An insanity defense for Phillip Garrido? I seriously doubt it.

Over the weekend, I came across this headline for an Associated Press story about the Jaycee Lee Dugard case: “Phillip Garrido's mental state likely to be issue at Jaycee Dugard trial."

Sure, the 58-year-old Antioch man's mental condition might come up in some way during upcoming legal proceedings and the trial, but I really can’t see a defense lawyer trying to argue that his client should be declared not guilty by reason of insanity--that his client should be able to avoid criminal responsibility and state prison by saying he was crazy.

First of all, that argument would not fly in the court of public opinion; nor would it appeal to the sympathy of jurors.

But most relevant for any court proceedings, that argument wouldn’t fly legally.

Okay, that’s my humble lay opinion. I’m not a criminal lawyer, nor am I a forensic psychiatrist or psychologist. But bear with me a moment. Through both personal and professional experience, I have become familiar with how our criminal justice system deals with mentally ill defendants. Specifically, in researching several articles about mentally ill defendants, I talked to lawyers in Contra Costa County and the Bay Area and with experts in forensic psychiatry in California and nationally.

And if there are any criminal lawyers or other experts out there who want to share their views or correct what I am about to say, please do so.

First off, under Penal Code Section 25 (b), a person must prove “by a preponderance of the evidence that he was incapable of knowing or understanding the nature and quality of his or her act and of distinghishing right from worng at the time of the commission of the offense.”

What does this mean for Phillip Garrido (or his wife and co-defendant Nancy Garrido, for that matter)? Some key points to consider:

--How the psychiatric profession defines insanity is not at all the same as the way the criminal justice system defines insanity—for the sake of an NGI (not guilty by reason of insanity) defense.

--A person can have been diagnosed with a mental illness, including with one like bipolar disorder or schizophrenia that are known to involve psychosis, or breaks with reality. A person can be off their meds and hearing voices. By a lot of definitions—common sense ones even—this person is “insane.” But that doesn’t mean this person would necessarily be deemed legally insane. As one criminal defense lawyer told the New York Times about that state’s approach to mentally ill defendants—which is similar to California’s: “You can be extremely crazy without being legally insane. You can hear voices, you can operate under intermittent delusions, you can see rabbits in the road that aren’t there and still be legally sane.”

--As stated above, California, like most states, basically defines legal insanity as whether the person, at the time he committed the crime, knows the difference between right and wrong.

--However, there are situations where a defendant can be declared legally insane when he knows the difference between right or wrong, but is driven to commit a crime nonetheless because he is “incapable of knowing or understanding the nature and quality of his act.” Here’s an example given to me by a veteran San Mateo County prosecutor: a young man knew that killing is wrong, but he was under the delusion that his nephew, a toddler, was a demon that needed to be killed. That man was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

--It all gets down to the defendant’s state of mind at the time he or she committed the crime.

--Many defense attorneys and forensic psychiatrists and psychologists believe that this courtroom definition—based on the M’Naughten rule, an 1843 English definition of legal insanity--is narrow and not at all consistent with emerging understanding and research into mental illness and how it presents itself in those afflicted.

--As suggested by that lawyer interviewed by the New York Times, one common misconception about someone who is mentally ill, especially someone with an illness like schizophrenia, is that they are always “out of it.” It is true that some seriously ill people are consistently detached from reality—you might see some of those people muttering to themselves as they shuffle around downtown Walnut Creek.

But a lot of people who are mentally ill, even without medication, flow in and out of reality and delusions, in the same way that “normal” people shift from different moods and states of mind throughout the course of a day. These people may work hard to keep it together so that they can go to work, go to school, have personal relationships. They may be outwardly successful and happy, but inside they are suffering a great deal.

--With defendants whose attorneys try to go the insanity route, the courts want to see a defendant who has been out of it before the crime, is out of it at the time of the crime, and is out of it after his arrest. That’s pretty much what a veteran Contra Costa defense attorney told me. This attorney has specialized in working with juvenile defendants, and I was talking to him about a particular case, in which a young male murder defendant, at the time of the crime, was going to school, working, and maintaining a busy social life. The young man might have been very sick inside, but on the outside, he appeared sane and functional. So, according to this attorney, it would have been hard to make an insanity defense work for him. It turns out that the boy’s attorney didn’t go that route.

--Because of this narrow definition of legal insanity and, practically, what will work in the courtroom, defense attorneys rarely attempt insanity pleas, and insanity defenses rarely succeed.

--Remember "diminished capacity?" Defendants in California used to be able to use this as a defense. It didn't totally excuse the defendant for a crime, like the insanity defense. Rather, it allowed a defendant to present evidence of a mental illness to ask a jury to reduce the charge to a lesser defense. Like from murder to manslaughter, as was the case with former San Francisco Supervisor Dan White, whom a jury convicted of voluntary manslaughter, rather than murder in the 1978 killings of Major George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

That case helped spur Californians in 1982 to vote to abolish the "diminised capacity" defense, and the state to tighten its rules surrounding the insanity defense.

--The death penalty is supposedly designed to punish the worst of the worst. Yeah, maybe. Meanwhile, the insanity defense is designed for … Well, not necessarily the sickest of the sick, but those who are sick and who can meet a specific legal definition.

*****

There is no doubt that Phillip Garrido is one strange, “sick” human being. But I don’t see him being able to meet that legal definition of insanity.

I don’t see him being able to say “I’m not guilty because I was insane.” (I don't see Nancy Garrido being able to do that either.)

