Hawaii becomes the first state in the nation to ban plastic bags at the checkout counter. Read about it here. Here's Murray's beef with plastic bags....

On the radio this morning Ken Murray was truly steamed at host Carl Bott. For some off-hand remark Bott apparently made during a broadcast "town hall" on Friday with reps of city labor unions. It had to do with the...

On the day before the election they'll be debating one last time. If you're so inclined, tune to KCNR1460 AM at 8 o'clock Monday morning. Carl and Linda Bott's "Free Fire Radio" show also has an online chat room if...

Mary Stegall, Redding Sullivan, Murray can move forward I am compelled to write this because I am deeply concerned about the state of our community. It pains me to see our city and our City Council divided so deeply that progress forward is almost impossible. That’s why I have decided to support the

Veteran Redding City Councilwoman Mary Stegall has endorsed challengers Ken Murray and Francie Sullivan for two of the three seats on the dais up for grabs Tuesday.

Given the way the issues have played out in this year's election, I don't find it all that surprising that Mary Stegall is backing her former fellow Councilor Ken Murray, but this endorsement letter is making the digital rounds this...

A friend e-mails a pdf file of a flyer he got this week. It's a "Voter Guide for Republicans" from an outfit in Torrance**. Under "Redding City Council" it lists Ken Murray ("realtor") and Francie Sullivan ("community volunteer"). Funny. I...

Ken Murray was born in Los Angeles, attended grammar school in the small San Joaquin Valley town of Planada and graduated high school at Newport Harbor High in Newport Beach.  After graduation he enlisted in the United States

Maybe because I'm a word guy, I especially like the no-nonsense campaign mailer from Ken Murray that arrived in my mailbox today. No flags, no cowboy hats and hay bales, just a straightforward rundown of why he's running. Not great...

On his campaign web site, Murray claims that he could get the city and county to come together on a tax-sharing agreement, boasting that he has 30 years of negotiating skills. Murray wants this to happen so that future development...

Sunday’s Redding City Council hopefuls at the candidates forum at the Redding Library, left to right: Gary Cadd, Sou Saechao, Ken Murray, Francie Sullivan, Don K

"Public safety first!" A good campaign slogan. Both Ken Murray and Sandra Speer are running on it. Murray has said we need to cut everything before public safety. But where, what and who, specifically? Which departments would Murray and Speer...

Four and a half years ago, when Ken Murray was mayor, hotelier Bert Meyer wrote Hizzoner to raise serious and well-researched concerns about the economic viability of Stillwater Business Park. Meyer, you see, had actually read all the Stillwater documents...

...you can watch every punch here. Courtesy videographer Robert Exter....

From the sound of it, there may have been as much heat as light generated at last night's candidates' debate between Patrick Jones and Ken Murray. Jones: You wasted money on Stillwater. Murray: You're wasting money on Oasis Road. Jones:...

Redding Mayor Patrick Jones and Ken Murray, twice former mayor and current council challenger, verbally pummeled each other Monday evening in a one-on-one debate designed to sound the way a prize fight looks.

Courtesy Tea Party maven Erin Ryan: "The format is the two of them asking each other the questions. 30 sec for question with 1 min response and 1 min reply from the "asker". 2 ½ min per question and each...

(Here's the fight poster, courtesy Erin Ryan and Rob Exter) This should be quite a bout, whether it goes 12 rounds or not. Mayor Patrick Jones squares off against challenger and former political mentor Ken Murray during the Redding...

Was Sunday’s Record Searchlight editorial a political career-ender for Ken Murray?

Well here's an announcement that's interesting -- if not surprising: Today the Redding Firefighters' Association proudly announced their support for Francie Sullivan, Sandra Speer & Ken Murray for Redding City Council. They join the Redding Peace Officers' Association and the...

We may need him to, depending on the outcome of the November election. Remember his "Why can't we all get along?" appeal? For argument's sake, let's assume Patrick Jones, Ken Murray and Francie Sullivan win (not a far-fetched scenario). Jones...

It documents, in withering detail, how the candidate twisted, distorted and misrepresented his record on Stillwater Business Park during a radio interview last week. But Murray is a resilient fellow. Listen to him on the radio or during a candidates'...

Every politician spins, highlighting successes and downplaying failures. But rarely does an office-seeker attempt so thorough a rewrite of the historical record as former and would-be future Redding City Councilman Ken Murray attempted in a Thursday morning radio interview.

