Archive By Section - Local Columns
The blame game trumps finding a real solution
America's favorite pastime these days isn't baseball. It's the blame game. It's played to the hilt by the Greek Choruses out there who tell us the economy is collapsing, schools are in the toilet, we're about to have a secular repeat of 40 days and 40 nights via global warming, criminals are taking over, and whatever the current crisis du jour. We verbally debate, write, Twitter, and blog our anger finding ironic solace in assessing ...
Citizen floats utility tax idea for budget woes
Manteca resident Bud Wallace has an interesting suggestion in a letter you can find elsewhere on today's opinion page.
Cop layoff debate: The need to avoid a repeat of 1983
Economic reality has prompted a council that consists of two retired law enforcement personnel – John Harris who served as a San Joaquin County probation officer and Willie Weatherford who is a retired Manteca police chief – to send City Manager Steve Pinkerton forth with a compensation readjustment proposal for all municipal employees including police. If the bargaining groups didn't buy it, the other option is layoffs within that particular set of employees.
It is – for better or worse – a brave new world
How dare they - the argument goes – cut back on law enforcement pay or talk about layoffs – when we passed the Measure M public safety half cent sales tax to pay for police officers and firefighters?
Preying on cities that offer prayer at meetings to get their point across
Congress opens each day with a prayer and – quite frankly – there has been no sign of divine providence setting anybody in that neck of the woods on the straight and narrow.
Fate of 12 Manteca police officers now in the hands of their fellow officers
If the City of Manteca's compensation renegotiations were a chess game Manteca's firefighters make have put Manteca's police officers a move away from check mate.
Golf course is a horse of a different color
I'm pleased you wrote something about the enterprise operations as most people don't understand what they are.
Raising a family & voting was too much for Meg Whitman to handle
"I was focused on raising a family, on my husband's career, and we moved many, many times," - California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman on why she didn't bother to vote for decades
Enterprise funds impacted by recession
Employees have been asking me why all city funding sources are subject to budget cuts, when most of the discussion has centered around the status of the city's General Fund. This is an excellent question. In fact, I am just as worried (if not more so) about our enterprise and redevelopment funds.
How cutting pay of some workers won’t help city with its deficit
The guys who pick up your garbage can't figure it out. Nor can the folks, who make sure your wastewater is treated properly, nor the people who keep clean water flowing through your taps, and not even the men who groom the greens at the Manteca Golf Course. They are all being asked to take pay cuts to help the City of Manteca deal with its deficit. Share the pain, as it were. There's just ...
Council needs to take a real look at workforce housing project
Those living in the Land of the McMansions are about to get new neighbors – workforce housing.
A close look at Obama and the Czars
The people President Obama has chosen to be in his inner circle should cause concern for all Americans. He has chosen "czars" to be his personal advisors on various issues. These are people who are whispering in his ear and influencing his decisions.
For Jowell, laughter was always better than tears
That impish signature twinkle lit up her eyes. We were trading war stories, as it were, about the Manteca Bulletin and various organizations we had been involved in together through the years. She started laughing. And once Jowell Griggs started laughing, you coudn't help but laugh too. It was a classic Jowell moment. She was enjoying life, friends, and talking about her four most cherished things – her husband Leo, daughter Alexis, and sons Andrew ...
Economic reality catching up with public sector
The professor was indignant. "The state should be ashamed of themselves," she told the TV news crew. "They need to find some other way to make cuts." Another University of California employee – a custodian – got students who were worked up about tuition topping $10,000 a year and staff being cut to let out loud whoops of approval when she said the university had the "audacity" to lay off a quarter of the people ...
The loss of an incredible woman & friend
Sometimes we get the feeling life is just not fair. Jowell Griggs was an incredible woman that was taken from us far too soon. Jowell passed away September 23, 2009 after a short battle with cancer. I am honored to have called her my friend. I remember the day Jowell called me to tell me she had a tumor in her lung and they needed to biopsy it. I was certain it would be nothing. She was too young and had never smoked. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
Articles by Section - Local Columns
Ammo sales & ‘The Obama Effect’
Almost four years ago, I wrote a column entitled "The Obama Effect" in which I described how fear and distrust of our then newly elected President created panic among our citizenry and that there were massive shortages of almost every kind of ammunition imaginable.
Safeguards against PG&E style file browsing at Manteca City Hall
Is the plan PG&E proof?
Tax Internet sales until virtual cops can protect us
The Internet.
Summer heat and keeping dogs safe
DEAR DIDI: It hasn't been all that hot yet but I noticed when I was walking my English Bulldog the other day he refused to stay on the sidewalk. Can you tell me about temperatures for walks and what I should watch for when I take her in the car? -Worried Mommy in Manteca
Taxes you pay go to PG&E & not Headstart
Pundits - and editorial cartoonists - are having a field day over Congress' decision to restore funding for air traffic controllers while letting programs such as Headstart for low-income kids and Meals on Wheels for shut-in senior citizens take federal budget hits.
The Pope and Godless capitalism
"This is called slave labor," said Pope Francis.
Cinco de Mayo is as American as you can get
People need to stop having heart palpations over Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
Meeting your Ripon neighbors at jury duty, plus an unexpected pleasure over lunch
Meeting a couple of Ripon folks, and one from Linden and another from Tracy was an unexpected pleasure in my brief two days of jury duty this week – especially when four of us just happened to go out to lunch together on Thursday.
Kentucky Derby’s horse tie to French Camp
FRENCH CAMP – It's a funny thing, this horse racing business.
Guns: Being judged by 12 instead of being carried by 6
She's a single mom in her early 30s. She lives in an old farmhouse in an almond orchard five miles east of Manteca. The closest neighbor is a quarter mile of a way but the trees make it impossible to see their home.
Want a safe environment for vacation? Then stay out of Yosemite
Yosemite National Park is not Disneyland.
Perhaps Manteca should work with Wal-Mart to create a homeless park
The aging RV was parked under a stately tree providing relief from the 90-degree midday heat.
Count your blessings that disco didn’t survive the ‘70s
Bell bottom pants. Flare-leg pants. Men's rayon tie scarves. Polyester suits.
Sections:
- NEWS |
- SPORTS |
- BUSINESS |
- OBITUARIES |
- OPINION |
- HOME SCENE |
- 209 |
- MULTIMEDIA |
- FEATURED EDITIONS |
- MOVIES |
- REGIONAL NEWS
Services:
Submit News:
Online:
Contents of this site are © 2013 Manteca Bulletin - All Rights Reserved Privacy policy and Terms of service | Contact Us
