Sep 06
It is easy to get lazy or cynical about elections. All of that political hype and advertising makes me want to pull the plug on the television, telephone and Teletype. Yes, I have a Teletype in every billiard room of my mobile home. All newspaper employees do. Kidding aside, your vote can make a difference. …
Jan 03
Why would a modern day candidate ride the rails? Two words, fund raising. In 1996 you could ride in a train car with Republican Presidential candidate Bob Dole for a contribution of $5,000. The Speaker of the House at the time, Newt Gingrich was a more modest contribution of $1,500. Dole withdrew from the event …
Oct 05
The Daily Telegram buries the lead story of the day, women gain the right to vote. October 13, 1911. Abigail Adams wrote her husband when the nation's founding dads were excluding founding moms from governing the fledgling nation. Abigail Adams to John Adams March 31, 1776 "Do not put such unlimited power into the hands …
Oct 03
Ronald Reagan asked for higher taxes and got them. Not just a little. Not just a few. This 1967 story called it the largest raise ever requested by any governor in the nation. Not just one tax. Sales tax, income tax, corporation tax, bank maximum tax, cigarette tax, liquor tax and levees on cigars and …
Dec 08
Can you name two faces from American currency who have visited San Luis Obispo County? The first was Susan B. Anthony. Born into a activist Quaker family, they were involved in the anti-slavery movement. She was disappointed when a woman’s right to vote was not included in the the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments. Male slaves …
Oct 14
Original published caption: PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL HERE…Adlai Stevenson, in foreground center, was besieged by well-wishers in a brief San Luis Obispo airport stop this morning. At left is William K. Stew[art?] Monterey, Democratic candidate for congress. Tim O’Reily, former San Luis Obispo mayor who is now a candidate for the state assembly, stands at the right. …
Aug 27
September 8, 1969 My high school age son and his friends would like to turn the clock back 40 years. The class of 1970 had over a week more summer vacation before class started. The school enrollment was growing at that point, up about 2 per cent county wide from the year before. From San …
Feb 06
Shandon rancher William Clark stood in the wings of the biggest political stages, a quiet force in the halls of power. Other more self-promoting advisors to Ronald Reagan cashed in on book and television deals long ago, some before the Reagan presidency was over. Clark studiously avoided banging the drum of self-promotion. Even when his …
Nov 28
June 8, 1978 A. David Chan asked about Carol Hallett and by good fortune I had her photo in the “someday soon” stack. Her biography says she was field office representative for Assemblyman, later Congressman, William M. Ketchum. Speak up if you know for sure, my guess is that she was the first woman elected …
Oct 23
Do you recognize these guys? They were two of the most powerful congressmen of their time. Leon Panetta was profiled last week and to the right is Republican congressman Bill Thomas from Bakersfield. Panetta chaired the House Budget committee from 1989-1993 and later served in Bill Clinton’s White House. A few years later, in 2001, …
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