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I feel the need, as this week draws to a close, to comment on our beloved Miss Comportment’s reporting on Monday. NOT that it’s any of her - or anyone else’s business - but, yes, I did have a drink with our new neighbor Carson … but that was all it was. Just a drink. It didn’t occur to me that tongues may start waiving as a result, and if not for her, I’d argue, very few in this town would give a damn what man I sat with nor how old he was. I mean, I don’t look 61 … they tell me. I’m not sure who “they” is … the “royal they,” I imagine. On good days, the ones where I remember my moisturizer ..read more

“Bernie, you may want to check on your boy out here. Rumor is he’s spending time at the r-side and with cass. P” This is what I woke up to this morning. Paul’s a sitting judge … he has no business texting me. Had to lie to the chief. I told him that it was a personal errand, that I was concerned for Mrs. McMurtry what with the fire and all. I don’t think he even heard me. But something’s up with this kid. I’ve known it from the beginning, I had a feeling … I couldn’t put my finger on it then, but I knew it from the beginning. Smart kid, but I think he’s crackers. I think these winding count ..read more

Some say all press is good press. I can assure you that I am not one of those people. I’m old enough to remember Mick Righteous when he was just starting. There was a time when he was a true musician, not the doped-up mess of a human found dead on our beautiful river banks under what best can be described as shady circumstances. So, admittedly, I greeted Sheriff Paul with less than my usual amount of … well … couth when he stopped by this morning for, oh I don’t know, the FOURTH round of his incessant questioning. “You think my job’s been easy? Do you think having a cop in my storefront two ..read more

Nothing good happens on a Tuesday. I say this from experience. My beloved fish, Walter, died on a Tuesday, flipped on his back, eyes bulging. I was just 10, but the visual remains with me to this day. My therapy then was simple: Atari. Not that I needed a dead fish to motivate me to go to the arcade. I was 10, after all. Asteroids, Pac-Man, Defender … whatever I could get my hands on, for I am a son of Santa Clara County, the epicenter of the joystick in the 1980s. A burning sensation would bubble up in me at the end of the school day, waiting in the auditorium for the bus, my feet in motio ..read more

Friends, enemies, children of the world … our beloved hamlet is in mourning. I wanted to speak to you - for you to hear the lament in my voice - but I simply could not compose myself long enough to get behind the all-powerful, all-engaging microphone … No, your faithful servant must address you in written form today! Imagine, just imagine, my shock when I heard the news of the dearly departed William McNamara. I hear he was young … scuttle says new in town, even, though I have yet to confirm. Whatever souls are lost along our rich river beds … whether new or native, old or young … we must s ..read more

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It’s Monday on River Road … we have developments … Sparks begin to fly as Carson and Elyse have coffee …. Cassie seeks to save her reputation by (reluctantly) accepting an interview with John … Sheriff Paul connects new evidence to a not-so-new “friend” … Susan reports on new details emerging in the death of rocker Mick Righeous … STAY TUNED ..read more

I don’t believe in romance, not after Bernie. I thought he was with me, on my side, my champion, wanting what I wanted … but I was wrong. So, so very wrong. Not after all those walks by the river, all those small apartments, all those dreams of New York City and all those lawn parties in my own backyard, with all those people I’d known forever. Made me look foolish. Daddy always said it wouldn’t end well. Daddy, as usual, was right. Today feels far away from that, though … January 2nd. The scene: My office. The vibe: Chaos on a plate. Mildred, our publicist and resident gossip, was flitting ..read more