*How does one describe the Average Bay Area Resident? Various psychiatrists have tried and failed. Therefore it's no surprise that many once again find themselves tuned into the only local source for news and weather, Channel 68. As the channel cues up and the last bits of static clear into focus, one casts their eyes upon field reporter Kaylynn Garcia standing outside the courthouse smiling at the Camera.* 

Kaylynn: “…After the announcement had been made on Monday, numerous business owners spent a good portion of the week on site filing the paperwork to obtain additional H two B visas for temporary foreign workers. Going into the fall season many of the visas already issued for the main tourist months are set to expire in November, and as swimming and boating season draws to a close, many businesses find they still have need of additional work forces, especially in the M-DOT and other labor intensive fields.”  

*The Camera shows some footage of various persons filing into the courthouse and carrying papers, chatting idly and occupying most flat surface areas, even up against the walls to fill out forms. Then it cuts back to Kaylynn*  

Kaylynn: “With immigration and other groups cracking down on foreign visitors and many being taken to be deported without proper identification papers, many are welcoming the additional allowance of these work visas. Others, however, are thinking it’s too little too late as many of their more skilled and trained workers have already gone or have been deported, and there’s even more paperwork needed to get them un-deported, and the costs may outweigh the experience offered.  From downtown, this is Kaylynn Garcia, back to you Ari and Ray.”  

*The camera cuts back to the main news desk where Ariana Bening and Raymond Wages sit.* 

Raymond: “Thank you Kaylynn. It sounds like quite a messy situation to unravel. But it does explain why my neighbor might have taken off.”  

Ariana: “You don’t mean the seventy year old woman with her garage painted like a door to Narnia do you?”  

Raymond: “No the other one, Vjorn. The one who you said was ‘yummy’ and got my air conditioner to work again last year.”  

*Ari blushes a bit when he calls her out on her comment and adjusts her papers as she looks at the main camera* 

Ariana: “Preliminary hearings continue as more evidence is brought to light about a woman accused of what is now appearing to be a state-wide burglary spree. All throughout August, and perhaps as early as June, the accused is suspected of carrying out numerous burglaries and invasions of homes and vehicles stealing numerous valuables. At this point her alleged crimes cover most of the state and may even cross state borders and could have some international, as records show she may have traveled into Canada several times. At this point the individual jurisdictions are trying to determine where to hold the hearing, since her alleged crimes cross so many of them, and may simply remand them all to the State level.  Her attorney has argued that if it’s remanded to the state level it denies her a level to appeal to that level which would be a violation of process.” 

Raymond: “You can follow that story as we learn more, along with the roadmap of crime she’s alleged to have participated in on our website.”  

*Raymond adjusts his papers and turns to the side Camera* 

Raymond: “The final weekend in September has been named for the public build day for the Park Street Community Park. The land was donated to the city three years ago to commission a public park space, and donations over the past year have been used to expand this area to include a playground on site. All locals are encouraged to stop in and help assemble the park from Friday the twenty-ninth till the Thirtieth, though they have allowed for work to be finished up on Sunday the First of October if needed.” 

Ariana: “I know many of us from the studio will be there helping to put up the swing sets and monkey bars.” 

*She smiles and mock-flexes her arms as if indicating that she’s not afraid of some hard work.*  

Raymond: “Quite. It seems to be a year for public buildings and spaces, as Wednesday of next week the grand Opening and garden party for the Shire House facility is scheduled rain or shine from Noon to Seven PM. It’s taken nearly six years for the organization behind the facility to obtain all the funding permits and actual assistance in building it to come to Fruition.  They plan on opening for weekend events near the middle of October, and have plans for a community Halloween carnival at the end of the month.  You can contact them for scheduling family or group events at the number or website listed below.” 

