Wading In

December 29, 2011 | Daily Republic Sneakerheads’ priorities out of whack by Kelvin Wade When I read about people being trampled in the pilgrimage to Mecca or Hajj, I can almost understand how religious fervor could result in such a tragedy. If I read about crowds trampling people to get to food and water being distributed by relief workers in a war-torn area, I can understand how that happens. Hunger is a powerful motivator. But fighting and trampling people for shoes in the United States? In Fairfield? Last Friday, Nike released its new retro sneakers, the Air Jordan XI. The shoe is a replica of the ones Michael Jordan wore during his championship 1995-96 season, when he won the All-Star MVP, NBA MVP and NBA Finals MVP. The shoe retails for $180 and people lost their minds trying to get a pair. Police in Seattle had to use pepper spray to break up a fight over the shoes in a mall among 20 people. In Indianapolis, a crowd broke a door off its hinges and trampled people to get to the sh...

December 22, 2011 | Daily Republic I’m on Santa’s nice list, for now by Kelvin Wade Dear Santa, Thank you for putting me on the “nice list,” even though my brother Tony tried to knock me off of it. I want to clear up the libelous content of Tony’s “The Last Laugh” column where he claimed I called a neighborhood man “Slander Man” after the man accused me of throwing rocks in his pool. Whether my friend and I threw rocks in his pool is irrelevant because the man didn’t see us do it. He assumed it. And it was my friend who labeled him “Slander Man” for impugning our good names. Besides, that was 100 years ago and since you know when I’m awake and when I’m sleeping (like some twisted old fat stalker, no offense), you know I’ve tried to be good. For instance, anyone who knows me knows that I used to have neighbors from H-E-double hockey sticks. It was like every day they woke up and discovered they were the next contestants on Just-How-Big-a-Jerk-Can-I-Be-Today? But did I set their house on...

Daily Republic / December 15, 2011 Aiding abductions by crying wolf By Kelvin Wade A couple of weeks ago, my 6-year-old grandson Kawika and I read an ebook version of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” together. He loved the interactive nature of the story but more importantly, we talked about the message and he made it clear that he understood it. Now, Kawika is 6, not 17. Seventeen-year-old Suisun City resident Christina Almanza was arrested after faking abduction, triggering an Amber Alert and massive police response. She was found at an acquaintance’s house in Vallejo. Officers had to shoot an aggressive dog on the premises. The teen was trying to get attention from her family, according to published reports. I was in my home office when I heard the Amber Alert on the television in the living room describing Almanza’s abduction. I admit what sent me out of my chair and into the living room was the fact that Almanza was from Suisun City. It was shocking. Amber Alerts are still relatively new ...

December 08, 2011 | Fairfield Daily Republic A tax we can all support by Kelvin Wade Who wants to vote for taxes? Hear me out. The Solano County Board of Supervisors recently voted to place renewing the eighth-cent library sales tax on the June 5, 2012 ballot. While we need to reauthorize the measure to keep our libraries strong, a strong anti-tax backlash may make passage difficult. The eighth-cent sales tax, which generates more than $6 million a year and makes up almost a quarter of our library system’s budget, expires in 2014. We need to reauthorize the measure for another 16 years. Reauthorizing it takes no more money out of your pocket than you’re spending now. Nearly half of the residents of Solano County weren’t here and don’t recall what the library system was like before the 1998 eighth-cent sales tax was passed with 68 percent of the vote. They don’t recall the impossibly short hours and meager new book and media purchases. We have the chance to help keep a revenue pipeline ...

Dropping gay ban makes military stronger By Kelvin Wade This week, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James F. Amos said that he is very pleased at how smoothly U.S. Marines across the globe adapted to the lifting of the discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on gays in the military. Amos originally opposed lifting the ban, fearing it would harm the war effort. Those fears, he found, are unwarranted. The truth is gay soldiers are like heterosexual soldiers except for that one thing. No matter what one thinks of homosexuality, it’s clear that years of a gay ban cost this country quality military personnel. I’ll give you a local example. Anthony Woods was born at Travis Air Force Base to a single mother. He grew up in Fairfield and Vacaville. After graduating from Vanden High School in 1999, he attended West Point, where he served on the Honor Committee. Volunteering for the Army, he was deployed to Iraq in 2004, leading a platoon of the West Virginia National Guard in Diyala Provin...