A successful NGI plea would spare him a sentence to state prison and result in an indefinite stay in a state hospital. But again, I don’t see that happening—in my humble opinion. Again, attorneys, forensic experts tell me if I'm wrong on this.

With Garrido, as much as he expressed a “crazy” and “insane” view of religion and his relationship with God, he essentially functioned in life, albeit in his “Creepy Phil” way. He maintained his business and ongoing relationships with clients, and seemed to—ugh—take care of his family and feed and clothe his captive and the daughters he bore with her. He even took his two daughters out and about in public, on his “Creepy Phil” religious missions and to at least one birthday party.

I doubt it would be hard to show that Garrido knew that kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard, and holding her captive for 18 years, was wrong. He seems to have expressed remorse and acknowledged a need to change at various points in his long criminal history, which includes a prior conviction for rape and kidnapping. Oh, he might have experienced times when he was able to convince himself and tried to convince others that he was somehow doing something good by keeping Jaycee as his hidden “sex slave.” But such expressions of his amazing feats of goodness probably aren’t a sign of delusional thinking so much as evidence of consciousness of guilt, premeditation, and an amazing capacity for self-justification.

Garrido will probably receive a decent defense attorney, given that he’s a high-profile client. Hmm. I wonder if one of those lawyers who love to see and hear themselves on TV (fill in a name) will offer to take on Garrido’s case pro bono. But if Garrido’s alleged crimes are too much for even a Mark Geragos to tackle, Garrido will probably be assigned the best public defender or court-appointed attorney that El Dorado County can offer, and that attorney will no doubt ask for a psychiatric evaluation, just in case he or she can find something in Garrido’s psychological history to use in his defense.

But I can’t see that lawyer using any poor Phil stories as a way to prove insanity and excuse him of criminal responsibility. My bet is that the attorney would, at the most, try to use any evidence of mental illness as a mitigating factor to win a reduced sentence. If such a reduction is even possible, given the charges Garrido is facing.

Then again, I don’t think there’s anything Garrido will be able to say to “mitigate” what he is so far accused of doing, or of crimes we might not yet know about.

Bay Bridge to remain closed until early Wednesday: How will you cope?

That is, if you need to take the Bay Bridge tomorrow.

The announcement that work that led to the bridge's closure over Labor Day weekend won't be completed until 5 a.m. Wednesday, not tomorrow morning as scheduled, leaves thousands of drivers to find alternate ways to get into San Francisco. It could also create possible gridlock on other Bay Area bridges and roads.

I have to say I'm lucky. I live and work in Walnut Creek. So does my husband. We actually defied the advice of authorities and went to enjoy a getaway over Labor Day weekend in kthe Big City. Amazingly, we encountered little traffic coming or going via the San Mateo, Golden Gate, and Richmond-San Rafael bridges.

But then, the Bay Area had received plenty of advance notice of the bridge's Labor Day weekend closure. Caltrans needed to shut down the bridge for a few days so that it could finish work on a 300-foot section of the bridge's eastern span. The closure had been announced weeks, months in advance. So, people likely stayed away from the city this past weekend or found alternative ways to get there.

But everyone expected that things would be back to normal first thing tomorrow morning.

Now that's not going to happen. Work on the span hit a snag over the weekend. As KTVU reports labor on the replacement portion will be completed as scheduled, but essential work on a cracked eyebeam will force Caltrans to keep the span closed until 5 a.m. Wednesday.

KTVU says the cracked eyebar was spotted during an inspection of the bridge Saturday, and construction crews scrambled this weekend to complete designs for the repair work and gather all the materials needed to complete the project. The crack was described by engineers as being about two inches thick and halfway through the eyebeam.

New “Olive Bar” in Walnut Creek: Are there enough fancy olive oil lovers around to sustain this business?

I stopped in the other day at We Olive, the new shop on North Main Street that sells products made from olives, including an extensive selection of artisan olive oils that you can taste at their bar.

It’s a pretty shop, and that polished wood bar is long and lined with all varieties--or, as you say in WineSpeak, varietals?--of olive oils. These olive oils have been made in California and are part of a proud tradition that goes back to Spanish settlers, say the We Olive folks. These oils come flavored with different flavors and aromas--rosemary, lemon, and tangerine. The friendly employee behind the bar said that the Pasolivo tangerine blend—at $16 for 200 ml--is great to use in brownies.

The shop also sells olives that are stuffed with blue cheese and almonds, or graced with hints of orange and fennel or bay leaf and garlic. And, the shop sells tapenades, pesto, balsamic vinegars, cookbooks, and even olive-based skin-care and bath products.

Back to olive oils: We Olive says it has brought together the more than 200 producers across California.

At We Olive, you spend $34.50 for a sleek blue bottle of extra virgin, 100-percent estate grown, 100-percent organic Olivas de Oro Mission Blue, made in Paso Robles. This product is a “mild, unfiltered oil with a fruity olive aroma, with some herbaceous tones.”

As I write this, I’m getting hungry, and craving one of those blue-cheese stuffed olives, or a hunk of baguette that I can dip in olive oil from that $34.50 bottle.

At the same time, I’m wondering how well this store will do. We Olive is a franchise, originating from Paso Robles, the heart of the Central Coast’s Wine Country. This Walnut Creek location, at 1364 North Main Street, is We Olive’s seventh store. The company, according to its website, has plans to expand its franchise to up to 400 stores nationwide.

