by Sarah Peterson-Camacho
The wolf woman and the vampire melded effortlessly that night—two monsters become one. And with kohl-rimmed eyes and a dark little heart of a pout, she was indeed a stunner.
The City of Reedley is preparing to celebrate a major milestone as the Reedley Fiesta returns on October 17–18, 2025. This year’s event will mark 60 consecutive years of one of the Central Valley’s most enduring community traditions.
by Sarah Peterson-Camacho
First came the nasty little chuckle—almost like out of a bad, low-budget horror movie. Think Child’s Play knockoff. Or maybe Leprechaun.
Shifting a bulky sack of groceries from one arm to the other, Tammy scanned the sweltering rural terrain—had she seen a flash of movement near that ramshackle old barn?
by Sarah Peterson-Camacho
Revenge is sweet, they say. That it is best served cold. And for no one was it sweeter—or colder—than it was for Josephine Melfi Trino Nocito the day she put a bullet in the head of her husband’s killer.
The Kingsburg City Band was founded in 1887 and is one of the oldest community bands in the United States. The Band is still going strong, providing free music for your summer enjoyment every year. I recently chatted with Dale Engstrom, who has been the Kingsburg City Band Director for 48 years, to learn more.
by Sarah Peterson-Camacho
They say that fate is written in the stars, and if this is true, then Rayna Tom Carmen’s fate was sealed the night he slid into the passenger side of his friend Warren Kinsman’s automobile—for he would never be the same again.
by Sarah Peterson-Camacho
“I killed her because I hated her. I thought of killing her before, but I never had the guts until now.” --Alice Elizabeth Richard, 14, 1950
It was as plain and straight-forward a motive as there ever could be, but no one paid it any mind. There just had to be more to it than that—after all, what would a teenage bobbysoxer know, even if she was the killer in question?
A poet who captured the culture of Dust Bowl refugees, lived in the San Joaquin Valley, and most of us have never heard of her! Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel is part of Betty Blanks’ crusade to change that lack of knowledge.
by Sarah Peterson-Camacho
The fog was otherworldly that morning, as if a ravenous ghost had swallowed the Central Valley whole. Blanketing California’s agricultural heartland in a spectral haze of bone-chilling mist, it swept over the dormant vegetation in swirling tendrils of unearthly murk.
by Sarah Peterson-Camacho
Sunday, November 2, 1986, Day of the DeadHalloween was on a Friday that year—a boon to schoolkids flying high on a candy-fueled sugar rush, and for those party-hardy adults who’d be nursing hangovers the next day. All had that entire weekend to recover.
