ELECTION DAY TUESDAY.  We are about to vote in the most exciting and eventful Presidential primary in history. Candidates in both parties are battling for votes on Super Tuesday (22 states participating), Feb. 5. John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani are campaigning hard, and some big questions will be answered next week. Will Republicans turn out for a Mormon? A gray-haired senator? A conservative preacher from Arkansas? A New York governor? We’ll know soon. McCain and Romney are coming off some victories and have the momentum, but Giuliani has an organized team working hard in California.

On the Democratic ticket, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama lead the pack with John Edwards securing just enough votes to upset things a bit. Gender and race have already entered the backroom politics in this contest; some of the sparring has been nasty and personal. At press time, California Dems appear to be lining up for Hillary, but the young vote could make a big difference for Obama. If 20-somethings turn out, this could be a New Day for America. I’m betting they don’t vote in huge numbers, but I hope I’m wrong.

I’m voting no on every proposition, in the event you are interested. In the meantime, remember to vote on Tuesday!

PERFECT WEATHER COULD MAKE FOR FABULOUS 2008. Yes, many of us are tired of the rain, but its timing has been perfect and its impact superb. Certainly we city dwellers have been a bit miffed about the puddles and soggy surroundings. But this rain came at the right time with just enough periods of rest to sustain most of the water inside our creeks and rivers…..so far! The Orestimba Creek was running wildly at press time, but the rain had stopped and we expected the surging waters to slow down somewhat. While the rain is great for agriculture, it also helps city folk everywhere who depend on snow-capped mountains for sustenance as the year goes by. Mother Nature can be very good to us!

UNMARKED CARS GOOD IDEA. Newman Police Chief Randy Ulibarri has the right idea using volunteers in unmarked cars to keep our city streets safe. He said last week that these volunteers patrol neighborhoods in hopes of suppressing future burglaries. The volunteers don’t act like cops, but they call officers to tell them what they are seeing….I hope it works!

THANK ETHANOL FOR INCREASES IN FOOD PRICES. Midwest corn producers are loving their new found wealth these days as Congress is giving them a premium for raising corn for fuel. It’s very inefficient, since they use more water and energy to make fuel from corn than they are producing…..but you can bet the price of food is going up, up……Cattle and poultry consume lots of corn, and when the price catapults, so do your food prices. Until Congress wakes up and takes politics out of corn production, you can bet everything associated with corn, from syrup to milk, to beef and chicken will cost you more!

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