92615_RAA_LooseCannon_Text_R1_PROOF

at one end that would look more at home on a village green of a small New England town than downtown in one of the West Coast’s oldest cities. A mid-size reflecting pool adorns the far end, and bears a statue of two hag gard pioneers, gazing off into the distance. These two are, of course, Bernheim and Hayes. In an ironic twist, when the statue was first placed, the two pioneers appeared to be looking out across the bay. Now, at the advent of the 21st century, a modern skyscraper blocks their "view," and they seem to be looking straight into the offices of Leslie LaForge at KMWR. North of downtown is the chaotic frenzy of Canadatown, where burly French-Canadians settled after organizing a going lumber concern in the mid 1800s. After a brief hiatus when New Jericho seceded from the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War, the Canadatown lumberjacks were rivaled only by the San Francisco gold miners in sheer wealth and power. Now, Canadatown is the hip part of town where young urban profes sionals have taken over the solidly built townhouses and shops and con verted them into lofts, dance clubs and blues joints. Southwest of Canadatown is where the industrial real estate is. In the ‘30s, the area was tooled mostly for sheet metal production and constructional granite facings. "Toolsville" is now home to several "Hollywood North" spe cial effects houses and independent film producers. Part of the reason The Redeemers are based in New Jericho is because of the constant media exposure that is available to them here. Plus, really, the weather is just really nice. Almost literally bisecting Toolsville is a diagonal thoroughfare named for one of New Jericho’s favorite sons: the first modern independent Presidential candidate, John Meehan. Ironically, Meehan was unable to continue his run for the 1928 Presidential nomination because he was hit by a rumrunner smuggling bootleg liquor. A brooding and apologetic pop ulace named the main boulevard after him. While there are many quaint residential neighborhoods scattered through out New Jericho (including the posh and tony Rocky Point), the latest to be taken over by writers and Starbuck’s franchises is Cathedral Hill. Coincidentally, this is where the famous landmark North Street Museum was situated. A stately Victorian, the former "lumber rush" hotel had been turned into a museum celebrating the colorful history of New Jericho. Instead of opting to fund a new set of exhibits, however, the Clinton admin istration had been made aware of the facility in early 1993 by the National Endowment for the Arts and deemed the location perfect for the hyper gene recipients to use as their headquarters. With the addition of top secret improvements (explained away as "seismic retro-fitting"), Saturn Red and the Redeemers were able to begin their government-sponsored

151