Wading In

This past week, my friend's daughter's sister in law passed away suddenly at the age of 34, leaving a husband and three children, the last just days old. It's a tragedy beyond words. I didn't know Jennifer but from all I've heard from my friend Joyce, she was a very nice person with a loving family and great extended family. She will be terribly missed. When something like this happens, it inevitably causes me to think of my own mortality. My mother always told me, "Tomorrow isn't promised to you" and while we often take tomorrow for granted, she was absolutely right. So live life the way you want to live it. Let your loved ones know they're loved. Jennifer Alene Gilbert Jennifer was born June 6, 1974 and passed away suddenly on Monday, November 24, 2008 at the age of 34 in Sacramento. A Sacramento resident all her life, she is survived by her beloved husband, Troy, and three loving children, Makenzy, age 7, Kacy, age 5, and Jake, 9 days old. She w...

There's always reason to be thankful By Kelvin Wade | | November 27, 2008 18:10 Something is not quite right this Thanksgiving. I mean, I'm all set to rendezvous with the guest of honor on Thursday with her golden brown skin, plump breasts, succulent thighs and alluring scent. Just imagining her laying there all smoking hot on that platter makes me all ready to masticate. I'm ready for the parade of side dishes, eager to surround that bird on my plate. I'm all set for thick, steaming slices of moist turkey breast resting on a bed of fluffy seasoned stuffing with a river of hot turkey gravy cascading down your plate accompanied by thick slices of jellied cranberry sauce. What is turkey without its supporting cast? I'm practiced and ready to wield my fork like Anakin Skywalker putting a lightsaber through its paces. When we say grace the final 'Amen' will be the equivalent of a starter pistol signaling the start of the autumnal feast. And (...

We can't condone irresponsible lending, borrowing By Kelvin Wade | | November 20, 2008 20:19 I read a newspaper story this week on our fair city's dire financial situation, asking if we were the next Vallejo. This community, like ones up and down the state and in most of the country, has been hit hard by the mortgage meltdown. I, like many of you, am feeling the pinch. When you buy your first home, it's an amazing, proud feeling. It's the fulfillment of the American Dream in a lot of respects. Owning your own property gives you a stake in your community. You're concerned about the other homes on your block, the area schools, crime, jobs, etc. When I purchased my house four and a half years ago, homes sold in the blink of an eye. Soon selling a house was like trying to sell a winter coat to an Arizonan. It was dismaying watching owners on my block dropping the prices of their homes in order to sell them. Then the foreclosures began. An unholy alliance...

The nation is truly hopeful. Polls are showing President Elect Obama with a 70% approval rating. That's astonishing considering he got 53% of the vote. It means people are ready to put partisanship aside and work and hope for better days. This president gives us hope on the economy, on health care, on international relations, on education, on volunteerism, on young people getting involved in politics, on Iraq, on the hunt for Bin Laden, on immigration reform etc... There's so much possibility hanging in the air. It's a daunting time to be alive, a challenging time, but there is hope that there's brighter days ahead. So it's with all of that in fhe front of my mind, that it's a shame that I have that feeling of dread in the back of my mind. The unspoken fear of an assassin's bullet. God, don't let us go down that road. Obama has more threats than other presidents-elect By EILEEN SULLIVAN,...

Initiative process needs an overhaul By Kelvin Wade | | November 13, 2008 17:45 The initiative process in California needs a makeover. In the past week, I've heard backers of Proposition 8 wonder what good an initiative passed by popular vote is if it gets tied up and undone in the courts? And I've heard opponents of Proposition 8 complain that civil rights shouldn't be put to a popular vote and that altering the state constitution should require a two-thirds vote. But it's worse than that. While I do like the idea of direct democracy, there are four things that bother me about the initiative process. No. 1, it's no longer a grassroots operation. When California Gov. Hiram Johnson championed the initiative process almost 100 years ago, he envisioned grassroots movements of Californians working together to pass measures to improve their lot. We seldom see that anymore. Most propositions are dreamt up by interest groups, put on the ballot through paid signature gathe...

Time to stand behind president-elect By Kelvin Wade | | November 06, 2008 16:06 Seven score and four years ago, Abraham Lincoln, in a speech to the 166th Ohio Regiment, said, 'I happen temporarily to occupy this big White House. I am living witness that any one of your children may look to come here as my father's child has.' Of course that wasn't true for blacks at the time and even the Great Emancipator would've never envisioned a black man as president. When Barack Obama was announced as the next president of the United States, the television screens were filled with people celebrating and many people, especially blacks, weeping. At that moment, I was supposed to call my brother Tony who was working at a polling station to tell him the news but could only manage to text 'Barack is president' before dropping the phone and sobbing. The improbable victory caps an amazing American journey. I, and many others I'm sure,...

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