I was pretty excited when Mayor Wooten whispered in my ear on Sunday that "his highness" the governor was coming to town on Tuesday.

I figured we could get the story in for this week's edition of the County Times.

But later, on Monday, Candice Steelman of the Merced County Association of Governments sent me word that the time was changed to Wednesday.

So I figured I'd let our blog readers in on what happened.

The governor speaks, with Mayor Wooten at his side.

Let's face it: Staff members at the Merced County Administration Building have seen better days.

Well ... people in general are pretty depressed about the local, state and national economies, but imagine what it must be like if you are working at the Tax Collector's office or the Auditor's office.

"People are too serious and frowning around here as we try to tackle our budget

Tour of California riders zip through Merced

Maybe, it's just me.

But didn't the Amgen Tour of California come and go in a matter of seconds?

After all the hoopla ... and all the anticipation ... it seemed like the movie ... "Gone in 60 Seconds."

Now ... I guess it's just my knee-jerk reaction ... I haven't really researched anything ... all I did was have a press pass ... and a camera ... and I was there at the starting line.

When Merced's FFA program was split and divided between Merced High School and Golden Valley High School last school year, some educators thought numbers would dwindle at Merced High because of its inner-city student base.

That's not the case, the Merced High FFA adviser Steven Mua told me in an interview this week.

The Merced County Times is going to be

"You can't imagine how I feel."

Reporters hear that phrase a lot. And they sure ask about it a lot.

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard a journalist ask: "How do you feel right now."

So I've been there so many times ... I want to know ... and I want to try to convey feelings to readers ...

The Golden Valley Cardinal Regime band will be the pride of Merced County as they ring in the New Year today at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena.

With holiday gift pressure mounting at the North Pole, why is Santa Claus spending so much time in Merced?

I never thought I would describe a memorial service before a burial as "fantastic" ... but then again ... the late Joe Rivero was referred to as "Mr. Fantastic."

The Merced County Times is a weekly with a Thursday publication date.

You know ... for all the talk about how bad things are ... it sure feels like these are exciting times.

Call it "change."

Call it anything you want too.

That's fine by me.