February 5th, 2012 at 7:56 am
In light of the long losing streak its Redding ballpark is on (see story today). Click here to read testimonials written back in the boom times by city councilman Pat Kight (the brains behind Stillwater Business Park) and city manager...
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Our state capital comes in at No. 5 on Forbes magazine's list of America's "most miserable cities." Miami tops the rankings this year. For details, click here. I dunno -- last couple of times I've visited Sacramento (staying at a...
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February 3rd, 2012 at 3:40 pm
The right book can make all the difference. Like for the man I profile in my column tomorrow (see photo). This book he bought for $6.95 back in his college days more than forty years ago has come to...
February 2nd, 2012 at 11:38 am
Not when it comes to khat, the poor man's cocaine, used widely in east Africa. A fascinating first-person BBC Radio account here. Excerpt: Drive along any road between Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia and you are likely to see pick-up trucks,...
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February 2nd, 2012 at 8:01 am
Noticed this LA Times write-up and photo on the much-viewed DrudgeReport this morning....
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February 1st, 2012 at 8:02 am
So this commentator for Britain's Telegraph newspaper argues. Excerpts: Matt Drudge is the Howard Hughes of the Internet. Like Hughes, he lives in splendid isolation, communicating only through a small group of trusted friends. Like Hughes, his influence has quietly...
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January 29th, 2012 at 7:17 am
In truth, I was unsettled to wake up on the day after the 2008 election and realize that our new president was nine years my junior. But my former boss makes the case, below, that age means nothing and even...
January 27th, 2012 at 8:03 am
E-mail just received from my favorite forecaster: No significant precip for NorCal at least the next 10 days. Not a good sign in late January into February after a dry fall and early winter. A dry year will keep pressure...
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January 26th, 2012 at 7:33 am
NASA releases amazing 64 MP 8000 by 8000 picture of "the blue marble." If you look hard enough you might be able to see Redding, Click here for NASA's Flicker page....
January 25th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
It was widely panned in State of the Union reviews. But his former speechwriter (who left for a Hollywood gig) gets the last word here. Read to the bottom. He really milked for all it was worth....
January 25th, 2012 at 8:51 am
This email from the CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line appeared in my mailbox this morning: On behalf of all of us at Norwegian Cruise Line, I want to take this opportunity to assure you that the safety of our guests...
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January 24th, 2012 at 10:05 am
Add "food blogger" to Webb's resume (inventor, entrepreneur, author, biz consultant). Where does he find the time? Check out the mouth-watering gourmet dishes he and his family eat. Maybe that's the key to his energy....
January 20th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
So the Vice President reportedly told the crowd at a Beverly Hills fundraiser. ...The vice president also said America is "on the verge of a renaissance," telling the crowd that China doesn't provide real economic competition for the U.S. because...
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January 19th, 2012 at 1:07 pm
Frankly, I think this blogger's too hard on Santorum. Yearbook photos are almost all embarrassing. And Santorum had the added misfortune of being saddled with Seventies fashions. My favorite is super-longshot Gary Johnson. To see them all, click here....
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January 17th, 2012 at 5:47 am
Burger King is trying to find out. Details here. The company has even developed a new "thermal" packaging to keep the fast food from getting cold and limp. A game changer for the industry? Even more incentive for couch potatoes...
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January 16th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
Read the Wikipedia Foundation's statement here....
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January 16th, 2012 at 9:29 am
Fascinating "On the Media" radio piece from Friday. A description: Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermons frequently relied on improvisation - King drew on sources and references that were limited only by his imagination and memory. It's a gift on full...
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January 14th, 2012 at 9:03 am
From the Internet Movie Data Base: Ginger, an orphan, is living with her foster-uncle, Rexford Whittington, a broken-down Shakesperian actor. Although denied the love of a mother and father, Ginger looks after her uncle, gives him lectures, loves him, defends...
January 13th, 2012 at 9:34 am
In response to a recent poll that yielded the above percentage, a friend e-mailed this: I wonder what would happen if the question were phrased this way to the same people: "Do you believe that God helps Tebow's opponents lose?"...
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January 12th, 2012 at 10:45 am
Well, that's overstating it obviously, as any newspaper reader knows. But it's lower than it's ever been in history according to this scientist. Click here for article and video interview. Excerpt from Reason: You are less likely to die a...
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January 9th, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Check it out here on Realtor Skip Murphy's always interesting blog. Pictures from the web cam at the ski park on Mt. Shasta....
January 8th, 2012 at 11:08 am
There's such a glut of pot in parts of Trinity County, I'm informed, that some folks have taken to using it as currency, a bit like pouches of mackerel in the federal pen. One off-the-grid observer credits/blames three factors -...
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January 8th, 2012 at 10:08 am
Last week, in response to an e-mail with the subject line "The 'drought' continues," Mobley wrote: No need to put drought in scare quotes. NorCal is officially in a "moderate" drought as of Jan. 3 according to the Palmer Drought...
January 7th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Because it helps build consensus, although you could say there's something fishy about this research study, reported here in the Wall Street Journal. The concluding graphs: ...this research helps to explain the importance of indifference in a partisan age. If...
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January 6th, 2012 at 10:43 am
This morning stumbled across "Shasta Start Up," a new business-oriented program on KCNR 1460 with hosts Les Melburg, Kent Dagg, Mark Lascelles, Rob Middleton and Randy Denham. Every Friday from 9 to 10 a.m., pre-empting Dennis Miller. During the inaugural...
January 6th, 2012 at 8:44 am
The 99 percent would remodel or just move. Not this woman....
