“And we have splash down!” some news reporter would exclaim as the capsule dropped into the sea and bobbed about, waiting for the signal from the swimmer that it was okay to open the capsules hatch. If it was opened to soon the craft would sink. About that swimmer: Not once has the Navy sent a man out to greet the…

There was always that point in the re-entry process of a space capsule where the news reporter would say, “The capsule has entered the radio blackout zone.” It was spoken with some amount of dread in their voice. These silences are also known as ionization blackouts, or reentry blackouts. These are caused by an envelope…

One of my favorite news reporters was a guy by the name of Jules Bergman. He worked for ABC News and covered NASA’s Apollo space program for as long as I can remember. What I liked about his reporting of the rocket launches and such were the various ways he would explain what was happening…

A group of animal activists presented Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval’s office with a petition of 15,000 signatures asking him to delay Nevada’s first ever bear hunt. However NoBearHuntNV.org was met by the Governor’s staff as they claimed he was in Homewood, California for the 15th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit. The problem with this is the…

It was a typical rainy day and instead of letting us drive her crazy, Mom put Adam and me to work drawing and coloring. It was one of my favorite things to do aside from playing with all the other kids who live in the neighborhood. Mom was in the kitchen making dinner and Adam was sitting at our dining room table with me, busy doing…

Learning how the whites dealt with the native population during the early years of Del Norte County has often caused me to reflect on how I deal with people. In the case of A. French’s murder and the rushing to judgement, I have discovered other problems tend to crop up. In this case — for…

Researching family history has led me down some very interesting paths. Lately, I have been looking into Grandpa Tom Darby’s military records. While I haven’t found very much about his service, I have located the ship on which his brother, Vincent was assigned. This also led me to a second cousin, whom I had never…

Elizabeth and Duncan were married for jus’ over 14 years. He became sick from cancer and died this year. The two were deeply in love and deeply involved in all-things Celtic. That’s why Elizabeth wore a ring, given to her by Duncan as a wedding band, fashioned in the design of a Celtic knot. The Celtic knot dates back…

For whatever reason, much of the story of Del Norte’s history seems to start with the death of a white settler named “A. French.” Many times his is the next name found in articles right after explorer Jed Smith. I’ve never been able to learn what the “A” stood for. As the story goes, in…

A U.S. Marine with ties to Nevada has been killed in Afghanistan.  Sgt. Joshua Robinson had lived in The Topaz Ranch Estates, south of Carson City, while stationed The Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center at Pickel Meadow.  Robinson, who grew up near Nelson, Nebraska, died August 7 while on combat operations in Helmand Province. A spokeswoman with the…