When a co-worker and I first heard about the opening of this olive bar, we were skeptical. You mean, like a wine bar? Both of us said, sure, we like to go to restaurants that serve hunks of delicious fresh bread, which you dip into small bowls of exquisite olive oil. We also really like noshing on fancy olives. But would we actually go into a shop and taste different olive oils?

I don't know.

However, I am tempted to go back to buy its We Olive brand of olive oil in bulk—for $1 per ounce. That’s the kind of oil I might use in a special vinaigrette for a salad, or for dipping bread.

I’d love to hear from people in the community who are more discerning about flavors and cooking than me, who are delighted that such a shop has come to our community.

Still, I wonder if, in this economy, whether people are going to want to spend money on specialty olive oils. Even in the way they would spend on the best coffee or the best wine.

Text of President Obama's speech to school kids: pretty dangerous, subversive, anti-American ideas here...

The White House today released the text of the webcast that President Barack Obama will deliver to school children tomorrow. I've just read it, and I'm scared. I'm very, very scared.

Here are some of the more disturbing selections:

--At the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.

--And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it.

--We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.

And the president shares stuff about his own life, like growing up with a single mom who struggled to pay bills and not having a father around. He does a Bill Clinton "I feel your pain" and says he understands what it's like to not have certain advantages, but he says:

--At the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

Saturday's Bikini Car Wash (?) in Walnut Creek: Readers help put this now notorious local event into cultural perspective

I'm learning so much doing this blog, about matters of great social, political, and historical significance. And, you readers, are adding to this amazing exchange of ideas. I think we're all becoming better, more engaged citizens, don't you?

Perhaps most noteworthy is that you have helped me to understand the cultural underpinnings of Saturday's car wash, reportedly a fundraiser for Northgate High cheerleaders, that involved teen girls in itsy-bitsy bikini tops and short shorts.

Community response to reports of this carwash (it was first reported by blogger Mister Writer, who witnessed it first hand) indicate that this car wash is one for the unofficial, Babylon history of Walnut Creek.

So, I guess that bikini car washes might be quite the thing among some high school cheerleading squads. Who knew? Well, I didn't. One reader passes along this handy-dandy analysis of the infamous Cheerleader Bikini Carwash, which explains the seven things that you'll find at every one, including Jailbait, the Married Guy in the Minivan, the Creepy Guy, and the Cheerleading Coach trying to relive her glory days. (And no, this above photo of Car Wash "Jailbait" is not from Saturday's event.)

Sure this guide is in very questionable taste, but it's very funny and on target--in its, of course, very tasteless way. This guide basically explains why these events are a pedophile's fantasy come true and a nightmare "for normal dudes who don't really need a car wash but can't resist the allure" of teen girls in bikinis covered in suds.

And guess what? There is some quick, easy cash to be made as a Bikini Car Wash girl, right here in Walnut Creek. Another reader came across a Craigslist ad placed, no doubt, by some Creepy Guy. He'ls running a car wash on a Saturday, apparently in Walnut Creek in the near future, and will pay you $100 an hour, and you can stay for as long as you want. To apply, you just need to send this Creepy Guy a photo of yourself and your contact information.

Of course, in no way am I advocating that any local underaged girls apply. Besides, according to what was reported about Saturday's event, local girls might have school programs willing to, er, use them as bait to bring in customers to their car wash fundraisers.

Las Lomas becomes site of Slow Food celebration today

Members of grassroots organizations are inviting the public attend what they call Slow Food "Eat-Ins" at 300 locations in 50 states. One of those will be held from noon to 3 p.m. today at Las Lomas High School, 1460 South Main Street.

The Eat-In is a potluck that, organizers say, brings people in a community together "to share a meal and show their support for a cause like getting real food into schools." It is a National Day of Action, in which we call upon our legislators to provide America's children with real food at school by strengthening and re-authorizing the Child Nutrition Act.

Among the honored guests will be state Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, who is running for state Superintendent of Schools and has, in his elected positions, promoted healthy life-styles, healthy food in schools, and school gardens.

Do you know what "slow food" is? I kinda sorta do. Something having to do with eating produce and other food that is grown locally. You know, if not actually growing your own tomatoes than buying them at your local farmers market from a farmer who grew them on their land in or near the Bay Area and just picked them that morning or the day before. It also means avoiding food that is heavily processed, or, if you go out, choosing venues that use as many locally sourced ingredients as possible.

If there are any Slow Food enthusiasts who want to correct me, please do. But here is what the organizers say about Slow Food and how they describe an Eat-In:

"Real food is good at every link in the chain. It tastes good, it’s good for us, it’s good for the people who grow it, it’s good for our country and it’s good for the planet."

At this Las Lomas event, organized by Slow Food Delta, there will be activities for children, petitions to sign and expect lively discussions from our community members.

About the discussion around this Day of Action, organizers say: "This year, we have an opportunity to begin reclaiming our children's future. We know that the childhood obesity and diabetes epidemics are spiraling out of control. We know our public schools struggle to serve children anything but the junk food and fast food that endangers their health. It's time for parents, teachers and every responsible citizen to tell our nation's leaders that change can't wait."

For more information visit the Time for Lunch web site:

High school girls gone Lolita (?) at Walnut Creek car wash

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.

--Vladimir Nabokov's famous opening lines to Lolita, his brillliant but controversial novel about an aging man's love for a certain nymphet.

Teenage girls in string tops and "tight cheekless" shorts, waving signs, inviting motorists passing through the Ygnacio Valley Road and Civic Drive intersection to come into one of the gas stations to get their cars washed.

