This is a weekly program with commentary on current issues.

We closed out April with Erin Brockovich trolling for cancer victims in Riverside and reports of a pig explosion over Indio. I'm determined to launch May with a feel-good story.

Norm Lynde bought his Martha Stewart home a year ago. Remember Martha? After she left the Big House, she hooked up with KB Home, which built a tract in Perris before the housing bubble went KBoom. Just last year, the asking price for a Martha ranged from $361,990 to $406,990. Without upgrades.

Norm, chief financial officer for a nonprofit, had grown weary of his Corona-Riverside commute. You know things are bad when the drive between side-by-side cities in the same county becomes intolerable.

He checked out the "Olive Grove at May Ranch" and, "I was kind of embarrassed to tell people that I was looking at a Martha Stewart home." But he was hooked. He even met herself, who visited Perris in 2007.

Norm picked a house that started at $383K. But he wanted the bay window, covered back porch, a fireplace. By the time he had upgraded, Norm was in for another $40K-$50K.

I wrote about the Martha-KB liaison last year and decided to return because the I-215 billboards kept changing. Oh, Martha still looks her crisp self in the photo, but the homes now start in the mid-$200s.