Jerry Lee, the new executive director of the Community Media Access Collaborative (CMAC), says that we are in for some big changes in 2011. Lee is now working on a plan to build the public access [...] Continue Reading
Columns
The Out-of-State Transfer Scam
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is again making a mad dash over the borders with large numbers of prisoners in an expensive attempt to reduce overcrowding within its [...] Continue Reading
Credo: Profiles of Activist Elders
When people ask me how the Fresno Center for Nonviolence has kept its doors open so long—now going on 18 years—I often give a one-word answer: “Angela.” Which is shorthand for saying that my esteemed [...] Continue Reading
Grass Roots Profile: Meet Steve Malm
These profiles are intended to give recognition to some of the individuals who make important contributions to our progressive community and to illustrate the numerous forms their service can take. [...] Continue Reading
Staying Busy Inside
Recently, a friend (on the outside) asked how someone in prison keeps from “going crazy” after spending a significant amount of time behind bars. “What do you do to help pass the time?” he asked. That [...] Continue Reading
Maria Telesco Spends a Lot of Time in Prison These Days
Dear Everybody: I heard through the grapevine that someone mistakenly thought I was incarcerated and wanted to do something to help me get out. When I learned of this, I did not take offense. [...] Continue Reading
Is the Republic Imperiled? Or Are the Voters in the Central Valley?
Book Review: Restoring the Republic by Devin Nunes (WND Books, 2010). I am not quite sure how best to approach a review of Devin Nunes’ book, Restoring the Republic. Nunes, the U.S. Congressional [...] Continue Reading
CREDO: Meet Georgia Linscheid
Georgia Linscheid describes herself as a “thoroughbred Mennonite,” with ancestors from the Old Country who became pioneer farmers in the U.S. Midwest. She grew up in a Mennonite community in Ohio, on [...] Continue Reading
Pill Call
There are multiple schools of thought about what sort of healthcare California prisoners should receive. Some folks blurt out that convicts deserve little if any help in the way of medical services. [...] Continue Reading
Surprise: Rehabilitation through Spirituality
Earlier this year, John Flock and I, Unitarian Universalists, began participating with Maria Telesco in prison ministry at a men’s state prison. We learned of a small group of men interested in [...] Continue Reading
George “Elfie” Ballis: A Personal Recollection
Few residents of Fresno County earn freestanding obituaries in the Washington Post, as did George Ballis when he died last month. That obit recounted an interesting but odd career, with moments of [...] Continue Reading
Smiling Seriously: Creative Genius at Work
[Editor: This article was originally printed in the October 2004 Community Alliance newspaper.] If you are a progressive political activist in Fresno, you have seen him with his video camera at your [...] Continue Reading