Thailand is over eight thousand miles away from the Valley — just about a third of the way across the globe — but that’s where […]
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Who Was the Homeless Man Shot by Stanislaus Deputies?
The man shot to death by Stanislaus Sheriff’s deputies in late September was once a star high school athlete, a doting father and a solid wage earner who was brought down by drugs, says the woman who was his girlfriend for about a dozen years. Are these just the nice things we say about everyone once they die, even if not true? How would she know these things? Well, she […]
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The Monster in Our Valley
Donald Trump spent the last days of his campaign thrashing and flailing like a feral hog trapped in a rising mire of its own turpitude. He went out in an orgy of scapegoating, blame shifting and self-pity. His post-election threats to sue and invalidate the votes of millions of the American people have been met with defiance and derision by governors and attorney generals throughout a nation that waited four […]
Now is the Time to Come to the Aid of Your Country
Susan Eggman and Josh Harder were in downtown Modesto Saturday morning, urging volunteers and their fellow citizens to exercise their most fundamental right under the Constitution of the United States — the vote. When the Founding Fathers debated about what kind of government should shape the new nation they envisioned as an “experiment,” they rejected many alternatives. Learned men, they had recent history as a lesson against monarchs and, “divine […]
Still in Doubt? Vote ‘em Out!
For most of the duration of the pandemic, Stanislaus County has been among the top five worst counties in the state for controlling Covid-19. As of October 25, it was 12th in infection rates at 77 per 100,000 residents. On the same day, the nearest county to the north, San Joaquin, registered 58 positive tests per 100,000; to the south, Merced County had 54. Nearby Alameda County had 40 cases […]
Questions Remain in Shooting Death of Homeless Man
Was this guy a burglar or just some homeless man sleeping rough in the bushes alongside a commercial building? That question apparently was not answered before he was shot to death by Stanislaus County Sheriff’s deputies just about a month ago. Still, that question, and others, have not been publicly answered. All we really know is that Eloy Mares Gonzalez Jr. was hit by several bullets fired by two deputies […]