Republican Candidate for Congress Ted Howze is starting to look more and more like Donald Trump, the flailing President whose every move reveals desperation and incompetence. Howze’s latest move must have sounded good at first. In a campaign ad, he juxtaposed a photo of incumbent Congressman Josh Harder and his wife Pam kneeling with masks on next to one of Nancy Pelosi, also kneeling while wearing a mask. Like Jeff […]
Ted Howze Gets the Shaft — From his Own Team
Ted Howze, candidate for California Congressional District 10, just can’t win. He has to be wondering why he’s suddenly a Republican fall guy, even after checking all the boxes in the Donald Trump playbook. Serial liar? Got it covered. Sympathy for racists? Loads. Conspiracy theories? On it. So why the blowback from the party of Trump? Why condemnation and withdrawal of support from the likes of Kevin McCarthy and David […]
Defund? These Cops are Already Defunded
Bernie Sanders, who understood underfunding of social services in America long before most other people, was incredulous when talk started about defunding police departments. Like most close observers, Sanders understands how law enforcement has changed over the years. “I think we want to redefine what police departments do, [and] give them the support they need to make their jobs better defined. So I do believe that we need well-trained, well-educated, […]
Modesto Vigil for George Floyd Offers Hope
On this night, Congressman Josh Harder and his wife Pam were just (masked) faces in the crowd, standing in solidarity with their fellow citizens. Modesto Police Chief Galen Carroll somehow managed to make a big cop — in uniform and packing iron — look like your friendly next door neighbor. That was the atmosphere Friday night in downtown Modesto, as the local chapter of the NAACP held a candlelight vigil […]
Chris Ricci Runs for Modesto City Council
Chris Ricci, the entrepreneur behind the hugely successful and controversial X-Fest concerts that played in downtown Modesto from 2000 through 2016, is running for Modesto’s District 3 City Council seat. Incumbent Kristi Ah You is stepping down. Ricci says he’s well past the controversies about security and noise that pushed him first to move the X-Fest and then cancel it altogether. “We’ve got too many serious problems now,” said Ricci […]
Withrow Withdraws Howze Endorsement
Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow has withdrawn his endorsement of Ted Howze, Republican candidate for congress in California Congressional District 10 (CA-10). Howze, rocked by revelations of hateful and racist posts on his social media accounts, has denied he made the posts. But after news about an official rebuke from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Howze faced a rapidly eroding base of support. “I asked around with people I know, […]
Ted Howze (says he) Didn’t Do It
Republican candidate for congress Ted Howze says the appearance of racist and hate-filled comments over a fourteen-month period on his Facebook and Twitter accounts was due to his “middle-aged” misunderstanding of social media — nothing more than a new-tech generation gap. “Like many folks in my middle-age group, I learned the very hard lesson to never allow anyone access to social media accounts or passwords,” Howze said in a statement. […]
Poor and Homeless: The Plague after Corona
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand Our New Normal Just a little over eleven years after George W Bush signed the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act to save banks and financial institutions from defaulting on mortgage backed securities, the Trump administration is into a second round […]
Congressman Harder Leads Valley Corona Relief Effort
Congressman Josh Harder arrived in Turlock “around midnight” last Thursday, not long after pushing hard in Washington DC to assure Valley farmers received their share of financial relief from hardships imposed by the effects of the Covid-19 on the economy. Some farmers have lost food contracts with schools and seen reduced orders as the result of widespread reductions in demand from restaurants. Prior to Harder’s bipartisan efforts, farmers had been […]
When Social Distancing is for the Birds
Like the rest of us, Jim Gain couldn’t have imagined that 2020 would bring a devastating pandemic when he retired last year. Gain was Supervisor of Educational Technology for the Modesto City Schools district. A gifted photographer and naturalist, Gain was looking forward to updating his Reflections of the Natural World website, visiting some of the nation’s most famous birding hotspots, and enjoying family life with his wife and son. […]