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Tom Portwood

Gillian Wegener – Award-Winning Poet, Community Leader

January 19, 2021 By Tom Portwood 6 Comments

Gillian Wegener

Gillian Wegener was twice the recipient of the Dorothy Rosenberg Poetry Award (2006, 2007), and was honored as one of Stanislaus County’s Outstanding Women in 2015. She served as the City of Modesto’s Poet Laureate from 2012 to 2016. In these troubled, chaotic, and tragic times, the power of poetry to mend wounds or express our deepest feelings is there to be tapped by all, though poetry is often left […]

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: Gillian Wegener, Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center

Leng Power: Award-Winning Community Advocate & Volunteer

November 21, 2020 By Tom Portwood 3 Comments

Leng Power (Nou)

Thailand is over eight thousand miles away from the Valley — just about a third of the way across the globe — but that’s where this inspiring local success story begins. The Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia had fallen the year before, leaving in its wake a legacy of terror and genocide. But as volatile and traumatic as the situation must have been for thousands of refugees displaced by all […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Leng Nou, Leng Power, Salida Mac

Lindsey Bird – Award-Winning Educator, Advocate, Candidate

October 12, 2020 By Tom Portwood 1 Comment

Lindsey Bird

When Language Institute Co-Founder Lindsey Bird decided to leave her fledging career as a banker to become a teacher in her hometown of Modesto, she could not have imagined the profound impact that decision would ultimately have on the lives of the students who would enter her classroom. She only knew she wanted to make a difference. But within a few short years, Ms. Bird would find her calling as […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Lindsey Bird, Lindsey Bird for District Board, Lindsey Bird Yosemite Community College District 6, Lindsey Guinn Bird

Hard Road to Redemption: Part II

August 15, 2020 By Tom Portwood 6 Comments

Michael Baldwin Senior June 2020

A Community Advocate and Paralegal, Michael Baldwin Sr. moved to Modesto in November, 2018, following a stint of almost 27 years as an inmate of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). While in the CDCR system, he resided at Corcoran State Prison and San Quentin State Prison, among others. Mr. Baldwin readily admits he was guilty of the crimes for which he was sentenced, but his story does […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Michael Baldwin Senior

Michael Baldwin Senior: Hard Road to Redemption

August 13, 2020 By Tom Portwood 21 Comments

Michael Baldwin Senior and mother

A Community Advocate and Paralegal, Michael Baldwin Sr. moved to Modesto in November, 2018, following a stint of almost 27 years as an inmate of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). While in the CDCR system, he resided at Corcoran State Prison and San Quentin State Prison, among others. Mr. Baldwin readily admits he was guilty of the crimes for which he was sentenced, but his story does […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Michael Baldwin Senior

Award-winning Patty Castillo Davis: A Voice for Social Justice

June 20, 2020 By Tom Portwood 1 Comment

Patty Castillo-Davis

MAMA award-winning singer/songwriter Patty Castillo Davis is quick to admit that, even as a little girl, she was all about the words, the music, and the beat as she sat in front of the television watching Nancy Sinatra power through the lyrics of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” “I loved Nancy, and I wanted those white boots, and that blonde mop top – I wanted to be her.” Ms. […]

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: Patty Castillo-Davis, Peer Recovery Art Project, Tom Portwood

Modesto Poet, Writer, & Activist Tina Curiel-Allen

May 24, 2020 By Tom Portwood 1 Comment

exist(ir) cover

In sharp, powerful images from her poem “The Things I Stole,” the fine Xicana/Boricua poet, writer, and activist Tina Curiel-Allen recalls one of the most painful but transformative experiences of her life: It wasn’t until jail that I found a place that could steal from me, /I found walls that ate time and tears like money, /And offered no form of recompense. /I felt the extent of my debt in […]

Filed Under: Arts

Community Profile: Modesto Poet Laureate Stella Beratlis

April 26, 2020 By Tom Portwood 2 Comments

Stella Beratlis

When Modesto Poet Laureate and MJC librarian Stella Beratlis heard that her first book of poetry (Alkali Sink, Sixteen Rivers Press, 2015) had been nominated for that year’s Northern California Book Awards, she admitted recently that she was, “totally floored— because in my wildest dreams where I allowed myself to imagine how my book was received, a Northern California Book nomination was the pinnacle. So it was surreal when I […]

Filed Under: Arts Tagged With: Alkali Sink, Stella Beratlis, Stella Beratlis Poet Laureate Modesto

Covid-19 Brings New Challenges for Haven Emergency Shelter

April 5, 2020 By Tom Portwood 1 Comment

May Rico Haven Women's Emergency Center

While many of us are making often radical adjustments to our lives during this tragic time, those people living in an abusive environment at home can find themselves even more isolated than ever. May Rico, the Executive Director at the Haven Women’s Center of Stanislaus, shared her thoughts on that issue in a telephone interview the other day: “If someone is living in a violent relationship, they have few safe […]

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Coronavirus Modesto, Covid-19 Stanislaus County

Salvation Army Berberian Shelter: Safe Harbor for those in Need

March 22, 2020 By Tom Portwood 2 Comments

Salvation Army Captain Sam Snyder

The stark reality of the Coronavirus Pandemic has brought new hardships to one of our community’s most vulnerable populations—our fellow residents who are homeless. But while the pandemic presents a fresh set of terrifying challenges to those living on the street, the staff at Modesto’s Salvation Army Berberian Shelter, on the corner of 9th and D streets, is vigorously responding to the health crisis in this time of “all hands […]

Filed Under: History

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Off The Wire

Californians: Here's why your housing costs are so high
Californians: Here’s why your housing costs are so high
Half the state’s households struggle to afford the roof over their heads. Here’s what you need to know about one of California’s most vexing issues.
calmatters.org
Las Vegas Pushes to Become First City to Ban Ornamental Grass
Las Vegas Pushes to Become First City to Ban Ornamental Grass
A desert city built on a reputation for excess and indulgence wants to become a model for restraint and conservation with a first-in-the-nation policy banning grass that nobody walks on. Las Vegas-area water officials have spent two decades trying to get people to replace thirsty greenery with desert plants, and now they’re asking the Nevada Legislature to outlaw roughly 40% of the turf that’s left. The Southern Nevada Water Authority estimates there are almost 8 square miles (21 square kilometers) of “nonfunctional turf” in the metro area, grass that no one ever walks on or otherwise uses in
www.voanews.com
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the event that left five dead and scores of others wounded. His supporters appear to have listened.
www.reuters.com
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation, even among Republican voters.
www.newyorker.com
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
Taxes on the richest New Zealanders are being raised
www.independent.co.uk
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
Olympia, Washington, is a microcosm of the problems created by the emptying of mental hospitals.
www.city-journal.org
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
Key legislators push duplexes, looser regulations and more money to boost housing supply.
calmatters.org
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let's fix it – here's how | Bernie Sanders
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let’s fix it – here’s how | Bernie Sanders
While working people toil, the richest have never have it so good. It’s time to fight back – our democracy depends on it
www.theguardian.com
Sen. Bernie Sanders' Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A 'Rigged' Tax System
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A ‘Rigged’ Tax System
Sanders will introduce legislation Thursday to restore the corporate tax rate to 35% and add a new progressive tax on the estates of the wealthiest Americans.
www.npr.org
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
No, it’s not just an inner city problem. And it’s not the result of individual failure.
www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Echo Park Lake site has become a battleground in the city’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis during the pandemic
www.theguardian.com
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama - The Bulwark
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama – The Bulwark
It’s about workplace democracy, and could affect not just the tech giant’s employees but those of other firms.
thebulwark.com

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PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

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