Doing the civic duty

Yesterday, I performed my civic duty by standing in line, waiting in a room, and explaning to a judge why I couldn't perform my civic duty.

Yes, I was called to Stockton for jury duty today, and it was a fail. On my part.

Judge William Morris gave a stirring speech in Department 14 of the superior court house in downtown Stockton, invoking patriotism, civil responsibility and the guarding of our democracy to encourage prospective jurors not to offer phony claims of "hardship" to get out of jury duty.

So it was with trepidation that I stood up and told the judge that I couldn't afford going without pay for the two weeks the trial was scheduled for.

It was the truth, but it didn't make me feel any better.

Serving on a jury and supporting the criminal justice system is one of the most basic requirements of citizenship in the United States, and the more people who shirk that duty, the worse the system is.

Signs of life in downtown

Good Start Nutrition is set to open soon in downtown Tracy at 917 N. Central Ave.

While Second Thoughts doesn't know exactly what GSN is (we're making an educated guess that it has to do with food for young'uns) it's a good sign that a business is opening its doors in downtown.

However, we question whether the location is the best fit. The venerable and tastefully expanded 12 Monkeys — in this space's opinion, far and away the best house of ink Tracy has to offer — is right next door.

Although there could be countless tie-ins waiting to happen.

• Baby portraits for your back
• "Hot Mama" discounts
• Matching tats for Mom and Dad specials

OK ... so maybe not.

The Press' Hester Prynne

I swear, walking around downtown Tracy trying to get a quote is near impossible. At least when you're wearing this thing:
It's like my very own scarlet letter.

Thwarting Walmart for Dummies

According to the Wall Street Journal, a consulting firm has made its own cottage industry out of preventing Walmart from moving into communities, working on behalf of other large grocery chains and passing off the opposition as a grassroots movement.

Says the Journal:

"For the typical anti-Wal-Mart assignment, a (Saint Consulting Group) manager will drop into town using an assumed name to create or take control of local opposition, according to former Saint employees. They flood local politicians with calls, using multiple phones to make it appear that the calls are coming from different people, the former employees say."
...
"Safeway, a national chain based in Pleasanton, Calif., retained Saint to thwart Wal-Mart Supercenters in more than 30 towns in California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii in recent years, according to a Saint project list and interviews with former employees. Former Saint employees say much of the work consisted of training Safeway's unionized workers to fight land-use battles, including how to speak at public hearings."

It's worth noting that Tracy's Walmart project will move ahead after a lawsuit aimed at the to-be-expanded giant was dropped for lack of follow-through on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Keep in mind, this kind of thing is typically totally legal. It's just further proof that while citizen-based movements sometimes really are citizen-based, they can also be used as tools by vested interests with deep pockets.

Thoughts on Melissa Huckaby

Thanks to the official sentencing of Melissa Huckaby for the murder of Sandra Cantu and the details that have been released regarding the case, this past week has given me — as well as everyone else in the Tracy Press newsroom — a lot to think about. Specifically, about what the role of the media, especially a community paper, is when it comes to publishing distrubing information about criminal cases.

It's a balancing act, with the public's right to know and the media's watchdog role on government pulling hard against the right of victims to privacy and a general sense of common decency.

It's led to some spirited and emotional newsroom discussions. Because, contrary to what's often assumed, we don't treat this stuff lightly. We honestly belong to a paper that prides itself on being a part of the community it covers.

You can see the compromise we arrived at in Friday's Tracy Press. Basically, that publishing salacious or gory details for their own sake don't add anything to the public's understanding of what happened in this case and simply hurts greiving family members. However, when stomach-turning information helps contradict Huckaby's statements, and demonstrates that she's either lying or unaware of what she has done, that merits consideration. We believe our readers should be treated as adults.

(For an overall defense of media action in cases like this, The Record's court reporter has an interesting take. You might not agree, but it's worth a read.)

As for Huckaby, it's hard to show any sympathy for her tears in court on Monday. It's absolutely fitting that she will have to live with the guilt and shame of murdering and abusing an 8-year-old girl for the rest of her life. The pain she's wrought is immeasurable. I doubt Huckaby even truly comprehends what she's done. And nothing she can do will make it an ounce better.

However, I do have sympathy on this one level — she was not born like this. Huckaby is fully responsible for what she did, oh yes. But I wonder what happened in her life to turn her into someone capable of murder.

Huckaby took that leap to take a life and ruin a family. But I'm willing to bet she didn't get close to the edge all on her own.

A bridge with troubled pavement

This evening at the Tracy Transit Station, the city of Tracy will start to publicly deal with a problem long familiar to local motorists — the 11th Street bridge east of town. Or, as my car calls it, "No, no, please — not that."

The street, to put it mildly, is not smooth (shades of my most recent column about the mess on Grant Line Road). However, unlike the Grant Line issue, there's no real reason that we at Second Thoughts can postulate for the road's disrepair. Other than that it's old and desperately needs repairs or replacing.

According to a city press release, it appears replacement is the preferred option. No surprise, since several years ago the overpass was declared not up to snuff by the feds in an annual bridge report.

So tonight, you have a chance to weigh in on "proposed alternative designs" being considered for a new 11th Street bridge. Stop by 50 E. Sixth St. at about 6 p.m. if you — or your car — are interested.

Delta residents — Delta water 'outsiders'?

Water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have been ratcheted up once again, according to reports from Central Valley news outlets.

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said that it's a victory for his region over "Valley outsiders."

Except that many of those "outsiders" he refers to are, in part, residents of the same valley. It's just that they happen to live where the water is being diverted from, rather than being diverted to.

Those who depend on water exports to till often marginal land in Parts Previously Unwatered have quite the nerve to label as "outsiders" residents of the San Joaquin Delta — who this past decade saw marked increases in the water pumped out of the Delta and the dramatic adverse impact those diversions had — or fishermen who rely on a healthy ecosystem for their livelihood.

That's not to suggest the folks near Fresno and on the western side of the lower Central Valley shouldn't get any Delta water at all. Just saying that a little honesty in this debate could go a long way — especially from a congressman.