Nov 28, 2021
The sights on lower X Street did it for me. Coming off the freeway, I saw wrecked cars and busted campers and people standing around, a pitiful procession pinned against the gutter like a forlorn carnival that took a wrong turn. Somebody stuck two orange traffic cones partway into the street, warning motorists to steer clear.
Lower X Street, home to warehouses and body shops, never delivered a welcoming hug to visitors who enter the city from river’s edge. Now it arrives with a punch in the face.
Oct 28, 2021
There aren’t many coffee table books that combine original artwork, architecture, history and humor, but James Patrick Lane’s new book, “Painting the Grand Homes of California’s Central Valley,” fits the description.
“This is not your standard coffee table book,” the Arden-Arcade artist says of the project he began in 2019. “It’s actually quite rare to find a book like this with paintings instead of photos. Plus, I’ve included painting tips like, here’s how I made the light in the windows. If you’re an artist, you should get a lot from this book.”
Aug 29, 2021
The homelessness crisis continues to grow. My office receives more calls, emails and online posts about this issue than any other.
The growing population of people living unsheltered on our streets, parks and open spaces brings human suffering to our doorsteps and represents a failure of government to provide safe and sanitary shelter and meaningful treatment programs for addiction and mental illness.
Aug 29, 2021
The Gavin Newsom recall began as a referendum on the governor’s handling of the pandemic. But homelessness has become a critical issue for Republican candidates eager to replace Newsom in this month’s special election.
Businessman John Cox has been hauling an 8-foot ball of garbage around California to symbolize “the trash that’s left behind” by homeless people.
Jul 28, 2021
When someone asks if I am a right-wing conservative Republican or a left-wing liberal Democrat, I shudder. There’s no useful answer. In the best case, the response produces a friend who parrots your beliefs. In the worst case, you are ridiculed and dismissed.
When I learned I would be paired with a Democrat in a journalistic experiment where we swap news diets in the spirit of bipartisanship, I was nervous. I don’t like the idea of one’s life experience being boiled down to a single word. It leaves too much to the imagination. In the current political climate, imagination can be uncharitable.
