Summary: When Kay McClanahan retired after being recognized as South Carolina Woman of the Year for her pioneering achievements as a forensic detective, she thought she'd settle down to farm the land she and her husband had spent a lifetime acquiring. But, someone else had a different plan for the McClanahan farm -- and that plan didn't include Mr. and Mrs. McClanahan.

Summary: After being freed from slavery in the 1860's, Joe Neal's great-grandfather bought 75 acres of wooded land and turned it into a fertile farmland that has been managed by Neal's family for three generations. But, if Sustainable Development / Smart Growth planners get their way, Neal and his neighbors will lose their heritage in the name of "the environment". In this Insight story by John Berlau, you will see how the posterity of slavery has long fought for its freedom and rights, but today are faced with threats to their livelihood and property that that are greater than anything they've faced from segregationist politicians.

With the Sierra Club, and its government and non-government organization partners, being referred to as a "chapter of the KKK", Smart Growth may be threatening the rights of these citizens, but could ultimately change the political landscape of South Carolina. Santa Cruz residents will find an uncanny similarity between the Town and Country Plan that is threatening Neal's property and the Santa Cruz Local Agenda 21 Action Plan that has guided our local planners since 1995.

SUMMARY: Sound off Central Wisconsin Radio Talk Show presented the Freedom 21 Forum o­n Smart Growth to AM 550 WSAU listeners o­n November 7, 2002. This exciting and informative show featured local Abundance Ecologist Michael Shaw and a national panel of Sustainable Development experts that included: Citizen Activist and Former Vice President of the Independent Truckers Association Bill Elmhorst, Memorial Medical Center Pharmacy Director Clark Palmer, and representatives from the Committee for Fairness In Law, Inc.

While Santa Cruz County Schools wrestle with severe budget cuts, few have heard about a huge scandal in the state Department of Education that involved $20 million in fraud, $11 million of embezzled tax funds, harassment of whistle-blowers, and a court order for Superintendent of Public Instruction Delain Eastin to personally pay damages to the whistleblowers. This Stockton Record story by Steve Wampler exposes something that is potentially more troubling than having an education system that is mismanaged by corrupt administrators who absconded with millions in public funds for themselves and their friends: the media, particularly in Santa Cruz County, seems to have been an active participant in covering up for the Eastin administration. While the author calls his story "Shame o­n Eastin", it might be better called "Shame o­n us California voters" for failing to monitor fraudulent use of tax dollars meant for our children's classrooms.