At Yuba City sports "hall of fame" fete. From the Appeal-Democrat: Born in Redding, Curl was the first full-blooded Native American to win a PGA Tour event. But before taking up golf at age 19, Curl was also outstanding baseball...

From the Wall Street Journal: Ken Cage isn't your typical repo man. Rather than snatch cars from an over-extended middle class, he takes back yachts, planes and other toys from the over-leveraged rich. Business is thriving, even as the economy...

Is this the time to buy a house? Click here. h/t JSM...

After the space shuttle fleet's retired, to get into orbit we'll need to hitch a ride with the Russians. How times have changed. Some of us can remember the giddy early days of the Space Race, when our future seemed...

Press release here....

On KRDG AM back in '67. Alex Chilton, the influential singer/guitarist/producer on The Box Tops' "The Letter," is dead at age 59, apparently of heart trouble....

From the Contra Costa Times: Paul Hauser, director of the Redding Electric Utility, said that the residents of Redding would be paying $40 million more per year if they were paying the rates charged to PG&E customers. Hauser said a...

From the AP: State regulators on Wednesday questioned supporters of an initiative that would make it harder for local governments to create public power agencies, as opponents argued the measure would make it too difficult for communities to provide residents...

Courthouse News Service catches up to our Koenig case, allegedly a Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi scheme. Excerpts: Eighteen investment LLCs say they were taken for more than $200 million by a recidivist felon who'd already served prison time for a $5...

You could say we've been blessed by the Carr family. A primer from the Anderson Valley Post....

He may be Italian but...a puppeteer? Comment on Scott Mobley's story about the council vote last night: fireflysf#310525 writes: No one SPOKE in FAVOR of the CUTS!!!! That is because the Puppet Masters Dagg and Strazzarino had already pulled the...

Chico did. Chico has been included in a roundup of the Best Places to Live in America in the Men's Journal. ...The article's authors write, "College and community mesh so neatly in Chico that the would-be Sacramento Valley farm town...

This sure looks and feels like the real deal -- a Shasta Courier newspaper, from August 1872. In the vault at the Masonic Lodge Western Star No. 2 in Shasta. The Record Searchlight's a direct descendant of the Courier,...

From the Billings, Montana, Gazette. Guess there's a debate in Billings about whether the place has too many eating establishments. Apparently not compared to Redding: Steve Wahrlich, who manages the Best Western Clock Tower Inn and is president of the...

From David Benda's Buzz on the Street column today: Should SAF be the first firm to land at Stillwater, the clock will start on the guarantee former Redding City Councilman (and Edward Jones stockbroker) Mike Pohlmeyer threw down during the...

Fusing product info and north state history. On Gary Pepe's Nu Olinda olive oil: Nu Olinda olive oil continues the agricultural tradition begun in the 1880s when Samuel Alexander, a sugar baron from Hawaii, arrived in Shasta County and quickly...

Featuring not him but Jane Heinan....

Police Chief Hansen believes it's "likely" and "realistic" that someone in Redding will "fall victim to a serious felonious act perpetrated" by one of the over 19,000 criminals receiving early release from state prison under the September 2009 emergency budget...

City staff wants the council to OK $1,000 for a "buy Redding" campaign. Car dealers and the local chamber will also put up $1,000. Staff says city "would recoup its investment if campaign generates at least $100,000 in additional vehicle...

Will be presented to the city council Tuesday eve. Highlights: More than 12,800 "incidents" recorded last year (at five intersections). More than half were rejected by the red-light vendor, Redflex Traffic Systems, or by RPD. Some 4,600 citations were issued....

As principal of Shasta High back in the Sixties he coined the motto "Only the best is worth trying for." He continues to have a positive mental attitude, despite serious health challenges. An inspiring message on the Class of 70...

The kerfuffle over the "Friends of Ron" list this week brings to mind Morgan's goof last October -- e-mailing a campaign letter on county letterhead. In Morgan's case, she acknowledged telling her secretary to send the letter. Largent seemed to...

Local real estate web sites and blogs are getting creative in order to break through in this market. Hence this new feature. Look forward to seeing the other photos....

The city's long-running contract impasse with REU linemen may be aired at a special public hearing on Monday evening. Could be interesting. There have been rumors that the linemen could strike if they don't get a deal they like. Shades...

That's what Shasta Union High School District's chief budget officer, Art Schmitt, told the district's board last night. In an e-mail to me he said: From what I have been hearing and reading, the economic recovery in California is projected...

Mentioned Nick Webb, CEO of the Lassen Scientific management consulting firm, in my column Saturday, pitching the second edition of his book on our health care mess. Turns out he's hard at work on a new book - "The Innovation...

Thought I whilst donating blood yesterday afternoon. Our blood bank looks even fancier than a New York bank or a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, complete with lots of glass enclosed offices and conference rooms, expensive ergonomic furniture, and...

