Recognizing that today is both MLK Day and Inauguration Day, a fact that provides obvious opportunities to draw contrasts between Martin Luther King and Donald J. Trump, we choose instead to keep The Newsletter on message, which is to say local, and focused on solutions.
Today we recognize two instances of people-power being exerted by a couple of ordinary heroes. The first you may have heard about—a young Altadena weather-watcher who mounted an effort on social media that saved a lot of people from possible fiery death. (As it happens, we know this guy.)
The second story is less-obviously heroic, but in this era of mass misinformation, the effort of another young man to counteract a campaign that could cripple smart development in the little city of Hollister is worth noting.
And in celebration of this issue's theme, dig this tune for our times from Patti Smith, singing one of the greatest small-d democratic anthems ever written— her own (you guessed it) “People Have the Power.” This might be just the thing you need today.