It was all to support their high school fundraiser Saturday. (A friend, who witnesses this scene said they were from Northgate High.) You see these fundraisers for different school groups all the time at the gas stations at this intersection.

This is scene Saturday witnessed and described not just by my friend but by blogger Mister Writer. You can read more details about what he saw and comments about the scene at his website.

We have a weird thing going on with our culture. On one hand, and in the worst-case scenario, we're horrified by men like Phillip Craig Garrido who view pre-teen and teen girls as potential sex slaves to be kidnapped, abused, and raped. In a not-so-worst case scenario, we don't want our pre-teen or teen-age daughters to become sexual, certainly before they are emotionally ready.

But then, fashion and culture dictate and some parents allow their pre-teen and teen daughters to go out in public, including to school, in tight underwear-like tops that accentuate breasts and expose midriffs and in short shorts and short skirts that show butt cracks, cheeks, and thighs.

These outfits basically say f---- me.

Do you think girls who are wearing these clothes are doing so out of their own emerging sense of power, sexual or otherwise? I doubt it. Most girls are naturally modest and can be a bit mixed up. On one hand, they are probably trying to adjust to the changes in their bodies--breasts, periods, etc.--that signal that, biologically, they are ready to have sex and have babies. They feel weird about it and are just trying to get comfortable in their own skin. At the same time, they are curious about falling in love and what having sex is like.

Many also care about trying to please and--unless they're gay--to win the attention of boys. So, some girls will go out of their way to dress like Brittney and other nymphet heroines of pop culture. They think that's what's expected of them to be seen as attractive and desirable.

Bottom line: I doubt very much that the girls at this carwash were dressed, as Mister Writer described, in order to exert their personal sense of power and individuality. They were trying to fit into some socially prescribed idea of what girls should do to get attention--whether it's from males, whom they want for boyfriends--or from motorists, whom they want to sell their fundraising carwash services.

I don't have a daughter. If I did, I'd like to think I would not let her out of the house or go out in public in the way Mister Writer described. Not because I'm a prude, but because I'd want to to grow up with more self-respect.

Possible attempted kidnap at Pleasant Hill middle school: Walnut Creek students also to be warned

A student at Pleasant Hill Middle School on Thursday had apparently been listening to warnings about avoiding strange guys who claims to be emissaries for one's mother, offering to take him to her.

That's according to Patricia Wool, the superintendent for the Walnut Creek School District. She was passing along to parents in her school district a warning from Dick Niccol, her counterpart in the Mt. Diablo School District. Apparently, some man approached a student at Pleasant Hill Middle School at about 2:35 p.m. and offered to take him to his mother. The boy, using his wits, declined, and notified authorities.

Smart kid.

Here are more details about the strange guy from Wool's email, plus her advisory that principals would be talking to students to not talk to strangers.

That warning must have already taken place at Walnut Creek Middle School. My son, when I picked him up yesterday, mentioned something about this incident. He didn't know when or where it had happened, other than at a middle school. He was spot-on about the fact that the strange guy had used that age-old pervert ploy of "I'm going to take you to your mother."

Wool's note:

Dear Walnut Creek School Community,

I received an email from Dick Nicoll, Superintendent in Mt. Diablo School District, concerning a possible student abduction attempt at Pleasant Hill Middle School (next to the County library.) A man approached a male student in his PE clothes. He called to the student and said, "I need to show you the new meeting spot for your mom." The man was a white male with gray hair, grey mustache, and a thick accent. A woman, with a nose ring, was with the man. The boy walked away. The Pleasant Hill Police Department was informed. Principals will all be reminding students not to talk to strangers or go with strangers for any reasons. I wanted to ensure that all parents were aware of this
incident.

Sincerely,

Patricia Wool, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Walnut Creek School District

Are you going to keep your kids home from school Tuesday to protect them from Obama’s speech? Do you take your parenting cues from Rush, Bill, Glenn?

Update September 6: Mt. Diablo Schools support students viewing of President Obama's speech. From Superintendent Dick Nicoll:

The Mt. Diablo Unified School District supports the President’s address to students on the importance of education to be broadcast on September 8. Schools may show the speech either live or at a later time.

Friday: Apparently, there are some parents in Walnut Creek who are afraid that President Barack Obama’s webcast to U.S. school kids Tuesday amounts to some sort of political indoctrination. These poor worried parents might be listening to conservative pundits who have likened the speech to indoctrination in the style of North Korean dictator Kim John Il or Adolph Hitler and his Hitler Youth.

Kevin Collins, principal of Walnut Creek Intermediate, told the Contra Costa Times that the school has received parent phone calls and emails “with interest and concern.”

The 15- to 20-minute address, scheduled for 9 a.m., Tuesday, is being billed as a challenge students to work hard, set goals for their education and take responsibility for their learning, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a letter to principals.

The Education Department is encouraging teachers to create lesson plans around the speech, using materials provided on the department website that urge students to learn about Obama and other presidents.

"He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens," Duncan said in a press release.

And viewing the speech is encouraged, not mandatory, Duncan said in the letter.

Some conservatives are crying foul, among them the usual suspects of reasoned and thoughtful discourse in our contemporary American society: Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, and Glenn Beck. Actually, it’s driving them batty. But aren’t these guys batty to begin with?