*On the screen the website address and phone # for the facility scrolls along while Ray finishes speaking*  

Ariana: “Speaking of Rain or Shine, Let’s check with Wilbert Woods and see what kind we should expect as that day rolls around.  Which is it going to be there Wil?“  

*The camera shifts over to the weather desk with Wilbert Woods standing in front of his green Screen with a nice sharp possibly new suit. Offset by the outrageously loud powder blue tie he’s got on.* 

Wilbert: “Well Ari, as Jose winds himself down off the coast and Maria works her way on up, we are going to have all manner of unusual weather trends over the next weeks. At this time until the end of the month the coast guard has issued a wind Gust and high wave alert. This means that winds can shift from near calm to nearly forty miles per hour without warning, and some waves may swell ten feet or more above usual level due to the storms finishing their run. So if one is swimming or taking advantage of the last bouts of warm weather on the ocean, be aware and follow safety procedures like wearing life jackets and making sure you have all survival gear in good working order.” 

*The screen behind him shows some background clips from Gilligan’s Island with various news staff members faces and heads overlaid on the actual actors, before switching to the week planner display* 

Wilbert: “Today, Nice and sunny, only intermittent clouds high up in the sky, Highs in the Low to Mid-Eighties. Overnight, the weather cools off a bit but still has hot breezes as the tropical current finishes off, it shouldn’t get any colder than sixty degrees.  Sunday and Monday are more of the same, as Jose finishes out and we have a brief bit of respite as Maria remains down in the gulf area. Warm days with lots of sun and few clouds, which will shift on Tuesday as we have a front from Canada moving in from the West, which will cool things down on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Both days only seeing a high in the mid Sixties with lots of cloud cover.”  

*The Screen shows behind him the weather tracker playing out over the course of the weekend and week, the swirls of Jose fading out, the clouds of the cold front coming in and the path estimated for Maria to head on up along during the latter part of the week* 

Wilbert: “This Cold front will press against the warmer southerly winds preceding Maria’s travel up along the coast and could cause some thunderstorms scattered about the area as well as patches of rain here and there on Thursday and Friday.  The Temperature rising back up to the low and mid Seventies the Sun peeking out here and there to keep us guessing as to whether or not we need an umbrella.  As Maria heads back out to the Atlantic on Saturday and Sunday we see our weather shift with her course, more clouds and much cooler temperatures with the high not expected to be above Sixty two on Saturday or Sunday with numerous clouds, but very little in the way of Rainfall or storms.”  

*The camera cuts back over to Ari and Ray* 

Ariana: “Up and down and up and down, sounds like our days of swimming in the ocean and sunshine are dwindling down.  Thanks Wil.”  

Raymond: “For those who have been finding difficulties with phone reception on the outer islands and even some on the inner, there’s good news. Plans for several new cell phone towers to be built and in working order to cover the bay area with better coverage have been approved by the various planning commissions and work is due to begin this winter as weather permits.  The companies are hopeful that they will have all the towers up and running in time for the onset of Tourist season Mid-April of twenty-eighteen.”  

Ariana: "Dean Knopinski is out for minor surgery this weekend, we all wish him a speedy recovery and that they get all of the foreign object removed from his soft tissue without too much scarring."  

Raymond:  "Coming up after the break, Series of fires along a block of High street, negligence, coincidence, or serial arson attempt?  Jail library sending out request for volunteer workers to distribute books to inmates, why they need to ask for Volunteers for the job, and how you can help. "

Ariana:  "The Peak of Tourist season may be past, but the bay Area is still scheduled to receive over a hundred cruise ships between now and November First, what this means for your local fall hot spots and the economy.  And a Former pastor found guilty of possessing child pornography, how he was caught and what his sentence will be, all that and more after these words from our sponsors." 

~~Cut to Commercials~~

     As anyone who has ever done a search for artifacts of the past will tell you, it’s usually ten percent digging, thirty percent research, and sixty percent sheer luck. A local business owner seemed to have his share of luck in making a discovery recently. 

   Buried beneath the building in what could have been a root cellar or storage space a crate from the 1920’s containing Canadian Scotch Whiskey was discovered while he was renovating the building. It’s unknown yet as to whether this was a personal cache of alcohol hidden during Prohibition, or part of a Bootlegger operation where they would bring the alcohol from Canada and stash it to later transport to speakeasies in the United States. 

He told me: 
“There were three layers of flooring, the bottom most of which was so rotten you could pick it apart with your fingers. I was tearing it all up so it wouldn't sink when I brought in some heavy machinery. In one corner the wood gave way to show a metal trapdoor. It had rusted nearly completely shut, but when I had it broken open, down inside was an Old Farmer's Almanac and this wooden crate with the top half off.”  

