In need of readers' help
This week I’m asking for reader help in solving a couple Yorba Linda mysteries. Surely, someone can shed a bit of light on these puzzlers.
First, I want to confirm the identity of the anonymous “truth” blogger who savaged then-candidate Hank Wedaa in the weeks preceding the June 5 special election and the person who registered versions of Wedaa’s name to create phony campaign Web sites.
Normally, a little-noticed, unsigned blog wouldn’t be a cause for concern; but some past and current City Council members promoted the postings as “reliable” and “trustworthy.”
It was hard to separate the wheat from the chaff in the error-prone blog, and an over-the-top conspiracy theory involving two candidates who had never met—Wedaa and third-place finisher Victoria Gulickson—cast doubt on more factual material.
Second, I want to see a copy of the Yorba Linda Voice, whose publisher, Brad Pfanstiel, recently petitioned Superior Court to have his publication “ascertained and established” as “a newspaper of general circulation.”
Pfanstiel’s petition states the Voice “is a newspaper of general circulation published for the dissemination of local news and intelligence of a general character” in Yorba Linda and has “a bona fide subscription list of paying subscribers.”
The petition also notes, “For more than one year preceding the filing of this petition,” the Voice “has been printed and published regularly every Wednesday” in Yorba Linda.
I’ve never heard of the newspaper, I couldn’t find anyone who has ever seen a copy, including reference librarians at the Yorba Linda Public Library, and a Google search was unsuccessful, so I called an 800 number for Pfanstiel Printers in Long Beach.
At first, Pfanstiel said he’d mail me a copy or I could subscribe for $20 per year, but the line went dead before I could give him my address. A couple hours later I received an e-mail saying, “My battery died and I was late for an appointment.”
This time, he said he could “possibly” give me “a complimentary subscription,” if I’d be “interested in sending us articles for publication,” and asked to verify my address he had in “our database.”
But I’m not interested in writing for the Voice or subscribing to a paper I’ve never seen anywhere in town.
If you can unmask the so-called “truth” blogger, know where I can find a copy of the Voice or are a Voice subscriber, I’d like to hear from you at the e-mail address noted below.
A FINAL NOTE
Oleanders may be out—but the avocado and rose are still in. The avocado was named the city’s official tree and the rose the official flower during the late Burt Brooks’ term as mayor in 1969.
Brooks, popular owner of a Rexall Pharmacy on Main Street, touted the picks in a 1970 campaign brochure; but widespread support for plant life didn't earn him a second term.
First, I want to confirm the identity of the anonymous “truth” blogger who savaged then-candidate Hank Wedaa in the weeks preceding the June 5 special election and the person who registered versions of Wedaa’s name to create phony campaign Web sites.
Normally, a little-noticed, unsigned blog wouldn’t be a cause for concern; but some past and current City Council members promoted the postings as “reliable” and “trustworthy.”
It was hard to separate the wheat from the chaff in the error-prone blog, and an over-the-top conspiracy theory involving two candidates who had never met—Wedaa and third-place finisher Victoria Gulickson—cast doubt on more factual material.
Second, I want to see a copy of the Yorba Linda Voice, whose publisher, Brad Pfanstiel, recently petitioned Superior Court to have his publication “ascertained and established” as “a newspaper of general circulation.”
Pfanstiel’s petition states the Voice “is a newspaper of general circulation published for the dissemination of local news and intelligence of a general character” in Yorba Linda and has “a bona fide subscription list of paying subscribers.”
The petition also notes, “For more than one year preceding the filing of this petition,” the Voice “has been printed and published regularly every Wednesday” in Yorba Linda.
I’ve never heard of the newspaper, I couldn’t find anyone who has ever seen a copy, including reference librarians at the Yorba Linda Public Library, and a Google search was unsuccessful, so I called an 800 number for Pfanstiel Printers in Long Beach.
At first, Pfanstiel said he’d mail me a copy or I could subscribe for $20 per year, but the line went dead before I could give him my address. A couple hours later I received an e-mail saying, “My battery died and I was late for an appointment.”
This time, he said he could “possibly” give me “a complimentary subscription,” if I’d be “interested in sending us articles for publication,” and asked to verify my address he had in “our database.”
But I’m not interested in writing for the Voice or subscribing to a paper I’ve never seen anywhere in town.
If you can unmask the so-called “truth” blogger, know where I can find a copy of the Voice or are a Voice subscriber, I’d like to hear from you at the e-mail address noted below.
A FINAL NOTE
Oleanders may be out—but the avocado and rose are still in. The avocado was named the city’s official tree and the rose the official flower during the late Burt Brooks’ term as mayor in 1969.
Brooks, popular owner of a Rexall Pharmacy on Main Street, touted the picks in a 1970 campaign brochure; but widespread support for plant life didn't earn him a second term.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 AM
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