According to the Huffington Post--yes a site dedicated to indoctrinating the American public with liberal ideology:

"Glenn Beck hit this early, in a hurry, announcing that he would be countering Obama's address by airing a "special one-hour broadcast next Tuesday on
television on the indoctrination of your children."

Oh goody.

The Huffington Post adds: The National Review's Mark Steyn told Rush Limbaugh's audience Wednesday that the video address was Obama's attempt to extend his "cult of personality."

Well it’s not like Obama is the first U.S. president to talk directly to students. President Ronald Reagan and his successor George H.W. Bush spoke to kids, no doubt attempting to indoctrinate them in their cult of personality. But wait! Did the elder Mr. Bush have a personality?

In his 1988 televised discussion with students, President Ronald Reagan covered the following topics: gun control, the balanced budget and the line-item veto.

Hmm. Talking to kids about gun control. Nah, that wouldn't be indoctrinating school kids on a political issue?

Three years later, President George H.W. Bush gave a speech solely to students, but stayed toward a less politically controversial issue, touching on the importance of saying no to drugs.

Detective following up on Saranap stabbing case, but no suspects being sought

Finally heard from Contra Costa Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee about the stabbing near Boulevard Way last Thursday.

(Jimmy apologized pretty heavily for not getting back to me sooner, saying he's been fielding hundreds of calls and e-mails from news organizations, locally and internationally, regarding the Jaycee Dugard case.)

Anyway, what Jimmy had to tell me is pretty much what readers have already shared in comments on the prior story and what was reported in the Contra Costa Times--but with a few new details added. Here's what the Times reported:

Investigators said t that a man who said he was attacked while riding a bicycle Thursday night and stabbed numerous times may not have been telling the truth.

"The circumstances and injuries are inconsistent with the violent attack the victim described," Sgt. Gwen Brady told the TImes.

From a reader:

I talked to the lady that lives in the house where the "attack" took place. It was her grandson, she thought that he may have done this to himself. She said they are trying to figure out what really happened. He is okay, but his story is what I would call iffy.

And here's what Jimmy Lee said the department is releasing this week:

A detective is following up on the case and will be looking at the credibility of the victim's story of what happened. The victim, a 27 year old man, was transported to John Muir Medical Center. As far as the case, there are no suspects, no leads or witnesses. To make it clear, we are not looking for any suspects in this case (at this time).

Walnut Creek seeks community input on its "big picture" goals to make future budget choices

In July I asked readers to share their vision of Walnut Creek and its future. My question generated a fair amount of thoughtful, insightful, and, yes, visionary responses. You can read those responses here and here.

Now you can share your vision of the city in a more, shall we say, official and reputable forum.

The City Council has identified their six "big picture" goals, and members hope people who live or work in Walnut Creek can help define those goals more specifically at a series of "community conversations" that will be held in September and October. Members say they want to hear what people's priorities are so that they can, in essence, decide how to budget the city's current limited financial resources.

The Six Big Goals are:

--Strong neighbors and a sense of community

--Economic vitality

--Effective transportation and mobility

--A safe community

--Stewardship of the natural and built environment

--Culture, recreation and learning opportunities

After receiving input in September and October, the city wil then as for further community input in November, which will involve helping the council to set priorities.

These workshops are scheduled for:

--7 p.m. Monday, September 21

--9 a.m. Tuesday, September 29

--9 a.m. Saturday, October 10

--7 p.m. Thursday, October 22

There will also be a workshop for Rossmoor residents only at 3 p.m. Tuesday, October 13.

Pre-registration is required, and when you sign up you can indicate if there is a particular goal that you, yourself, would like to focus on. To register, call (925) 256-3505 or email community@walnut-creek.org.

Ongoing information about these conversations will be posted at the city's website.

Cost Plus woes: I hope we're not going to be looking at another empty storefront

If you need some new dining room furniture, now's the time to head to Cost Plus. The retailer of imported and affordable home furnishings, accessories, exotic food, wine, and other goodies has a big sign in its window at Mt. Diablo and California boulevards: Save up to 50 percent on all dining tables, chairs, benches and more.

The signs for this sale come after some disheartening news for the Oakland-based chain. Its shares plunged 19 percent after it warning of large losses in the third quarter. The Contra Costa Times says that the chain expects to lose up to $24 million in the third quarter of this year, after posting losses of $20.8 million in the second quarter, and $21 million in the third quarter of 2008.

I've reported on Cost Plus' troubles before, and how its new CEO was trying to turn things around and get the retailer back to its roots, to what it always did best, selling affordable international home goodies, as opposed to trying to be another Pottery Barn.

These days, Cost Plus faces the same tough climate as other retailers: in the recession, consumers continuing to tighten their spending.

I like Cost Plus. For my son's start of middle school, we repainted his room and bought him a new book shelf and dresser. Yes, we got a major deal. We also picked up some Thai curry and this Japanese soda that my son is fond of. At Christmas time, Cost Plus has some of the best wrapping paper around.

I hope this store makes it. It's a local, East Bay business, and I have some friends who work for the company. Also, its loss would be a huge one for Walnut Creek, given its prominent location in Olympic Place.

Don't yell at your kids about homework, and other tips on homework and other education issues from new East Bay blogger

Just in time for back to school ...

Kerry Dickinson, a Danville mom, parent activisit, and former middle school, high school, and community college teacher, has started her East Bay Homework Blog, "a launching point for good launching point for thoughtful discussions about issues like: parenting, ADHD, standardized testing, teacher training, preserving childhood, curriculum, colleges, and student stress."

