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Friday, Sep. 05, 2008

Loose Lips: Times focuses again on Merced area

Snelling is known as Merced County's only Gold Rush town and the former county seat, but who knew it was also Camelot?

Turns out The New York Times did. Readers, the Gray Lady's obsession with Merced County continues. This time it highlighted one of the few homes not in foreclosure.

Just two weeks ago, the Times sent a reporter and a photographer to Merced to sift through the ashes of the city housing market's crash-and-burn. The story took the city leaders and developers to task for not thinking the bubble would ever burst.

But now for the Good News.

Sunday's National Report showcased Casper Noz's turreted brick castle in a full-color spread.

For the past 20 years, the Denair resident has been mixing mortar and laying about 40,000 bricks, building his own fortress in Snelling. On occasion, we learned, he'll even shoot a flaming arrow into a fire pit. Kasteel Noz, as it's called, is even surrounded by a moat!

Despite starting the project in 1988, he's only half-way done. Lips applauds his approach to slow growth.

Since Noz didn't get back to Lips, we decided to learn more about the county's only castle by checking in with Snelling's de facto queen, Supervisor Deidre Kelsey. She hadn't heard about the Times putting Snelling on the map.

The Times story is the most attention Snelling's seen since Queen Elizabeth passed through in 1983 on her way to Yosemite National Park, she said. Maybe Snelling is destined for royalty.

Camelot is often known for exuding the ideals of justice, truth and bravery. Perhaps that's why Snelling is the former county seat. Let's move it back. Lips will be the court jester. All hail King Dee Tatum!

Lies, damn lies and politicians

Seven months after declaring his dream to boot Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, out of office, and three months after winning the Republican Party's nomination unopposed, Jack Mobley is revving up his political machine.

Lips learned the party is really, really, really trying to take her seat this November, going so far as to hire a campaign manager to target Merced voters. Too bad the election falls months after Galgiani drew a trump card -- $9 million for a railroad underpass.

Mobley, calling himself a "citizen-legislator," e-mailed a newsletter with a rather Zen anecdote about turtles stuck on a fencepost that don't belong there and don't know what to do. It's a metaphor for the Dems in Sacramento. Lips hopes the next newsletter will feature a haiku.

Word is that Mobley will wage a clean campaign free from personal attacks. Instead, it'll focus on ... drum roll please ... the issues!

No. 1 on Mobley's list? Galgiani voted for the Democrat's budget proposal, which he said included tax hikes. Not so, contends Galgiani's spokesman Robin Adam, who said she voted for a 500-page spending bill.

No. 2 on Mobley's list? Galgiani didn't support state Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, when Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata put a political hit on him.

She remained quiet during most of the mudslinging, but Adam pointed out that she told a Modesto Bee columnist she couldn't support the effort just days before Perata called it off.

Looks like Lips found some weapons of mass obfuscation.