By Kelvin Wade No, this isn't my newspaper column. My paper would never print this. So it's going on my personal blog. I'm writing about a column a colleague wrote. One time I couldn't take it and I responded in my column to a column written by Bud Stevenson. Bud went crying to the powers that be at the paper and the memo came down that we weren't allowed to mention other columnists by name. It's insane because I used to write columns responding to the nonsense Stevenson wrote but I wouldn't use his name. What did he do then? He went to the higher ups and whined that I was writing about him but not mentioning his name! I kid you not. Bud wrote a column called "Pedophilia may soon be big issue in the military." I wondered how that could be. As far as I knew children weren't allowed to join the military. No, it turns out that because of the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' Stevenson evidently believes gay soldiers will somehow mo...

Thanksgiving Day November 24, 2011 A tale of two Novembers makes me thankful by Kelvin Wade At first glance, I can’t really blame folks if they find it difficult to be thankful this Thanksgiving. A casual look around reveals a lot of sad, troubling news. We have a thoroughly constipated and useless federal government. The parties fight like two kids in a sandbox. If you don’t have a job or are uncertain about your employment, it’s hard to be thankful right now. Too many people are losing their homes. If your house is underwater or you’re behind on your mortgage payments and you’re dodging bill collectors’ phone calls, it’s difficult to see a silver lining in your situation. A study released this week from the nonprofit Wider Opportunities for Women finds that 45 percent of Americans live in economically insecure households. That’s defined as the inability to pay for basic needs such as food, utilities and transportation. Protestors in the streets, in parks and on campuses remind us of ...

November 17, 2011 | Daily Republic Put down the paint can! by Kelvin Wade This week, the Fairfield City Council passed the tough anti-graffiti ordinance proposed last month. It will hold perpetrators (and their parents, if they’re minors) responsible for cleaning up their graffiti. It also prohibits minors from carrying graffiti implements, such as spray paint and markers, in public. Councilwoman Catherine Moy expressed concern over students who are legitimately carrying felt markers being caught up by the new law. I think it might well work the other way around. Some young taggers may try to skirt the law by carrying art supplies along with their felt-tip markers. Back in the day, one could enjoy beer and wine in Fairfield parks with picnic lunches. As young adults, my friends and I learned quickly to always bring food along to pretend our beer drinking in Laurel Creek and Allan Witt was just a part of a fun picnic. We didn’t fool police. The fact that our picnic usually consisted of ...

November 10, 2011 | Daily Republic Nonvoters, thanks for nothing by Kelvin Wade This week saw another dismal election turnout in Fairfield. Low-turnout elections favor the candidate who works the hardest to get their voters out. In this case, it was new council member Pam Bertani, and Judi Honeychurch among others running for school board. When you look at what the city faces, with budget shortfalls in the millions, one would think the public would be engaged. We’ve seen city services slashed. We’ve been fortunate enough to get a federal grant for law enforcement while many other communities have had to make deep cuts to public safety. Still, only a minority of voters bothered to vote. Nonvoters left my brother, pollworker Tony Wade, bored while waiting to assist voters. When you look at the cavalier attitude we have about voting, it’s hard to believe the right to vote has such a contested history in this country. Women’s groups fought for more than 70 years before the 19th Amendment g...