Dickinson says she herself started to rethink why schools give homework in 2007, and whether they could do it better, after seeing her own sons begin to dread to go to school. She did her homework on homework, and she and a friend approached the San Ramon Valley Unified School District about its homework policy, and jumpstarted a process in which the district formed a 19-member task force to devise a new homework policy. Her efforts were profiled in a September 2008 Diablo magazine feature, Homework: How Much is Too Much?"

"My main interest for this blog is to promote healthy, well-balanced children who love to learn," she writes in her profile. "Too often I see schools focusing on making sure children follow directions and memorize facts instead of fostering creative, curious, innovative critical thinkers. By re-evaluating accepted homework practices, we can begin to make real changes in education. We have to start somewhere."

Here are some of her other tips for starting the school year off right, which you can read in more detail at the East Bay Homework Blog.

-- Don’t over schedule your children this school year.

--Don’t sign your child up for academic tutoring unless he/she is in jeopardy of failing a class.

--Give your kids at least an hour of down time after school. Benefits: they will be more cooperative and happy if they can de-stress and “chill-ax” after spending 7 hours at school.
--Have your child do daily or weekly chores – lawn mowing, sweeping, cleaning toilets, vacuuming, taking care of the family pets, etc.

-- Encourage unstructured outside neighborhood activities after school - a walk, a bike ride, hide-n-seek, skateboarding, picking flowers, building something, drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, etc.

--Let your children fail.

Jaycee Dugard's daughters didn't know she was their mom, and more good, bad, and ugly tales of maternal ties in the Dugard case

Let's start with the bad:

Jaycee Dugard's two daughters didn’t know she was their bio-mom:
Up until their father, Phil, was taken into custody on charges of kidnapping and rape, his two daughters, 11 and 15, who lived in his secret back yard lair in Antioch, didn’t know that the woman they knew as their big sister was actually their mother.

So reveals the stepfather of Jaycee Dugard, in the new issue of People magazine. People says:

It would seem like more than two girls could bear: The man they called "daddy" turns out to be a registered sex offender thrown in jail, and now they've been told the woman they thought was their big sister is really their mother. This is what Angel, 11, and Starlit, 15, have faced since the arrest last week of Phillip Garrido, charged with the 1991 abduction of Jaycee Dugard, now 29.

As an 11-year-old, Dugard was snatched from near her home in South Lake Tahoe. She remained missing for 18 years. Actually, she was, according to authorities, kidnapped by Garrido, a convicted rapist and registered sex offender, and his wife, Nancy Garrido.

Nancy Garrido turns out to have worked in a nurturing, caring profession, as a state-licensed nurse’s aide, for a Contra Costa nonprofit. Her work for this nonprofit spanned the time she may have been helping her husband keep Dugard prisoner and “under sexual attack,” according to the Contra Costa Times.

Dugard was brought to a home in a semi-rural area of unincorporated Antioch that Phillip Garrido shared with Nancy and his elderly mother. There, Dugard was confined to a shed and then, at some point, forced to bear his two children. She wound up helping to raise the two girls, and perhaps also growing up with them along the way, while the three shared quarters together in makeshift tents and sheds erected in secret by Garrido.

The Bad and the Ugly: Nancy Garrido misses her family

Nancy Garrido is allegedly the woman who actually grabbed Dugard as she walked the few blocks from her South Lake Tahoe home to her school bus. Now, in jail and facing kidnapping and rape charges, Garrido has told her lawyer that she loved Dugard and the daughters Dugard bore with her husband of 28 years. She regarded Dugard and her daughters as her “family.”

Nancy Garrido, tears running down her face, nodded as her husband confessed
to a business acquaintance that angels were speaking to him and had helped him
forswear his sexual compulsions.

This, according to the Los Angeles Times, which adds that Nancy Garrido remains a largely mysterious figure in this horrible story: "Acquaintances and family members have described her as being under her husband's control and a believer in his religious convictions."

So much under his control that, for more than a month in 1993, she was apparently "the sole jailer of the then-13-year-old Dugard while her husband was in prison for a parole violation."

And the nurse’s aide apparently helped deliver Dugard’s two daughters. As police said, Dugard never received medical attention during her pregnancy and birth, and her daughters have never been to a doctor or to school.

Nancy Garrido's attorney made the rounds of the morning network TV shows Wednesday, saying that Nancy Garrido misses Dugard and her daughters.

"What she said that I can tell you about is that there came a time when she felt they were a family, and she loved the girls very much, and she loved Jaycee very much," Gilbert Maines, Garrido's court-appointed lawyer, said on NBC's Today.

In the Good category, feminine and maternal intuition leads to Dugard’s rescue:
It took two female officers and mothers to finally realize what male parole agents and sheriff's deputies failed to get--that there was something dangerously and suspiciously weird about this Garrido character and the demeanor of his two daughters.

Again, according to People magazine:

Jaycee's fate finally changed on Monday, August. 24, when a UC Berkeley female cop grew suspicious of Garrido after he came to campus with the two daughters looking for an event permit to distribute religious flyers.

"He was clearly unstable," Lisa Campbell, 40, the UC Berkeley police manager of special events said at a press conference late Friday. And her mother mode went into gear when she watched Jaycee's 15-year-old stare "straight up in the air."

Campbell stalled Garrido, and asked him to return on Tuesday, August 25. Meantime, she went to fellow officer Ally Jacobs, 33, who ran a background check on Garrido and discovered he was a sex offender.

