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Michael Fitzgerald
Mike Fitzgerald is The Record’s award-winning metro columnist. His column runs in the paper three times a week. Born in San Francisco, he was raised in Stockton. His column covers diverse beats including, sometimes, the offbeat. Read FullCategories
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Latest Tweets
- Just passed a low-rider pickup on the Crosstown Freeway, custom painted and pinstriped. A rear-window decal read, "Praise the Lowered." 2009-11-11
- Moving to a new address on the blogosphere: http://bit.ly/1Sft50. See you there. 2009-10-22
- Recession Chronicles: Maxim's restaurant, which beat City Hall in court over dancing, closed today. More on my blog at recordnet.com/blogs. 2009-10-12
- Prison hospital scoop, inside info on the Stocktoberfest cross-up and giant tunnel-boring machines on my blog, recordnet.com/blogs. 2009-10-12
- A state assemblyman says the Peripheral Canal will be big enough for cruise ships. My light bulb moment in Friday's column at recordnet.com. 2009-10-01
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Monthly Archives: September 2006
We could have saved a bundle
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill on Friday that would have created a state-run universal health care system. I’m going to go way out on a limb and guess that’s not the sort of news you tear open the paper to read.
But consider this e-mail from former county health care director Roger Speed.
“Under SB 840 [...]
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Why I keep Tylenol handy
The obituaries bring news of the death of one Laurits R. “Larry” Petersen. Wait a minute, says I, I know that name.
Out of the archives I pull the story of a sensational 1973 crime involving the Manson Family — in Stockton — and a fresh-faced cop named Laurits “Pepe” Petersen.
Same guy, thinks I. How [...]
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But thanks for volunteering
Norma Jean Bologna, who edits the STARS newsletter (about seniors who volunteer to help the Sheriff’s Office), makes the following announcement:
“We won’t be working the Festa this year because of the back injuries caused when we crashed the STARS vehicle.”
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A really bum attorney
A homeless Stockton cocaine user demands to be his own attorney, then appeals his conviction on the grounds he was incompetent. Read the funny court ruling here.
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Zombies in politics
No matter what your politics are, you’ve got to love this zinger from a Bob Hope movie.
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Pot houses: mind-boggling money
What kind of money are we talking with these pot houses?
Well, as of today—as of this morning, at least—20 pot houses have been discovered in Stockton. Twenty $500,000 homes with monthly mortgages of say, $2,200—that’s $44,000 a month. That’s $528,000 a year and we haven’t even budgeted for Quick Grow.
Add in in the [...]
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No news to better serve you
Seniors First Monthly, a newspaper published by the county Senior Service Agency, is suspending publication for two months while the paper is redesigned.
The way this announcement was worded, though, may have seniors going, “huh?”
“In order to better serve our community with timely and meaningful articles that are relevent to our older adult population, the newsletter [...]
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Local boy hits Broadway
Matt Castle, a local singer, composer and musical director, is breaking through to Broadway.
The 34-year-old Castle, who graduated from UOP’s Conservatory of Music, is in the cast of the revival of Sondheim’s “Company.”
Castle lived in Stockton for six years, writing and directing shows for the Theater Arts Program. You may have seen him perform with [...]
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Five ways you can tell if your neighbor’s Spanos Park house conceals a pot farm
1. Intstead of “Good morning,” your neighbor says, “Heeyyy—Wow!—Hee hee wobba wobba HAAAAAA.”
2. He carrries a semi-automatic rifle when picking up his morning paper.
3. Jehovah’s Witnesses fall into moat and are devoured by piranas.
4. His T-shirt reads, “Ask me about ‘Spanos Special.’”
5. Lawn mines.
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It’s a miracle: SJ water users agree