The January 20th (1950) Lafayette SUN pointed out that “the boys were bothered by the ‘heat’ being applied by stories in the Lafayette and Orinda SUN and Oakland Tribune. So now they’re planning an attack on advertising revenues of the three papers, following the lead of one nightspot which already cancelled its advertisements in the SUN. One thing the boys did decide: they’re certain gambling has a future in Contra Costa County as long as the present setup continues.”
That issue of the paper also had this story: “Long Says ‘No Comment’ on Gambling.
“Question: Would you mind telling the SUN, Sheriff, just what method your office uses to see that the laws against gambling are enforced in the county? Long: No comment.
“Question: Do you have any patrol or similar setup in operation to make sure gambling laws are not violated? Answer: Listen here, young fellow, I have no comment to make to your newspaper on anything. I’m due in court in two minutes. (There was no comment from the sheriff, who hung up without so much as a word of goodbye.) From Wednesday morning [the 11th] until the 16th, a total of 64 calls were placed to the sheriff before he could be reached.”
And this: “Sun Reporter Taken for a Ride. Dana McGaugh, staff writer for the Lafayette SUN and the Orinda SUN, previously worked as a police reporter on the Arizona Republic in Phoenix covering civic vice scandals and gang operations in 1947, and two years as the Associated Press Southern California correspondent.” He wrote a first-person account of a frightening encounter:
“I was taken for a ‘ride’ early Wednesday morning and dumped in the Berkeley Hills with a warning to ‘lay off stories concerning county gambling operations.’ The one-way ride followed the evening spent on the fringes of a meeting at the Crossroads Restaurant in Orinda, where nightclub owners met with gambling figures to discuss future policy.”
The next week, the SUN’s publisher asked the FBI to investigate the recent activity, including the meeting of gambling interests and the subsequent ride given to Reporter McGaugh. County Superintendent of Schools B.O. Wilson weighed in, saying, “Gambling operations have been a definite threat to our schools’ efforts to teach young students pride in their community and respect for law and order. How can you expect a youngster to believe in obedience to the laws when he sees the laws openly flouted every day and apparently no attempt made to enforce the laws by those officers sworn to uphold them? Children are going to become educated in one way or another, whether by textbooks or slot machines.”
There was also a letter from an impassioned subscriber: “Thank goodness someone is at least trying to do something about the gambling and racketeering in our county. As you must know, we are the ‘laughing stock’ of the East Bay. It is getting so I hesitate telling anyone I live in Contra Costa County. When I do admit it, the comment is ‘Ah, the Tunnel Strip, ha ha.’ A couple of years ago in L.A., I was introduced to residents there and was informed of goings on in our county that I had no idea existed. These people had been ‘taken’ on ‘The Strip.’ Restaurants and nightclubs were named. It made me ashamed I had appeared in such places for eating purposes.”
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