Everything on today’s menu is low-fat and high-fiber. Consume as much as you wish:
Few societal threats escape the watchful eye of the Richmond City Council, so it was no surprise Tuesday night that it voted its opposition to airborne weapons systems that have purportedly targeted residents with mind-control technology. You read that correctly.
After a dozen professed victims told of pain suffered from chemtrails, particle beams and electromagnetic radiation, the council voted 5-2 in favor of Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles’ resolution “in support of the Space Preservation Act and the Space Preservation Treaty to permanently ban spaced-based weapons,” with Mayor Tom Butt and Councilman Vinay Pimple dissenting.
“I’m just a dumb City Council person,” Butt said, “and this is way, way over my head. I frankly think it’s way out of the purview of what this City Council should be taking up.”
Colleague Nat Bates was more understanding: “I’m going to support the resolution for the simple reason that we have voted on a lot of dumb ideas.”
With the 7th District state Senate race now thankfully over, it will be strange not to see my stoop-shouldered letter carrier lugging a wad of oversized political mailers to our mailbox. The final tally at the Barnidge address was 61 — 14 for Susan Bonilla and 18 attacking her; 17 for Steve Glazer and 12 attacking him. If all the money spent on these pieces had been given to the Leukemia Foundation, we could have stamped out the disease.
When I recently crossed paths with a neighbor and asked what she thought of the campaign, “revulsion” best described her response. “I’m so disgusted,” she said, “I’m not even going to vote.” I doubt she was alone.
The union forces intent on recalling Contra Costa County Supervisor Karen Mitchoff ran into a couple of technical glitches the other day, meaning their petition did not follow protocol and needed to be refiled. But that’s not going to stand in their way.
When a single-minded, self-interested group makes up its mind to do something out of political spite, it’s not going to get sidetracked from its cause, even if it forces an unnecessary election that will cost taxpayers a half-million dollars.
The resignations last week of Amber Lineweaver and Dana Tarantino bring to at least five the number of board members who have left the Clayton Valley Charter High School governing authority in the past nine months. Tom Branich, Christine Reimer and Dick Ellis previously departed, and there may have been more. It’s hard to keep track.
Chairman Ted Meriam insists the school is sailing a steady course, but it’s difficult to calm the passengers when the deck hands keep jumping ship.
So it turns out that leaking water is raising corrosion concerns about steel support rods on the new Bay Bridge, requiring tests that will cost $4 million. Plus, one rod is noticeably shorter than it should be. (Aren’t they supposed to measure these things?) And the removal of the old Bay Bridge that was once estimated to cost $239 million — before it was revised to $271 million — could cost a few million more than that if the piers can’t be imploded.
It makes you long for the good ol’ days, when all we had to lament was that the Bay Bridge was coming in $5 billion over its original budget and nine years late.
Speaking of which, how much do you suppose the governor’s new bullet train is really going to cost?
Contact Tom Barnidge at tbarnidge@bayareanewsgroup.com.
