Rebuild from Depression Blog

Part II in the Rambling Raw Milk Series

Read Part I: Crime Scene Photos

My visit to the one-room school house here in California Hot Springs led to some critical information about the raw milk billboard crime.

Sheriff Deputy Scott was at the school that day to help celebrate his daughter's birthday (with four large pizzas).

I helped myself to a piece of pizza and said "Scott, let's talk about that Pixley crime involving the Milk is Milk billboard."

"What?"

"Scott, this crime was reported to the Pixley Police Department, haven't you heard about it?"

"Mandy, there is no Police Department in Pixley," Scott responded, using my name from my younger years.

"But surely it's been reported somewhere," I added.

"Well, let me make a call and find out."

Scott called the ladies who input the Sheriff's Department reports. Neither remembered such a report.

"You know, it was some sort of billboard just south of town."

Neither even seemed to remember the billboard.

He called the deputy assigned to the area.

"What?" the deputy asked.

I wondered if people in Pixley even knew about the billboard, much less the crime. So I asked Sander to interview some staff at Pixley School. In his sample of two, one had never noticed the billboard in any form. The other saw it but had no idea why it would be tagged with the word "raw."

A third person, a traveler through Central California, noticed the billboard and thought it was an advertisement for raw milk. She had heard of raw milk before.

So few locals noticed the tagging which explains why it took nearly a month for the Milk is Milk Campaign to hear about the tagging. Even after they heard about it, the billboard remained as-is for another two weeks.

Outside of Tulare County, interest in the billboard include Richard Morris at Bread and Money (who calls the Milk is Milk campaign "political astroturfing" -- a fake grass-roots movement), about five hundred people who have seen my rambling series, and the Milk is Milk campaign itself.

Graffiti is Covered

About two weeks ago now, one week before 100,000 farmers would gather at the World Ag Expo in Tulare, the billboard was painted black. The original Milk is Milk vinyl sign is still there, it is just covered in black paint. You can see the seams from the original sign if you drive up to the billboard and look (that is, if you have too much time on your hands and are apparently the only person in the county interested in the billboard).

I saw the black billboard and thought "This billboard is screaming to be tagged." I wondered if it would be tagged again before the World Ag Expo. It would have been quite the discussion in the dairy pavilion there, had anyone actually noticed it. But the farm show (as the locals call it), has come and gone.

Current Status of the Investigation

I asked Scott what was to come of the billboard investigation. He looked at me like I was nuts. "There is no report."

"Scott, can I report the crime? Sander is a key timeline witness after all."

"Do you have some standing in the crime?"

"Yes, it brings people to my website."

"You'll get more people to your website if you post that steer slaughter picture on rotten.com." Editor's note: do not visit rotten.com unless you are interested in seeing human versions of those steer pictures.

Naptime

So, it's hard to write about nothing, even though I've managed to fill up Parts I and II of this story with absolutely nothing.

There are rumors of a billboard tagging confession. If a confession materializes, I'll report back. When the billboard gets replaced with an ad for a gentleman's club, I'll report back.

Until then, enjoy a cold glass of milk, raw or pasteurized. ;)