Opinion

Football's coming home

MUSINGS FROM THE GRIZZ

Well, I’m glad to read that they finally made the connection between ALS a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s Disease and head trauma. When I began playing football in the 50s we hit with our shoulders, not our heads. But in the mid-60s, when I went to Oregon State University, everything changed, and it was head first football. The helmets got bigger, heavier and thicker and the players stronger. All while the hitting went on. And now the evidence is in. Those collisions of helmet to helmet pay a price.  Too high of a price in my judgement. Football has got to do something about hitting with the head.more...

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Rambling on the river

MUSINGS FROM THE GRIZZ

Has anybody heard from Brenda Lee? I mean is she still with us? She sang that famous song, “I’m Sorry.” So sorry, please accept my apologies. What a set of pipes. more...

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Redevelopment – Martinez's Missed Opportunity

Redevelopment remains Martinez’s missed opportunity.  In Mr. Wainwright’s second of three series, he summarizes the multi-decade history of the redevelopment saga in Martinez.  Unfortunately, like the other anti-redevelopment advocates before and those that may follow, the mantra remains that:

1.  Redevelopment will line the pockets of developers with money;

2.  Peoples’ homes will be condemned and taken by eminent domain;more...

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Port Chicago, Crockett and Byron

MUSINGS FROM THE GRIZZ

This is the weekend to remember the great town once called Port Chicago. It was quite a place. I had the pleasure to work there in the summer of 1964 when I was employed by the Contra Costa County road crew. I worked with Bruce Skaggs, who lived in Port Chicago and had to go home at least two times a day. Port Chicago has three tragedies to recall. First there was the explosion, the great loss of life and the physical destruction. Then there were the courts-martial, which have only now been fully exonerating of the men who allegedly mutinied.more...

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We are all Oscar Grant

Sitting at work for the last few minutes of the day and planning to return to Oakland, I can only think about whether a cop will shoot me tonight, because I plan to protest the Mehserle verdict. I might get an occasional traffic ticket, but for the most part I’m a law-abiding citizen.more...

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Bikers and Opera

MUSINGS FROM THE GRIZZ

Sure have been a lot of bikers in town. Oops, I mean the bikers with the strong legs who wear those French-Italian bicycle suits. Apparently they come over the  Martinez-Benicia Bridge, which has a bike lane, so we are now part of the Bay Trail loop.  I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s on my shortlist. I am told the bicyclists take the Carquinez Bridge and go down Franklin Canyon Road and end up in downtown Martinez where they get a cup of coffee at Starbucks. So culture is unfolding itself in those bright, beautifully colored biking suits. more...

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Musings from the Grizz

Introducing new guest columnist TOM GREERTY

So Alhambra’s Dave Silvera is retiring after 28 years of being the school’s head football coach. An amazing feat. I’m told health is one of the reasons, but so is time. 28 years is a career. And it’s been a great career.more...

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Define Educate

OP-ED

We are inundated with new words, and new meanings to old words. Constantly, we have to re-learn words that have been redefined, whether naturally by culture or by those with an agenda of some sort. This is neither inherently good nor bad, but it is being abused. Through the redefinition of our vocabulary, a mysticism surrounds much of our verbiage – chock full of ideologies and contemporary thought patterns, we have crafted super-charged words. Words that don’t truly mean what they intend to imply, or they stand for much more than the original definition.more...

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Health Care Reform: It's Time

OP-ED

By Congressman George Miller and California State Senator Mark DeSaulnier

We stand on the cusp of a transformative moment in our country’s history: making quality, affordable health care a right for all Americans.more...

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Apology

Headline was inappropriate, offensive.

APOLOGY
In the July 2 edition of the Gazette we ran an inappropriate and insensitive headline regarding the tragic death of a Martinez man. The headline read, “Martinez skydiver takes final plunge.” We wish to apologize to Ken Knigge’s family and to everybody in the community for the unforgivable light-hearted approach with which we treated the story. Though I was on vacation that day, the buck stops with me, and I hope our readers know the Gazette does not take personal tragedies lightly.
— Yael Li-Ron, Editor

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Empathetic jurists need not apply

EDITORIAL

President Obama has made it clear that one of the criteria for an ideal candidate to replace Justice Souter of the Supreme Court is “empathy.”

That’s bad news, according to some. In fact, GOP officials and other conservative and Right-Wing talking heads are up in arms. “Empathy is a code word for… [fill in the blank],” they’re warning.

We don’t want an ‘activist judge,” they’ve made it clear. Just to make it clearer, “activist judge” is Wingers’ code word for somebody who would support Roe v. Wade.more...

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Fun & Games

Two items in today’s Gazette will probably generate some e-mail from readers, so let me try to address some of your concerns in anticipation of your reaction.more...

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The new spirit of bi-partisanship

Cartoon by Chris Kapsalis.

 

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$6 million pool

Cartoon by Chris Kapsalis.

 

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Gay marriage and free choice

Cartoon by Chris Kapsalis.

 

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Welcome to Martinez

Cartoon by Chris Kapsalis.

Decaf latte: $2.75

Antique pin cushion: $7.95

Parking ticket: $28

Shopping in Martinez: Priceless

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Roll that TARP over me

Banks aren’t issuing loans to the taxpayers who bailed them out.

I’m a woman of principle. Among my many principles is the very determined avoidance of purchasing German products. Some people tell me to get over it, the war is over, the Germans aren’t what they used to be. But the Holocaust is very much alive in people of my generation and our parents, who barely survived and lived to tell the tale. So I won’t buy a Krups coffeemaker, let alone get a mortgage from Deutsche Bank.more...

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How do you like our new site?

Welcome to the Gazette’s spankin’ new Web site. We’re kinda proud of it. It would never have happened had it not been for the heroic efforts by Matthew Newton, Web developer extraordinaire. Please let us know what you think and don’t hesitate to leave comments on stories you like (or not). — Yael Li-Ron, Editor.

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Plagiarism or inspiration? You decide

Big BANG yet to apologize for blatant borrowing of Gazette content.

Two weeks ago, the Gazette ran two stories about local women who had recently passed away and left a legacy of community work. The articles were written by Greta Mart, who did all the research herself with generous help from Harriett Burt.more...

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