Fairfield Daily Republic November 03, 2011 | Follow the money By Kelvin Wade The Fair Political Practices Commission sent a letter last week revealing that it was Jake Pauline of Black Diamond Electric who spent $21,169 with Benicia-based Bellaci Designs to mail out last-minute hit pieces on Fairfield City Council candidates Teresa Courtemanche, Pam Bertani and Jamie Johnson before the 2009 election. Suspicion fell on Councilwoman Catherine Moy because she used Bellaci Designs to send out campaign mailers and one of the mailers sported her campaign’s colors. Moy has steadfastly denied being involved. So, why would an Antioch-based businessman donate $500 to Catherine Moy’s campaign and spend more than $20,000 on mailers trying to influence an election in Fairfield? Who is Black Diamond Electric? Minimal digging finds that they used to be located in Pittsburg and are now in Antioch. And it turns out Black Diamond Electric has a history of donating to candidates and causes. In 2006, Blac...

October 27, 2011 | Posted by Kelvin Wade Can we talk about legalization? Fairfield Daily Republic Protestors had a message for President Obama when he arrived in San Francisco this week for a fundraiser: “Hands off our medical marijuana!” Earlier this month, U.S. Attorneys in California announced they would be prosecuting targeted marijuana dispensaries and seizing properties rented to them. Ironically, it’s the federal government that caused the extraordinary growth in California’s medical marijuana trade by putting out a memo in 2009 saying they wouldn’t be going after dispensaries that complied with state law. The feds were going to look the other way on medical marijuana. What did they think was going to happen? Unfortunately, the uncertainty of proceeding with a state law that violates a federal law has left many communities vacillating over what to do about medical marijuana. We’ve seen it play out locally. In 2007, Fairfield banned marijuana dispensaries. Vacaville followed suit...

Fairfield Daily Republic October 20, 2011 Lessons from a reformed graffiti artist by Kelvin Wade This week, the City Council debated what to do about the problem of graffiti in Fairfield. First, prohibiting minors from possessing graffiti implements on public property would be a good start. When I was a kid, the only time I used a can of spray paint was in my garage painting my bike. There’s no reason for a minor to have a can of paint in public. Councilwoman Catherine Moy is reluctant to extend the ban to markers, but it should be done. Police will be able to tell if someone is carrying art supplies to school. Look, kids aren’t walking around with markers altruistically, just in case a homeless person needs to borrow one to write “Will work for food” on a piece of cardboard. If a kid has markers in public, most likely the point is to use them to deface property. I know this because I did it. The city put in a park near my house in what was a vacant field. There were nice off-white pic...

Fairfield Daily Republic October 13, 2011 Does citizenship matter anymore? By Kelvin Wade This past weekend, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB130 and AB131, the co-called California DREAM Act. The most controversial aspect is that it allows undocumented students to obtain financial aid, including community college fee waivers and Cal Grants, to go to college. A Republican legislator promises to bring a referendum before the public to repeal the act. Who on Earth thought it would be a good time to enact an entitlement program for illegal immigrants in the middle of economic hard times? If we have to hike tuition, cut education and cut services all the while bringing in less revenue, where do we find the money to give to illegal immigrants? Proponents were well-intentioned. Illegal minors are already here and federal courts have ruled that we have to provide a K-12 education for them. This makes sense in that we don’t want to build a permanent underclass or have these minors resort to crime. ...

Fairfield Daily Republic, October 06, 2011 Protect your kids from bullies by Kelvin Wade Last week I drove past a guy who looked like a dude I knew in the eighth grade at Grange Middle School. I didn’t stop the car or turn around to go see because what I remembered about him was that he was a part of a group of guys that bullied kids. In fact, I met some good friends in eighth grade by protecting them from his bullying group. While these bullies didn’t threaten me physically like they did to other kids, they did start and perpetuate a false rumor that my best friend, Dan, and I were gay. The rumor flew around the school and for about a week, we were whispered about and taunted. Dan couldn’t take it and stayed home the rest of the week. That left me to deal with it by myself. I mention this because of the parent protest this week at Rodriguez High. Some parents are upset with athletics, academics and an assistant principal they allege to be harassing students. But what caught my attenti...