When Garrido returned to campus with his two daughters on Tuesday, Jacobs and Campbell were both there. "I'm a mother, so police mode turned into mother mode," says Jacobs, whose gut feeling told her something was wrong with the girls.

According to Jacobs, both daughters were robotic, extremely pale to the point of being almost gray, and with non-responsive bright blue eyes.

Garrido confessed to the officers that his "life had changed" and that he was "on parole for a rape and kidnapping that happened 33 years ago." As Jacobs watched, the girls "sat there with no emotion."

Can't the sun come out tomorrow? Is Willows Theatre really facing closure?

A few years ago, I took my son to see the Willows Theatre Company present its version of Annie, and then my sister and I went to see Gypsy. I'm not an Annie fan, and the Annie anthem, "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" easily becomes a sound worm in my head that I cannot get rid of.

But it was a great show to take my son, then in first or second grade, to. That and Gypsy, presented in the company's 210-seat mainstage theater in the Willows shopping center, was top notch. Professional, entertaining. Gypsy, a sophisticated musical biography of the young life of striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, was great. Over the years, I had occasional contact with the company's former managing director, Andrew Holtz, who was smart, talented, enthusiatic, and, like other members of this company, incredibly inventive.

Sure, Willows might be a "surburban," or "regional" theater. And, sure it might mount some of those crowd-pleasing, Broadway-touring usual suspects. But the company did those shows with an amazing enthusiam and attention to artistry. What's amazing is that you'd go see a big Broadway show, like Annie or Gypsy, with all the song-and-dance razzmatazz, but you would view this spectacle in this very intimate space.

Willows offered this very unique theater experience, some of the most enjoyable of the past few years.

And now the company is pushing that envelope of supposed propriety by--I'm shocked, shocked--allowing actors to appear onstage nude in its production of Hair, the now classic, 1960s hippie, counter-culture musical. The show is sold out, testament to the company's popularity, but with tough budget times that's not enough to prevent possible closure.

Plain and simple, Willows is struggling, like every other arts organization in our area.

Yes, the recession. Willows is a 33-year-old East Bay treasure, a company that has been bringing professional level theater to the East Bay, at its mainstage in Concord and at its newer cabaret theater in Marintez. Willows has dedicated audiences and patrons.

But Willows, according to a press release issued today, needs a sudden infusion of $350,000 before November 1. Or it will have to close its doors.

"For more than a year, we've been struggling to achieve a balanced budget but the reality is that the recession has had a major impact on our operations," said Charles Lewis, board president, and Richard Elliott, artistic director, in a joint statement. "We've cut staff, sharply reduced expenses and stretched every scarce dollar, but clearly it is not enough. Any further cuts could put us out of business for good. Clearly, we need help."

It probably goes without saying, but it doesn't hurt issuing a reminder, that the company could use some help, from fans and long-time patrons.

You can send donations to the Willows Theatre, 636 Ward Street, Martinez, CA 94553. For more information, call (925) 798-1300.

Another dead squirrel. Clumsy creature loses his life while sparking fire near Rossmoor

UPDATE: Squirrel photo!

Sorry, it's not the fire-starting squirrel of today's Rossmoor-area conflagration--in happier times. It's just a photo of a regular old fox squirrel, the kind that I understand (I'm no naturalist) that scamper and chatter across our East Bay suburban lawns, up and down our oak trees, and over our power lines.

Sorry, but dead squirrels are a bit of an interest--or, dare I say--obsession of mine--given that one of my first musings on this blog had to do with what seemed like an alarming incidence of dead squirrel sightings around my neighborhood.

EARLIER:

A two-alarm blaze near Rossmoor this morning was caused by a squirrel. The little guy apparently became entangled in a power line and sparked the wildfire at about 9:30 a.m. that burned in a remote canyon in the hills between Walnut Creek and Lafayette.

The blaze was quickly contained and did not threaten any homes or force any evacuations, but the San Francisco Chronicle reports that two firefighters were injured: one with an ankle injury, the other with a hurt knee. The power line entanglement also causes an unspecified number of PG&E customers to lose electricity.

Meanwhile, yes, the squirrel died.

Final results: Garamendi v. Harmer in November runoff

5 a.m. Wednesday: Yes, Lt. Governor John Garamendi won the Democratic nomination to compete in the November 3 runoff for the 10th Congressional District. San Ramon attorney David Harmer won the Republican nomination.

With 97 of 97 precincts reporting, Garamendi was the top vote getter of all 14 candidates--Democrat and Republican--who were running in Tuesday's special primary election. He received 24.8 percent of the vote. His closest rival was another Democrat: State Senator Mark DeSaulnier who received 21.7 percent. But DeSaulnier is out of the race, and Harmer is in. He came in third last night, with 20 percent. Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan came in fourth, with 11 percent.


(To be updated occasionally):

Early results indicate that Lt. Governor John Garamendi is leading among the field of 14 candidates and five Democrats in today's special primary election to compete in a November runoff for the 10th Congressional District. Meanwhile, San Ramon attorney David Harmer is leading among the six Republicans.

As of 10:30 p.m., with 49 out of 97 precints reporting, Garamendi had received nearly 26 percent of the vote. His closest contenders on the Democratic side: State Senator Mark DeSaulnier, had received 21 percent of the vote, and state Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, had received nearly 12 percent. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, David Harmer had received 19 percent--putting him in third place.

The top vote-getter from each race will compete in the November 3 runoff to replace former U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher, who left her post to take a job with the State Department. To avoid a runoff, one candidate would need to receive 50 percent of the vote.