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January 5th, 2012 at 10:22 am
Excerpts from a column by the incomparable Steve Chapman: Back in 2007, when Barack Obama was running for president, a mildly surprising bit of news emerged: He and Dick Cheney were eighth cousins. Today, though, it appears that report was...
January 5th, 2012 at 9:19 am
Some business wisdom that didn't fit into the write-up on Nello's Place in today's paper. Owner Jim Dad said he learned two things from founder Nello Miele: you've got to have great food and great service and "you have to...
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January 3rd, 2012 at 9:43 am
On Damon Arthur's piece this morning on Iron Mountain Mine owner Ted Arman's plans to turn supposedly toxic runoff into fertilizer (the EPA is dubious): ThisIsRedding writes: Humm. Well, a mine is a terrible thing to waste....
January 2nd, 2012 at 10:53 am
Former Searchlight weather expert's response to the topic I teed up in my previous blog: I think the time has come to start getting nervous about the lack of precip, especially in Northern California. The dry pattern shows no signs...
January 1st, 2012 at 11:53 am
Barely a flake of snow on Bally to the west. When I was at the vista point overlooking Whiskeytown Lake yesterday morning a fellow came into the shop and asked the volunteer ranger about the elevation of Bally; I gathered...
January 1st, 2012 at 11:40 am
The Cal Alumni Association (link here) is advertising a round-the-world trip by private jet. $65,000 a head. 78 fortunate folks depart Jan. 7 and return on the 29th. Interested? There's a second departure on the 29th returning on Feb. 20....
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January 1st, 2012 at 8:48 am
Reassuring words from NASA here -- on the Mayan calendar, Planet X, and other popular doomsday predictions....
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December 29th, 2011 at 10:29 am
Sometime-Record Searchlight columnist Steven Greenhut discusses it here, along with making some predictions for 2012. Excerpt: "Mainstream" critics recently have mocked Paul's crusade against laws that ban the selling of raw milk. They say this is such a small issue,...
December 26th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
In Congress, that is. This New York Times piece explains how members of Congress have gotten richer as most of their constituents have struggled financially in recent decades. (Herger's wealth is estimated at between $3 million and $12 million.) Excerpt:...
December 26th, 2011 at 10:33 am
Some rudimentary fact-checking of one of the most over-the-top claims of this highly charged political season....
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December 23rd, 2011 at 8:42 am
That would be Robb Wolf, who grew up here but now owns Norcal Strength and Conditioning in Chico. The book? The Paleo Solution: The original human diet (Victory Belt 2010). The edition I've seen is emblazoned with "New York Times...
December 22nd, 2011 at 9:07 am
Given the uncertain financial state of Social Security the payroll tax holiday was a bad idea from Day One, just more irresponsible pandering by Beltway politicians. From a statement by Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia: "This 'holiday' is a raid...
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December 21st, 2011 at 11:33 am
Another drag on the U.S. economy going forward. The Wall Street Journal's E.S. Browning's sobering piece here, complete with all-too-familiar-sounding anecdotes. Excerpts: Many older Americans fear they will be working well into their 60s because they didn't save enough to...
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December 19th, 2011 at 11:15 am
The Wall Street Journal has a rundown of some "voluntourism" opportunities -- from restoring old houses in provincial France (and eating well) to fighting poverty in Peru (and learning Spanish on the side). Details here....
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December 18th, 2011 at 1:56 pm
E-mailed Scott in Portland, his new home, asking about the relative lack of rain we've had this month and what it may portend. Here's his reply, just received: This has been an extraordinarily dry month, not just for Northern California...
December 16th, 2011 at 7:51 am
The ultimate going-out-of-business promotion? Wonder if someone's thought about doing this in Redding. The AP reports on a Sacramento-area co-op: ORANGEVALE, Calif.--A Sacramento-area medical marijuana dispensary is creating a buzz as it goes out of business--in more ways than one....
December 14th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
It was bound to happen. Here's the dope on "Weed Wars," on the Discovery Channel, which stars the owners, employees and patients of a collective in Oakland and the politicians trying to shut it down....
December 13th, 2011 at 8:26 am
From a New York Times piece headlined "In California, Indian Tribes With Casino Money Cast Off Members:" "The tribe has historically had the ability to remove people," said Kevin Bearquiver, the Bureau of Indian Affairs' deputy director for the Pacific...
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December 12th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
So says the Federal Reserve in a new study. The AP describes it here....
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December 11th, 2011 at 12:09 pm
As the article notes, Shasta County educators are fretting about the supposedly low ratios of local high school grads who attend college or go on to graduate from a four-year institution. For an alternative perspective, herewith an excerpt from "The...
December 3rd, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Publisher Craig Stevens explains why here. Excerpt: We did show a minor revenue uptick in 2010 over 2009, but this year has been tougher than last year and our margins are weak. No one at our parent company has yet...
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December 3rd, 2011 at 6:59 am
Per my column in today's paper, here are three YouTube videos of works by Terry Riley, pioneer American minimalist composer, who attended Shasta High and Shasta College in the Fifties. And a video tribute to Mark Eubank when he retired...
December 2nd, 2011 at 6:00 pm
My feelings exactly. Set to music. Namely "Missing You," that classic by The Police....
December 1st, 2011 at 11:46 am
A writer at Slate offers some thoughts. Excerpt: It is possible, though, that there is just more bitterness out there than we realized before the Internet brought us closer to people's rawest, quickest, uncensored thoughts. (That rooting around for a...
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