I think your new career should be delivering naked, singing telegrams artfully composed by your excellent songwriting skills for any and every occasion! You can do it part-time!

Look, if any of you eggheads watched lowbrow TV you would know that this is all a colossal waste of time and money...Because on the Real Housewives show that spoiled female Maloof said it clearly and repeatedly, the family wants to move the team to Anaheim, and eventually that's exactly what they will do. Give it up Sac! Invest in Ladies Rollerball instead.

What this article neglects to mention is that the waiting list for housing is only open for a few months every 2-4 years, and before you can have the chance to get on the list, they must place 30,000 families seeking housing. It also neglects to detail how SHRA funds are regularly used to fund development that will only go to connected developers for expensive projects, not low-income housing. We have a serious need for more low-income housing in the country that is being ignored in favor of more malls and office buildings. The office on 12th street is a joke--a bunch of make-work jobs telling people to take a number so they can get a number so they can wait. So yes, the website looks fancy, but the outcome for people desperate for housing is nil, unless you want to live in a slumlord building in Del Paso Heights.

Hi--it would be useful to have put the address/location more specifically than just "Oak Park."

You are really ridiculous. And your writing, even after all these many ATTEMPTS at coherency, is truly execrable.

"HUD has a housing choice voucher program known as Section 8 for elderly and disabled people, very low-income families, and homeless or otherwise-eligible veterans. Recipients use the vouchers to rent or buy housing." The real issue with 'affordable housing" is that the real estate market has spent years investing in high-dollar commercial buildings and expensive single family homes so the pool of units for working people is close to nothing anymore. In Sacramento, the waiting list to be put ON THE OTHER WAITING LIST has been closed since September 2006. There are 35,000 people waiting to be placed who must be permitted residence in low-income housing before they even open the OTHER waiting list. No joke, and it's almost as bad in other states. The other option, controlled units, are all in scarily decrepit neighborhoods. This has been a direct result of the neo-conservative effort to make government small enough to drown in a bathtub. Have you ever been to the housing department on 12th Street? It's like Grand Guignol or some surrealist nightmare--half the building is closed down and empty, the only information desk is just referring people to a website that refers one back to that office and they have no applications or programs to offer except a few slumlord rental companies that might have a pile in Del Paso Heights for rent. Some days I wake up convinced this is the 15th century.

But what I want to know is, did or did not Glenn Beck rape and murder a girl in 1991? Seriously, this article is using Beck/Rove tactics, same as the demagogues. Just get another lawyer already! I would most definitely consider this "inflammatory speech" even if the writer has some factual points to make; the recriminations he makes are defamatory.

Great story Ms. Kriz--thanks! It sounds like the perfect life-experience to become a book...? I lived in Oak Park for a few years in the early 2000s--38th and Y St. 'hood. Never had a problem, loved my neighbors and once I even left my car unlocked overnight (accidentally) with a camera and lenses and equipment in it--and no one took it. The suburb where I live now has had two house robberies on this block and 3 stolen cars in the past year. The "urban myth" of the dangerousness of Oak Park needs to end. The suburbs are just as bad.

Thank you Ms. Traci for a well-written and heartfelt article--nice work.

So, why does "God's grace" let people get hurt in the first place? Why does "God's" ambulance service charge me 100s of dollars to transport me to the hospital?

"mmahood" you are not fooling anyone--you are a shill. Nestle invests money but the profits all go to the corporation, and the plant will employ about 25 people or less when operational. The point is that bottled water is energy wasteful, environmentally deleterious, and we could put those people to work building low-income housing, new schools, or simply helping others, rather than working for a massive and crooked corporation. The most disturbing part is the nefarious nature of the inception of this venture--the water is not owned by the business OR the city, it is owned by the people of California.

Wow, even more badly written than the last ones. I just skim through these astonished...4 out of 65 "investigations" were significant. Only a moron would keep it up with those odds! Do you think that after investing so much time, energy and money you might have better results, or is that the appeal? Does not compute... Cabinets "tapping"--gee, was the office near a road or highway or airport? Did you know that committing suicide by car exhaust means inhaling carbon monoxide and not hydrogen sulfide? Oh, and a "psychic" policing other psychics? A "yearly accuracy rate" of 85%. You MUST be joking, right? I mean, how in god's green earth can a "psychic" "prove" anything "paranormal'?!

This is exactly why we need more concealed weapons--it sure does deter those pesky crank fiends.

So sorry Mr. Boyer--what kind of lock did you use? I too have "lost" oodles of bicycles in my long career as a rider/worker-on-a-bike. The newer Kryptonites deter the old pen-cap and dust remover method, BTW.

Great subject for this article, terrible execution. Your first graph has so many problems; have you taken any of the free workshops offered by SacPress?

"....activity has resided." Where does it 'reside'? Does it like residing there, or has it been subsiding in its residence? Your work is HILARIOUS! Have you ever heard of auto-suggestion? "Seek and ye shall find" sayeth the Lord. I sure am glad you folks have so much fun, truly!

It's always good to follow your instincts and educate your children! For further edification please keep in mind: According to the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)-- http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict.htm Since 1994, violent crime rates have declined, reaching the lowest level ever recorded in 2005. Property crime rates continue to decline. The NCVS is one of the Nation's largest ongoing household surveys. Survey data tell us how many rapes, sexual assaults, robberies, assaults, thefts, household burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts U.S. residents age 12 or older and their households experience each year. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports,-- The violent crime rate decreased 1.4% from 2006 to 2007. From 1998 to 2007 the rate fell 17.7%. The property crime rate decreased 2.1% from 2006 to 2007. From 1998 to 2007, the rate fell 19.5%. The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports Program (UCR) collects information from local law enforcement agencies about crimes reported to police. The UCR crime index includes seven offenses; homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft. For more information about the purposes and advantages of the UCR and the NCVS, see The Nation's Two Crime Measures. See also: http://www.fbi.gov/publications.htm for a breakdown in the stat.s

The true measure of a community is gauged by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. In America, we profess to be "Christian" and "enlightened" but the methods we use are barbaric and fascist. The "power" in this country is reserved for the priveleged, and corporations deserve welfare but people do not. Since mental illness continues to be taboo, it is easy to scapegoat the ill; they won't fight back. These policies illustrate another way we continue to blame the victims--whether they are sick, poor or undereducated. I am sure Herr Blackhead (literal translation) has no problem blue-lining in extra cigars and profits for his cronies, but to assist the needy--NEVER.

I agree about the bad writing and editing, hell, even the subject matter is laughable to me (though I do understand others might find it diverting). I've made this comment a few times on these articles before. But I am afraid you have just encouraged this guy to write more (see his current 'disclaimer'). It seems he thinks because he can sell a book (which I am sure was HEAVILY edited by a professional) he is purer than gold. Of course, people buy Dan Brown and Chicken Soup and all that crap, too, so who am I to overrate the taste of the American public?! Anywhooo, "her hairdresser moved by itself!" (actual line from one of his articles). At least it can serve as a primer in how not to write (and how not to act narcissistically).

I am more concerned eating at fast-food places which employ young people with little training and no investment in their products. The crap they do to your food is worse than what some errant cockroaches might be able to inflict on french onion soup. There are more contaminants on the money that is exchanged across Msr. Pont's small cash register than on the roaches roaming the floor. I will continue to wait my accustomed 45 minutes for the single BEST lunch I have ever had--including the time I lived in France and Belgium. He is, bar-none, the best we have for lunch in this town. I wish him all the best and hope that he is fully recovered from his ailment.