So says "guest writer" Virginia Reeter in the Anderson Valley Post: Excerpt: Well, according to Shasta County Public Health's handout Paws for Tips, dogs that live with smokers have a 60 percent greater chance of developing cancer. In this same...

One Realtor's perspective, from his blog: My out-of-town client closed escrow yesterday on their Redding home. He sounded celebratory when I called to deliver the news that we were on record. "You going out to dinner tonight, Skip?" he asked....

Gilbert Moore, the Searchlight's managing editor in the late Sixties and my first boss, e-mailed his homage to this terrific actor: To see a total craftsman at work, revisit these old Jeff Bridges films By Gilbert Moore I pay little...

So Realtor Brad Garbutt reports on his blog: I walked into the office this morning to a note from our receptionist from a woman who wanted more information about the home for rent in Stanford Hills. The woman was told...

On the SE corner of Yuba and California Streets? It burned in 1962. A neighbor has this classic sink rescued from the Golden Eagle's barber shop in his basement bathroom. Beautiful. The hotel, a three-story affair pictured golden eagle...

Papers are getting smaller, as you've probably noticed. Better for the environment and their bottom lines. How much smaller? See for yourself. A May 26, 1937, copy of the Call Bulletin of San Francisco, commemorating the just-completed Golden Gate...

From the Shasta Historical Society's Betty McKean and Jay Thompson I learn that Shasta High grad Terry Riley, who became a renowned minimalist composer, influenced Pete Townshend on "Baba O'Riley" (see video), named to honor Riley, now in his...

Martin O'Malley, a longtime writer for Canada's Globe and Mail recalls the joys of baseball's spring training in Floridahere. It includes this graph on our own Rick Bosetti: Rick Bosetti was a peppy young outfielder who toiled for the Jays...

Available on Netflix or YouTube. The Clash, Coldplay, The Ramones and Jimi Hendrix will never sound the same....

Remember the advice the Dustin Hoffman character got in "The Graduate" back in the Sixties? "Plastics." Here's an update. From USA Today: Federal employees earn higher average salaries than private-sector workers in more than eight out of 10 occupations,...

Doesn't appeal to me but --. The Wall Street Journal reports on the fascinating logistics behind the world's largest cruise ship. An excerpt: The Oasis of the Seas...almost five times as large as the Titanic, it has a population during...

One Ben Nematzadeh. A trade mag reports: $39 Million for 66 Jack in the Boxes [2010-03-04] The results of the sale for the 66 California Jack in the Box franchises are in, with the final price coming in at just...

Let's hope so. Lest its popularity spawns a boom in retrospectives on this most-ballyhooed, indulged and self-absorbed generation. Brokaw's special two-hour documentary first airs tonight. Puh-leeze! Even growing up, surrounded by them on every side, I found stories about the...

City Manager Kurt Starman's question at yesterday's talk by "Plunder" author Steve Greenhut: Starman: Your book was well written, cogent and informative, so I want to compliment you on the book. My purpose is...wearing my manager hat, one of the...

I've heard union officials and rank and file public safety employees say that during online and in-person discussions of public pension costs. In fact, I remember one firefighter declaring that his colleagues tended to die five years after retirement. Not...

I was invited to break bread Tuesday evening with four honchos from the Greater Redding Chamber of Commerce and the conversation turned inevitably to the local economy. The consensus around the table, alas, was that we'll probably have to wait...

A journalistic colleague e-mails: Went to Jack's with friends on Saturday night to celebrate my husband's birthday, and we were delighted to hear that there was a 1.5-hour wait... the past few times we've visited, we've been seated before we...

Ronald Reagan "signed" the diploma I got from the University of California in December 1974. A few months later Jerry Brown began his eight-year turn as California's chief executive. How long ago was that? Let's see...gasoline averaged 44 cents a...

Say this for Jerry Brown. He's been through a brutal cash crunch in Sacramento. Here's a link to then Gov. Brown's speech following passage of the tectonic shift known as Proposition 13, more than 30 years ago now....

Not that Shasta College's former prez needs the work. From the City Times: San Jose City College hired former Ohlone College president Doug Treadway as the interim president Feb. 16. He will fill in, while the school seeks replacement for...

Say this for Michael Savage - unlike Rush or Hannity you never know what you're going to get when you dial in (3 p.m. weekdays on KCNR1460). Today, for instance, out of the blue, he played this wonderful clip...

The popular q97 radio hosts took over the Cascade Saturday night for a 90-minute variety show to celebrate the milestone. The proceeds went to Make-A-Wish and the Cascade Theatre Fund. Good guys....

On the story today about Sheriff Bosenko wanting to use Homeland Security grant $$$ to buy two tiny remote-controlled robots: 420PoolGuy writes: I keep coming back because this cracks me up. Tommy Gun Bosenko want 2, yes 2 robots to...