One Is The Lovliest Number

It's MONDAY, May 2, 2011, and Five Things is late today because we're training for some changes coming to the site beginning next week. We're also preparing for a vacation, so this will be the last Five Things for this week. We'll return next week with a new one, plus a host of new features we hope you love. Meanwhile, the news last night was pretty huge. I usually record Sixty Minutes and watch it during the week, but last night I decided to watch it in real time for some reason. And toward the end of the broadcast, they broke in to advise us to stay tuned for a special announcement from the president, but they didn't say what it was regarding. That was weird in and of itself. But I couldn't find any clues about it on the Internet, either. Finally, the story broke before President Obama could give his talk - apparently he was on the phone, advising other world leaders about what was going on. When the news about bin Laden being killed by Navy SEALs came through, it was a shock, and then something like a relief. At last, something close to a little closure to the 9/11 atrocities. A little more movement, perhaps, toward healing that horrible wound. A way to get past some of the anger, some of the grief, to bury with his body some of the confusion and shock of that dark day. That, at least, is the hope. It is spring, and there is hope everywhere. Perhaps, for another moment or two, we can all feel something like unity. Perhaps we can all just be Americans today, without the other labels that divide us. That is my hope for today.

1. I worked at the Martinez News Gazette for eight years (1983-1990), and not long ago I complained that the newspaper seemed to purposely not run bylines by me or my colleague Marc Sandalow when it featured that decade in its Sunday recreation of past editions. Well, did they find a way to shut me up this week. Sunday's edition features a couple of my bylines, a Video Views column (the first video column in the United States, folks - yeah, fame is where you find it), a byline by the late, great Gay Lee Edgar, and a Column One by the mighty Harriett Burt. There is a picture of the City Council from that year, including then-Mayor Mike Menesini (now City Councilman), the late Kathy Radke, Bill Polleck (who is now County Treasurer), Gary Hernandez (now the City Clerk), and Peter Langley (attorney at law). My thanks to editor Jenny Crogan and Sales Manager Linda Meza for such a sweet gesture to the past. Those were fun times.
2. East Bay Regional Park ranger Bill Nicols writes to remind me that the video about the that ran yesterday labels the location as Waterfront Park, when in fact the video was shot in Martinez Shoreline, which is everything to the west of North Court Street, which includes the duck pond and the wetlands. That is all within the East Bay Regional Park jurisdiction - everything to the east of North Court Street is City of Martinez territory. My apologies for the error. 
3. The City Council will meet on Wednesdsay to discuss, among other things, a ten year extension for the Allied Waste Services garbage collection franchise. If you've got a point of view about the current level of garbage service, now is the time to let the city leaders know about it. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 525 Henrietta St. 
4. Police Log, which generally runs on Sundays, will run today instead, due to the aforementioned vacation schedule. In today's edition, you'll note a disturbing number of thefts from autos. Be advised that this seems to be a growing problem lately, so keep your valuables hidden and your car locked.
5. Finally, try to behave yourselves while I'm away. I'll be taking in the sights and sounds of New Orleans for a week, the final week of the Jazz and Heritage Festival. This is where the world's finest musicians come together and do their thing, and people like me gather to watch and shake our heads in awe and wonder. See you when I return next week, with some cool new features. Meanwhile, Dan Smith will be running the show, so let him know if there's any news you want to see this week on Martinez Patch.