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Freight Expectations

I grew up within earshot of train tracks and especially remember hearing the trains whistles at night. As kids, we used to walk on the tracks and watch the trains go by. My first trip away from home - alone - was on a train. And like probably every boy of my generation, I had a Lionel train with 3 cars and a caboose and about 7 feet of track. I spent hours pouring over the lush Lionel catalogues and imagine the tiny plastic loading docks, warehouses, water towers, bridges that make my train set the coolest ever.

By | July 28th, 2011|0 Comments

PETA Poultry Palaces

Of course, the ultimate goal of our friends at PETA is to make raising animals for food so difficult that we'll all become vegetarians (organic, of course). Or, failing that, confine us to scavenging the bodies animals who died naturally. And were that to happen, more groups would arise to protect the "rights" of buzzards. They would advocate a "carrion" tax, and the creation of protected buzzard sanctuaries. In the end, PETA is just one more group of people who are so arrogant and self-important that they feel they have a God-given - check that, they don't believe in God - right to tell others how to live.

By | July 14th, 2011|0 Comments

We’re Number One!

Again, Petaluma takes the honors for having the worst roads in Sonoma County. This recurring accolade actually helps me to understand the whole concept of shrinking the roads from 4 lanes to 3 in parts of town: less road to go bad. Or is it less bad road to go...on.

By | July 8th, 2011|0 Comments

For a Safe and Sane 4th, don’t set off any of these.

Plenty of fireworks all year long in River City. Here a few of my favorites...

By | July 1st, 2011|0 Comments

S-M-A-R-T Spells “Boondoggle”

Among the most cherished of Progressive pipe dreams is inter-city light rail. Not the classic, steam and smoke belching juggernauts that drove American commerce for over a century while hauling goods from coast to coast. The Birkenstock set are agog over electric people movers, pure and simple. Advocates love to cite (as examples of successful urban transit) cities such as London, Paris, New York, etc. forgetting to mention, of course, that the majority of urban transit preceded the auto and its effects on cities. In the hopes of rolling back time, and forcing the hated gas-guzzling moto-genie back into its bottle, fantasies such as the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit are foisted on a gullible public with low-ball-cost and inflated-usage estimates. I'll bet they'd promise that the trains will be solar-powered, but they know that even Progressives are not that dumb.

By | June 26th, 2011|0 Comments

Deercreek Follies Explained

Petaluma's self-annointed Progressives elected the mayor to represent their heartfelt goals and achieve their most profound purposes. In short (no pun intended), the mayor is the living embodiment of a Petaluma Progressive - abusing subordinates, aiding a trespasser who interferes with legally-mandated activities, claiming ownership of projects that have survived despite his determined opposition. On one hand, you can say that he's no worse than most politicians, e.g., people who do whatever they have to do to get their own way, which (in my view) perfectly characterizes our local brand of "Progressive."

By | June 16th, 2011|0 Comments

Great Petaluma Water Heist

Why would someone steal water from a municipal fire hydrant? Makes about as much sense as standing in a field in front of a tractor in a futile attempt to halt legally mandated weed-mowing. In a town where the mayor has nothing better to do that bear witness to such Pyrrhic acts of political theater, I guess nothing should be considered strange.

By | June 12th, 2011|0 Comments

Boomer Gets A New Home

I was glad to learn that Boomer, the rescued black lab, is doing just fine with folks who treat him with care and love. His former owner - not so much. Perhaps the sap may learn the meaning of the phrase "treated like a dog."

By | June 10th, 2011|0 Comments

Deercreek Follies

This just in... A former Petaluma City Councilperson, a spouse, and an individual who strongly resembled hizzoner, the Mayor, visited the site of the future (hopefully) Deercreek Shopping Center. The Councilperson and spouse attempted to block the mowing of the grass for reasons that are not clear, while the third individual stood by on the sidelines. When told they were trespassing, all three parties departed without further incident and the mowing was resumed.

By | June 5th, 2011|0 Comments

Welcome to the Dinosaur Whisperer

A hearty welcome to Ingrid Alverde, Petaluma's new Economic Development Manager. Ingrid came to River City from Poway, where in a similar role she helped bring Costco, Home Depot and Kohls to that city. I hope she brought with her a thick skin, a carload of Pepto and pain killers, and a manual on how to tame the local dinosaurs who work overtime to keep Petaluma trapped in the Jurassic Age.

By | May 20th, 2011|0 Comments