I hate to call people liars, so I won't call Ken Murray one. But he was awfully selective in his memory on Carl and Linda Bott's show this morning when a caller asked him about Stillwater Business Park. Here's the...

On KCNR1460 this morning, once and future city councilor Ken Murray essentially said he had nothing - as in zero, zip, nada - to do with Stillwater Business Park. He's either trying to reinvent or run from his record. At...

This Sunday at 10 a.m., on fellow blogger Doug Craig's new radio show ("Wake Up Call") on KCNR1460 AM. Craig tells me he's having Murray on because he (Murray) used to be a global warming "denier" but now he's come...

Ken Murray, using a “public safety first” campaign, will seek to regain the Redding City Council seat he narrowly lost two years ago.

As Yours Truly's been predicting for some time, Murray has decided to run for council again, on a "safety first" campaign. Conventional wisdom holds that the bigger the field the more it favors the incumbents. Trouble is, incumbents Patrick Jones...

Ken Murray will seek to regain the Redding City Council seat he narrowly lost two years ago with a “public safety first” campaign.

As of 3:30 this afternoon the following folks have taken out papers to run for the three open Redding city council seats: Rick Bosetti Sou Saechao Steve Hobson Francie Sullivan More to come: Patrick Jones, Gary Cadd, Ken Murray (?),...

In his monthly opinion column, Murray says he visited and played in nine Indian casinos on a recent road trip up and down California. I don't care what Murray does in his private time and with his own money. What...

Over the past week I had the opportunity to travel much of California by automobile, something I haven’t done in years. Much has changed while other things never change.

Over the past week I had the opportunity to travel much of California by automobile, something I haven’t done in years. Much has changed while other things never change.

This news will make Ken Murray happy. Legislation that would ban many California stores from giving away single-use plastic bags has taken a step closer to becoming law. AB 1998 was passed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Friday and...

Patrick Jones, Rick Bosetti and Missy McArthur (a Redding City Council majority) have decided politics are more important than public safety. Any doubt as to their motives were removed when they voted to lay off eight police officers unnecessarily. T

Personally, I read the fine print text of the proposed laws first, then the analyst’s opinion and lastly the ballot arguments. I do so because I want to know exactly what the proposed law’s language is prior to reading the half-truths, puffery and outright lies contained in the ballot arguments.

In the vein of hearing from the colleagues who know him best (such as Steve Gibson), I was curious what Ken Murray -- a longtime co-host of Ray Roberts on KQMS over the years -- thought of the kerfuffle. His...

The government "safety net" for many senior citizens is neither safe nor a net. As a matter of fact, the current "net" requires you seriously injure yourself before receiving needed services.

Ken Murray wrote a column last fall about the perversity of the plastic-bag lobby using the California Environmental Quality Act to stop cities that are attempting to restrict or simply ban the use of plastic shopping bags. Well, it turns...

President Barack Obama wants to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy within the armed forces. What would replace it? Do ask, do tell? When I was in the military, I don't remember having a conversation about the sex lives of my fellow servicemen. I didn't care about their bedroom behavior and they apparently didn't care ab

"I was not a member of the Redding City Council that decided to make Stillwater Business Park a reality, but I have supported the concept." Ken Murray, RS 1/24/10 For the record, Murray was on the council (mayor, in fact)...

Stillwater Business Park exists. The complainers need to back off - it's a done deal - and spend their energy becoming part of the solution. We need jobs, and complaining about yesterday's decisions won't create one single paycheck. You can directly be a part of a communitywide effort to create employment opportunities loca

Jerry Benito's been getting all manner of grief lately, but as Ken Murray pointed out a few months back, the grant he helped win to establish a Family Justice Center (which is on the supervisors' agenda Tuesday) is a great...

MISSING THE POINT: Monday I read yet another negative response to Ken Murray's great article. My only observation here is that it's no wonder this country is in such a mess when there are so many people in it that haven't a clue what Murray is trying to tell them.

Murray spreads myths It is interesting how myths have such a hold on Americans. Ken Murray's recent opinion piece contains many myths. I will list but a few:

MURRAY WRITES A SHOCKER: Oh my God! I agree with Ken Murray (column, Sunday). Next up: Beware of flying pigs!Natalie Larson, Cottonwood