KTVU political editor Randy Shandobil said, with so many candidates running, it's not likely that any one candidate will get the 50 percent to avoid the runoff.

So far, it looks like Garamendi will be the Democratic candidate in a heavily Democratic district. He told Shandobil he credits tonight's early good results to the fact that he had lots of supporters out "walking" on his behalf, and voters wanting someone to replace Tauscher in the 10th Congressional district who will go to Washington D.C. to "get in there and get things done, health care and workers' comp."

This is getting ridiculous: Judge nixes council's latest Neiman Marcus decision, while store opponent says "the little people can ... win!"

So, I'm trying to make sense of the latest complication in the ongoing Neiman Marcus muddle ...

The Contra Costa Times reports that a Superior Cour judge ruled Tuesday that the Walnut Creek City Council gave "an unfair advantage" to the pro-Neiman Marcus side. The city council did this, according to the judge, by putting the supporters' initiative on the November 3 ballot, while putting off voter consideration of two referenda, supported by opponents. These referenda would have blocked the upscale retailer from coming into Broadway Plaza.

My first head-scratching moment: Isn't this the same judge, David Flinn, who wouldn't, at the behest of a last-minute lawsuit filed by opp0nents, stop the council from voting August 4 to let the pro-Neiman Marcus initiative go forward?

Seems like Flinn--or whoever the judge was back in August--could have, at that point, said, wait, hold on, there are some problems here, guys.

Because, evidently, this judge had some reservations, enough that a ruling came today that the city council's actions on August 4 were "unreasonable." That's a pretty harsh thing to say. But Flinn used more scolding phraseology. He said that the council's failure to act on the two anti-Neiman Marcus referenda, and its willingness to consider one ballot measure and not the others, violated a "a fundamental precept of this nation's democratic electoral process" because, as he said, "a government cannot take sides."

Really?!? Governments don't take sides?!?

Since when in my lifetime? Or in the lifetime of any human civilization on this planet?

Okay, okay, let's allow that Finn, as judges in legal rulings tend to do, operated from the lofty ivory tower of legal principle. And, he thought the council's decision to go forward with what the city is now calling Measure I was unfair and unreasonable.

Fine.

But what a (f-bomb alert) a f------ waste of everyone's time.

The result of this ruling is that, once again, this muddle goes back to the City Council for further discussion. On September 15.

Can I pull a Sylvia Plath? Or at least, run out to Trader Joe's and scoop up one of their big pound bars of dark chocolate with almonds?

Okay, it's not like I am that personally vested in whether or not this department store comes to Broadway Plaza. But, I am feeling supremely annoyed from the lofty principle vantage point:

This is a waste of time. The time and energy of everyone on both sides. And the time of city staff, who, yeah I know are not supposed to take sides, but probably have, and ... that's life?

And I'm sorry, but Selma King, what are you talking about when you speak for the "little people"? Who are these little people? Walnut Creek Munchkins or something?

Ms. King tells the Times that the ruling "shows that the little people, if they have the assistance of a nice big company, can rise up "... and win."

The "nice big company" she's talking about is Taubman Centers, which has spent $234,000 on two referenda aimed at blocking this project. And, to be fair, Macerich, the owner of Broadway Plaza, poured $217,000 to support the initiative.

Back back to King's "little people" comment. Ms. King, what a condescending thing to say.

The little people.

You know what? The Munchkins right now are dealing with losing their jobs or pay cuts (moi!) and the reality that they probably can't put any money aside now for their kids' college fund, and their retirement is, as Margaret Mitchell said, Gone with the Wind. Or, they have car maintenence bills (moi!). Maybe their home is being foreclosed. Or, among those who have lost jobs, their unemployment coverage is running out, or they still have unemployment benefits coming in, but it all goes into their health insurance payments...

The little people, whom you say you are speaking for, really don't give a flying fig whether or not Walnut Creek gets a Neiman Marcus--because they won't be shopping there any time there in the future. However, they might see secondary benefits from the store, if it generates sales tax revenues, from the "big people" who shop there. Those revenues might pay for city services on which these Walnut Creek Munchkins might rely. And, maybe one of those Munchkins might get a job there.

Or maybe not. Still, their time, energy, and finances are strapped, and they perhaps don't want to see their public agencies--city government, courts, county elections departments--weighed down by an ongoing battle over a development of a department store.

Need I say it again? It's just a department store. All this fuss over just a department store.

Yes, it was Joan Buchanan, and I voted! Did you?

Applause! Applause to Anon. August 30, 5:23 p.m. and Amy! You guessed it. Yes, it was Joan Buchanan, whom I spied at Whole Foods in Walnut Creek around noon on Saturday, shopping for groceries and wheeling out a platter of fresh cut fruit.

Didn't want to say, until late today, who this mystery candidate/shopper was. Didn't want anything I wrote (Yeah, right!) to prejudice your vote one way or the other in this hotly contested race. Buchanan, the recently elected state Assemblywoman and Alamo Democrat, is one of 14 candidates vying to replace Ellen Tauscher as U.S. Representative in the 10th Congressional District.

The top vote-getter in each party today moves onto the ballot for the November 3 election. That is, unless one of the 14 gains the majority of all the votes cast. Then that lucky politician becomes Tauscher's replacement in Washington D.C.--and we don't have to do this all again in November.

Anyway, I just went to my local precinct and voted. In and out. Just like that. And I received one of my special stickers!