The lesson from SCC’s comic strip tempest Fairfield Daily Republic / The Other Side By Kelvin Wade September 29, 2011 A comic strip by Phillip Temple in the Solano Community College newspaper, the Tempest, has sparked racial controversy. The comic strip depicts black woman slamming black men. Some students were upset by the racially charged nature of the strip. The paper’s editor, Sharman Bruni, and Temple (who is black) deny that the comic is racist. One of the objections is the perceived insensitivity of running a strip calling for getting rid of all black men so soon after the shocking murder of SCC football player Ennis Johnson. I imagine the campus is sensitive right now. People are hurting. However, the subject matter isn’t new. Black women do talk about the dearth of black men and the problems they have with them, just as all women of all races do. In Spike Lee’s 1991 film, “Jungle Fever” there is a scene of black women sitting in a living room having a conversation similar t...

Fairfield Daily Republic September 22, 2011 Social networking revived an old friendship By Kelvin Wade Facebook has become so ubiquitous it’s almost like having an email address and cell phone: you’re the odd man out if you don’t have one in 2011. Having a Facebook account paid off for me on Feb. 8, 2009, when I received a message from an old friend, Billy Dunn, asking, “Is this you, my man? Do you remember cutting class with me . . . and us running into that crazy drunk chick in the Mustang?” That was Bill. Cutting to the chase. Bill (he went by Bill back then) was my best friend at Armijo. I met him my sophomore year. A friend of mine, Shawn Brown, shared a locker with him in A Wing and told me Bill would always steal and eat his lunch. So one day I had Shawn give me his sandwich. I took it to the bathroom, opened the sandwich and put soap on it. I wrapped it up and put it back in a brown lunch sack. We put it back in the locker. At lunchtime, Bill Dunn came up to me and Shawn saying...

Fairfield Daily Republic Sep 14, 2011 ‘SpongeBob’ isn’t best option for toddlers By Kelvin Wade I’m always looking for ways we can improve kids’ ability to learn. A study led by University of Virginia psychology professor Angeline Lilliard that appeared in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ magazine recently found that 4-year-olds watching Nickelodeon’s popular show “SpongeBob SquarePants” did significantly worse on tasks afterward than children who watched slower-paced programming. This is not shocking. I wouldn’t need to conduct a study to find out that if I let my 6-year-old grandson Vika watch “SpongeBob,” with its bright colors and fast pacing and then sat him down to work on schoolwork, it would be a disaster. He wouldn’t want to sit still. In the study, kids who played with crayons or watched the slower-paced PBS children’s show “Caillou” did better on tasks immediately afterward. This wouldn’t surprise anyone who has seen the show. I don’t know how a kid could stay awake wit...

Nobody wants to see your junk By Kelvin Wade This week a San Francisco Supervisor introduced legislation that would require nudists to cover their seat when sitting in public and to cover up when they go into restaurants. What? Are you kidding me? This may be an incredibly naïve question but I’m going to ask it anyway. Why are you allowing people to walk around naked in public? This reminds me of when the city banned public urination and defecation some years ago. So relieving yourself in public was perfectly before? Why wouldn’t that have been one of the first five or six laws passed when the city was founded? Of course, San Francisco has a tradition of public nudity. Nude runners run in the annual Bay to Breakers race. One can see some of everything at the gay pride parade. And for years the city hosted the annual Exotic Erotic Ball where some attended au naturale. So, apparently this law is necessary because in the Castro there...

Lawd help me, I liked ‘The Help’ Fairfield Daily Republic, September 8, 2011 Kelvin Wade I went to see “The Help” over the weekend. I hadn’t read the book. (I’m reading it now.) I knew precious little about it other than the controversy surrounding the movie. I expected to be offended but came away from the film loving it and recommending it to others. The harshest critics have been the Association of Black Women Historians. They feel the black women in the film are “Mammy” caricatures of contented, loyal maids. The ABWH also blasts the film for employing a “child-like, over-exaggerated ‘black’ dialect.” They criticize the lack of sexual harassment and rape in the film, something African-American domestic workers dealt with. Finally, they resented the lack of the Klan and White Citizens Council and the movie reducing racism down to acts of meanness from rich white society women. Let’s take the criticisms one at a time. The maids in this film are definitely not content. They clearly don...