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I was gonna keep the leave-taking between Joe Kieta and me private and personal. That's the way he is, and that's the way I am.

But some of the Sunspot comments about his seven-year stay here prompt these thoughts:

Joe is one of the three best bosses I've had in nearly four decades of committing journalism.

I've worked for some reputable outfits: 14 years with the Wall Street Journal in Dallas, Tokyo and San Francisco; a year with the New York Times in Tokyo; 14 years with U.S. News & World Report in Tokyo and L.A.; several years long ago at the Topeka Capital-Journal; and, while I was teaching journalism in Southern California, four years as a contributor to People magazine.

We just received this press release from the Merced County Sheriff's Department.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Most people believe that they are allowed to play their music or make as much noise as they want until 10:00pm. It’s not a curfew and a very big misunderstanding by the public. The law prohibits someone from making so much noise that it disturbs the peace of another. There is no time frame from when you’re allowed to play music as loud as you want. It can be 1:00 in the morning or 1:00 in the afternoon, it makes no difference.

Taser Inc. was held liable in the death of a Salinas man and his family has been awarded $6 million, the Monterey County Herald reported Saturday.

While the Salinas police won't stop using Tasers, the verdict seems like it could pave the way for other similar wrongful-death lawsuits. Taser's stock took a nose-dive after the news hit.

Jim Sanders, a Merced city councilman now vying for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors, thinks his recent vote to declare the Central Presbyterian Church a local historic resource may be among the reasons he won fewer votes than his opponent, Hub Walsh.

On June 3, Sanders and Walsh beat out three other candidates running for the county's District 2 Board of Supervisors seat. Walsh won 39 percent of the votes cast. Sanders took in 26 percent. That means both men will advance to a November runoff.