Elk Grove News Podcasts

Sometimes things happen that create an unintended irony. Such was the case during the September 27, 2023, Elk Grove city council meeting led by Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen.

Unless you are a certain age, you probably never heard of Anita Bryant. A Miss America second runner-up, Bryant was a grade b-singer celebrity and TV commercial spokesperson for Florida Orange Juice. She was also a sparkplug in the 1970s to a bigger movement. 

Some time ago, a suggestion was made by an Elk Grove resident to the Elk Grove City Council that deserves serious consideration.

Recently, the Elk Grove Citizen was sold for the second time in less than two years. It was purchased by the Messenger Publishing Group, owner of several community newspapers.

Listeners of this podcast and Elk Grove News readers know we generally take a liberal stance on most issues.

On occasion, however, we find common ground with conservative politicians such as former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney and her defense of the Constitution and American Democracy.

Closer to home, on one issue. we have found common ground with conservative Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley.

A trait of most politicians and many of the bureaucrats serving them is deception. An example of this was Elk Grove City manager Jason Behrmann’s recent deceptive administrative report.

Recently, Elk Grove has been hyping its oldest and original district, Old Town by renaming it Historic Downtown Elk Grove and Main Street.

Most Elk Grove residents are familiar with the Old Town district. That special planning area is the origin of the city.

At least twice a year, elected officials in California must report campaign contributions they received. Those so-called California 460 reports are revealing.

By Dan Schmitt |

A couple days ago, a meme, written by a guy named John Coleman Ray, showed up on my Facebook page. One of my Facebook friends decided to share the meme, and that’s how it came to me.  The meme simply said “Close our Borders. Let’s see how many shares we can get.”

 It’s left to the reader to interpret what exactly the very short meme means.  I’m pretty darn sure it’s not referring to the U.S./Canadian border, so it seems obvious to me the meme is referring to our southern border. I certainly understand the concern Americans have about our southern border where thousands of desperate people, mostly from Central American countries, have amassed in northern Mexico in hopes of escaping poverty, violence and political turmoil in their own countries.

But, when John Coleman Ray says, “Close our Borders,” it’s a fair assumption he thinks our southern border is wide open and those desperate Central American folks can enter the United States at any time, at any place and make their way to wherever they wish to go in our country. That of course is not true.

Donald Trump’s continuing threat to American Democracy is well documented. Notwithstanding his criminal indictments, Trump is still the favored 2024 Republican nominee.   

Should Trump win in 2024, what would a second term look like?

A few weeks ago, former Republican Congresswoman and Donald Trump critic Liz Cheney made an obvious observation. Cheney said, "We're electing idiots."