One morning I decided I was going to try to do something I had never done before. I was going to make myself a dead-fall trap. With that in mind I found myself a good length of rope from our shed and I took it up into the woods with me. Next I found a…

Kay purchased a new bedside alarm clock shortly after her old one stopped working. It has easy to see numbers with a nice back-light and a gentle-sounding buzz that won’t jar a person from their sleep. She set the time and the alarm and tested the new clock out the day before she put it to use for…

It was conversation I wasn’t supposed to hear, but since the window was open I couldn’t help it. I was sitting at my desk, writing. This involved two pre-teen boys, one about ten the other perhaps 12. They were talking about a nine-year old girl they knew at school. The pair was walking along the…

We were simply to go to the state building downtown, drop off some water samples and return to the office. But Dave Barber and I didn’t listen to what we were told. Instead we decided to visit one of our favorite places – a local pawn shop. We had been there before and I had…

She was a prostitute during the late 19th century and very early 20th century who lived in Virginia City and Bodie, California. Legend says she was selflessly nursing sick miners during an epidemic and succumbed to the illness herself. Because of this, Rosa May has been referred to as the “hooker with a heart of…

Annually, the University of Nevada, Reno, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, square off for the rights to maintain a replica of the Frémont cannon, which was left by the expedition in a canyon back in 1844. It is arguably the most expensive cross-state trophy in the nation. During a television interview, UNR football…

My wife and I had been dating a few months when we were invited to Mom’s for dinner. Since we lived in Arcata and Mom in Fortuna, we had to drive through the city to get there. As I pulled to a stop at the traffic light near the Humboldt County jail, I saw a young woman…

The ticket agent was busy with a couple at the window — so I took the chance and stepped inside the doorway. I figured if I got caught, I’d jus’ claim I was only going to use the restroom. I managed to walk straight through the lobby and into the theater. It took me a…

We followed the dark red Volvo, with the two large dogs in the back, up to the entrance of the California Agriculture Station at the Nevada state line on 395. We stopped as the officer and driver of the Volvo spoke. He then waved them through and it was our turn. From an early age I had…

It was a couple of hours into my overnight shift when I decided check on vehicles in the parking lot. As I stepped out the door, I saw two teenage boys trying to get into the RV which is our mobile broadcast station. “What the hell are you doing?” I yelled. One of the kids…