed, my daughter Katie wanted me to read her a book that one of her older sisters got a few years ago. It is called "Today I Feel Silly," and it's by Curtis, the actress whose claim to fame was screaming in the classic 1978 horror flick "Halloween." (It must run in the family - her famous mother, Janet Leigh, was famous for her shower scream scene in the 1960 film "Psycho.")
The book is great. On every page, the protagonist describes a different emotion. Katie and I had a great time as I acted out the different feelings - silly, angry, quiet, confused, happy. By the second time through the book, Katie had fallen asleep next to me. I think my college acting teacher, Linda Quinn, would have been proud of my performances, even if I put a 3-year-old to sleep.
I checked online today and this isn't the only book Curtis has written for kids. Her other titles include "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born," "I'm Gonna Like Me: Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem," "When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her Youth" and "Where Do Balloons Go?," an uplifting mystery.
Katie and I had such a good time with "Today I Feel Silly," we're going to have to check out some of these other titles. There's nothing like a good book.
The AP reports that Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary has added just over 100 new words to its offerings. Here are some of them: "himbo" -- an attractive but vacuous man; "bling" -- glitzy jewelry; "mouse potato" -- a takeoff of couch potato, meaning 24/7 computers users; "{sandwich generation" -- people who care for aging parents and their own children at the same time.
But another new dictionary entry -- "soul patch" -- is one of those male fashion things that I don't get. A soul patch, according to Merriam-Webster, is a small growth of beard under a man's lip. I may be showing my age, but I think it's downright silly. How about growing a patch of hair all by itself on your cheek and call that cool?
This new term caught my eye after seeing a photo of Greg Anderson (pictured at right), Barry Bonds' personal trainer, who was sent to prison for refusing to testify to a federal grand jury looking into whether Bonds perjured himself. Anderson has a soul patch, and I think he ought to be carted off to jail by the fashion police just for that odd bit of hair growing beneath his lip. Can you be a himbo (see new words above) if you have a soul patch?
But I suppose the fashion police would have a field day with me, even without a soul patch or any other facial hair.
We had a great time celebrating the Fourth of July yesterday. The food was all wonderful, the water in the pool was just right. We had a great day with family and friends. And a fireworks display in the street capped the evening.
But the best part of the day, which reminded our family why we celebrate our nation's independence, was a phone call that was missed.
After dinner, before the fireworks, my husband, Denny, checked his cell phone and saw that he had a new voice mail. He listened to the message. "Rob's on his way home," he said when he finished.
 Rob Ford, our friend who lives in Nebraska, is an Army National Guard soldier who has been serving in Afghanistan training the Afghan National Army for the past year. (That's him in the photo; he's on the left; Denny is on the right) We've worried every time we've heard news of new casualties in Afghanistan. And we've followed reports of his year over there by reading his blog. It's given us a glimpse into the life of some of our soldiers and life in another country.
On Sept. 11, the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, Rob wrote about a special ceremony the soldiers took part in: "Almost everybody at the Alamo [what they called their base] bought a flag to fly on September 11th. It is special to fly a U.S. flag in Afghanistan on the anniversary of the event that brought us over here. To me, it is a way to tell Al-Qaida that we haven't forgotten why we are here and we don't plan to leave till the job is done." Rob sent us the flag that he flew.
At the end of September, his camp was hit by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. None of the American soldiers were injured, but several of the Afghan soldiers that Rob worked side by side with were killed or injured. It was a vivid reminder of the danger faced by our soldiers there.
As the fireworks exploded in a frenzy of color and light, we listened to Lee Ann Rimes singing the National Anthem, Alan Jackson singing "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)," Lee Greenwood singing "God Bless the U.S.A." It was all made so much better knowing that Rob was on his way back to his family, back to safety. In our family, we support our troops who are doing their jobs - but that doesn't make us any less happy when they come home to us.
Dwight Eisenhower is often credited with the creation of the interstate highway system, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. That's not entirely true, though as president in the early 1950s, Ike gave the system the final push it needed to get going.
Eisenhower recalled a cross-country Army convoy he joined in 1919, and later marveled at the efficiency of the German autobahns -- built in 1935 -- at moving troops, both German forces and later the invading Allies. Part of the selling job he did to a Congress leery of the perceived high cost of the interstate system was to portray the need in military terms: It was essential for moving people and equipment rapidly in a national emergency.
Maybe that could work in other areas. How about defining the Valley's clean air efforts or California's proposed high-speed rail system as matters of national security? After all, we've spent $30,000 on a trailer for a mushroom festival in Texas and $100,000 for sanitation workers in Washington D.C. to take Dale Carnegie classes in public speaking, and we've paid for bulletproof vests for police dogs in Ohio and a Kentucky program to keep terrorists from raising money through bingo halls. C'mon, where's the vision?
Fresno School Board Member Janet Ryan commented on my blog item about "An Inconvenient Truth," the new documentary about global warming. She said she she hadn't seen that film but she was longing for more "real debate" in the media about science.
I heartily agree. I would love to see a free-standing, weekly Science section in The Bee. Unfortunately, that's a luxury enjoyed only by the nation's major newspapers. However, that certainly doesn't mean there's not science news in the paper. I did a topic search on "global warming" in our archive and since March 22, there were 100 entries where those words were mentioned in a story in The Bee.
The Bee has a lot of science news integrated into its everyday news columns just by virtue of its geography and economy. Agriculture alone, of course, is -- by my calculations -- 90% science; 5% economics; 5% politics.
In just the last few days, there have been at least two stories about the San Joaquin River, the heat streak, farmworker illnesses tied to a pesticide, offshore oil rigs and their affect on fish, wildfire precautions, fuzzless peaches, GPS advances, obesity, advances in earthquake prediction technology, debates in procedures over podiatry and dentistry, desalination, cell phone safety research, peregrines returning to nest in the Valley for thefirst time in 30 years, the San Joaquin River Parkway wetlands restoration of the Jensen River Ranch... and on and on. Since we live in an air basin, there is a lot of science around our climate. Science is everywhere in the newspaper.
Since Janet brought up the topic, there's place I would like to see some "real debate" about science -- in our public schools. We had a group of high-ranking science teachers and administrators in for a meeting last week and they said the elementary schoolchildren in Fresno Unified are getting only 10-20 minutes a WEEK in science instruction. Let's start there. No wonder we're seeing shortages of engineers and scientists. The blame is being placed, of course, on the push for reading and math in the standardized tests. That's no excuse for slighting science. Science is full of reading and math. It's also fun, interactive and fascinating when it's taught well.
On the subject of the global warming documentary, Janet said the mainstream scientists that she's reading question the science. Well, at some point you have to sort that out for yourself. I'm not sure who she considers "mainstream" but the most recent survey I could find by the Associated Press, published June 28, said this:
"WASHINGTON -- The nation's top climate scientists are giving "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's documentary on global warming, five stars for accuracy."
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