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...