“Well, being kind of curious, I moved the top out of the way, and stuck inside with a bunch of straw like packing material were a bunch of glass bottles with light amber liquid in them.  Well naturally the labels stating they were Canadian Scotch Whiskey was a sure sign that I had found something.” 

   After that he contacted the local Historical Society, and according to the director, Professor Dorian Teal, all those materials have been donated to the society for historical research and display in Museums for that period in history.  
Professor Teal stated: 

"It really is an amazing find.  So much about that period has been romanticized, or erased outright. Bootleggers and Rum runners of the period weren't exactly keen on keeping detailed journals or records just in case. It's also rare to find a case like this with intact bottles, most of the regulators of the time simply smashed the containers and let the contents run into the gutter.  So not only do we have the batch numbers printed on the labels but other clues that will let us trace the shipment back to where it came from."  

"it's a pity that all the records of who owned the building this was found in were destroyed in the town hall fire back in the nineteen sixties, but using the distillery numbers we can get all manner of information from the plant where they bottled these. We may never have an answer as to what happened to those souls who stored the crate, or why they only left twenty-two of the bottles in a box clearly designed to package twenty-five, but this donation will make a grand addition to the society's collection from a period where we have little information about the specific routes that smugglers would take to bring illegal alcohol into the United States."  

   This reporter asked the lucky man who found the stash just why it is that he chose to donate it to a historical society, he had quite the amusing response.  
"It makes a good Tax write off?  I did think about holding a roaring twenties party for myself a a couple dozen friends, dress up in suits and fedoras and such and serve authentic period booze.  But that seemed like a bit too self indulgent for such a find.  I mean for all we know these bottles could have been slated to sit in the private stock of Al Capone, John Dillinger, Lucky Luciano, Neil Castelli, Herbert Hoover or other famous Criminals. Someone like the professor could figure that out and if they have historical significance or not."  

   I also inquired why he thought the case was incomplete. 
"Who can say. If it was a personal stash they probably drank them.  Maybe they had to bribe some cops and hadn't been paid yet.  The three bottles could have broken during travel, or been used as samples for speakeasies to prove that they weren't offering colored water with rubbing alcohol.  No way of knowing really. I guess that's part of the mystery the Professor has ahead of him to figure out."  

   Quite a mystery, who were they? What happened to them?  Why didn't they come back for their stash? Could they have run afoul of competitors? Been caught or shot by Regulators? Lots of questions that only time and investigation can answer.  

   As an aside, I feel I should mention that the chances of other finds like this is quite rare, and most readers should be careful before tearing apart walls or floors of their homes or businesses looking for similar items.  

  A Final question I asked was what he decided to do with the underground storage space now that he knew it was there.  
"probably seal it back up and put my floor in.  I could use it for storage I guess, but the ladder in it is kind of rickety.  Maybe I'll get a Sealed box and put several bottles of Whiskey in it with some laminated photos and a note to whomever re-discovers them in the future telling them to have a drink or three on us."  

Contributed by: ​Harrison Leefolt

     This past Sunday morning gun shots could be heard shattering the comfortable silence of upper town. Anyone out for brunch could have seen the owner of the Aristocrat, Kaidn Zero, pulling a gun and firing several shots at a masked man who had just defaced the street outside of the club. There was a curious resemblance between the mask he was wearing and the mark on the ground, both looking like some form of crazily smiling skull with large white teeth. An eerie sign indeed and from what the masked man said, it was intended as a warning to one of the Aristocrat’s guest. Who? He didn’t say, but present in the club that morning, among others, were town judge Martinho Larson, gym owner Vladimir Ribolovlef and private attorney Aquilah Rau. Was one of them the intended recipient of this warning? Or was it meant for someone more low profile? Perhaps the victim wasn’t even there at the time. 

     The AP Times has information from a reliable source that this mark is typical gang-related graffiti. Lately there has really only been one gang making noise in town. Is this their mark? 

​     Later the same day the mark had been washed away. By the town or by the Aristocrat owner not wanting people to associate his club with gang violence? Who can tell?

Reported By - Min Bradford