Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/806556
InaweekwhenthePresidentdeclaredanend to the war on coal, a war that coal had lost de- cades ago, and when the Speaker of the House said he was not willing to work with the Dem- ocrats on a major item like health care, but on lesser things like keeping the government open a er it runs out of money next month, it was refreshing to dwell on the Tehama Concert Series, a true jewel in the local crown. WeattendedtheYoungIre- landers show on Monday eve- ning at the State Theatre, which is also a local treasure. The au- dience was huge and packed with enthusiastic pa- trons who min- gled and shared handshakes and smiles during the intermission and after the show. The event was like a pep rally, high energy and uplifting. Each time we enter the State Theatre is more and more inviting. We are looking forward to Friday and Saturday nights' performances. The Tehama Concert Series will mark its 80th anniversary next year. It is led by a board of directors who are commu- nity oriented and generous with their time. It is a nonprofit or- ganization, and, in these days, I am sure it must be difficult to just stay even financially. Ticket sales do not cover the cost of op- erations, so it relies on the gen- erosity of those who become pa- trons, donating above and be- yond the cost of the tickets. It operates independently from any organization, so its efforts to bring quality performers to Red Bluff is truly a local effort. Picking and choosing per- formers is not a simple mat- ter of looking at a shopping list or a catalogue. Each year many board members attend Arts Northwest in Oregon, Washing- ton, and Idaho, to preview over 100 available performers. From that number, they cull the list 15 to 20 performers who match our local criteria. Even then, they must look at both local calendars and the calendars of the various per- formers; sometimes this gets even more complicated because traveling groups like to coor- dinate their itinerary to limit large jumps from one place to another. Price, of course is an- other consideration, and often a board member must be involved in negotiations. All this prepara- tion can involve a lot of donated time to bring us quality enter- tainment. When performers come, they are provided with local lodg- ing and meals in addition to their fees. The State Theatre also charges for its use. Budget building is an important plan- ning tool for TCS. We need to thank the TCS and its board members for their efforts on our behalf, and at this point we need to encourage our friends and neighbors to join TCS and consider becoming pa- trons. Current officers of the board include: Micah Stetson, presi- dent; Membership Coordinator Jan Stetson and Patron Plan Co- ordinator Gail Locke. TCS has a Facebook page, check it out. ••• I was paused at the corner of Walnut and Washington on Thursday when I notice a sud- den movement out of the cor- ner of my eye; as I looked up I saw the sign above Elmore's Pharmacy lurch to my left and smash against the brick wall, making a loud bang and a glass shattering sound. I noticed the sign was re- moved later that day and will be repaired and repositioned. In the meantime, that corner will seem strange to those of us who have considered it a town fix- ture. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. JoeHarrop Concert series is a local treasure The event was like a pep rally, high energy and uplifting. Each time we enter the State Theatre is more and more inviting. We are looking forward to Friday and Saturday nights' performances. Wittorfftobe missed by many Editor: Dan Wittorff will be missed by many, including me. How- ever, his memory will remain with us and most likely for many different reasons. I met Dan in the mid to late 1960s when he put a notice in the Red Bluff Daily News for people interested in fly fish- ing. Several of us responded and met at Dan's residence a few times, formed a steer- ing committee for the Tehama Fly Fishers and enjoyed cook- ies made by Dan's youngest daughter. Steering committee in place, we started hold- ing meetings at the Jackson Heights School. The Tehama Fly Fishers became a real suc- cess. The most notable char- ter member was Dr. Fred God- bolt, a long-time, well-known outdoor sportsman in Tehama County and proud owner of one of E.C. Powell's origi- nal split-bamboo fly rods. Dr. Godbolt told stories of pack- ing into Antelope Creek on horseback, a fishing trip that would last a week, before ac- cess roads were available and a person could make a round trip in less than a day. TFF would meet monthly with a guest speaker that in- cluded Walton Powell — son of E.C. Powell — from the Powell Fly Shop in Chico on fly-rod building, a fly fishing guide from Shasta County gave a fly tying demonstration and Brad Jackson gave a fantastic fly casting demonstration at the River Park. Besides our regular meet- ings Dan gave fly tying classes to quite a number of people, mostly youngsters, and at this time there would be a sharing of fly tying material. Dan also headed up a crew of fly fishers that laid out the floor and foundation of the Kelly Griggs Gazebo in honor of Dr. Godbolt. Brick, sand and mortar were donated by local businesses whose name I've long forgotten. TFF also partnered with Fred Wiggett, Jim Phillips, Department of Fish and Game and PG&E to rescue thou- sands of trout, many trophy size, PG&E closed down their ditches for repair. All were re- leased in Battle Creek. Fly fishing is like golf — you don't have to be good to enjoy. I never mastered a golf swing, a thistle down fly presentation or a long line double-haul cast but just the same I enjoyed all. I never made a hole-in-one or landed the trophy sized trout but I managed a fair golf shot once in a while and landed my share of non-trophy trout. Farewell Dan, keep a tight line. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff We need to come together on healthcare Editor: We were talking the other day and a friend of mine said, why can't we put several smart people in a room and solve this affordable care problem. Having Democrats on one side and Republicans on the other is obviously not working and never will. In the first place, these are politicians and they are all wealthy so they will never be without healthcare. It's just not one of their prob- lems. In our conversation we set- tled on one principle to use as a starting point: If you are sick or injured you go to a hos- pital and they fix you. They do that in Europe so why can't we do that here? The fact is, we can. So. Where does the money come from? To start with we stop do- ing stupid things with our fed- eral and state budgets. Presi- dent Trump wants to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. He seems to think this will solve our ille- gal immigrant and drug traf- ficking problems. That's pure hogwash. First of all, the people that want to come or bring their il- licit wares into this country will either continue to dig un- der the wall, climb over it or just go around it. Some will take a boat and land in Cali- fornia, but there are a lot of border patrol officers there. But look at a map. Texas, Lou- isiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are wide open. How much money has the President allocated to build that stupid wall? Put that money into medical care. President Trump wants to increase our defense spending by $50 billion. Why? Our cur- rent military budget is larger than the combined military budgets of the next seven larg- est military spenders on the planet. Who or what are we afraid of? There is no need for us to be the policeman to the world. It's time countries around the world take over their own security. So instead of increasing our military budget by $50 billion let's cut it by $50 billion. We have other places to spend our hard earned dough. Even be- yond universal health care it's time to do another of Trump's promises, let's put America to work again. By rebuilding our infrastructure we will be cre- ating real jobs. How are we going to man- age this new health care sys- tem? Not by destroying the Affordable Care Act, but by building on it. We can do the same thing to save Social Se- curity. You don't increase the tax rate, you increase the max- imum level of income that is taxable. What is wrong with asking the people that have the most, to give the most. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take It has been assailed as the end of democracy. Vilified as a form of slavery. Denigrated, de- nounced and dis- paraged. But like a blind, three- legged dog named "Lucky," against all odds, the Af- fordable Care Act has survived and remains the law of the land. For 7 years the GOP has beaten President Obama's sig- nature legislation until they and everyone around them were cov- ered in a fine red mist. In the face of a guaranteed veto by the man they nicknamed the bill after, the Republican House of Representatives voted to re- peal it over 60 times, but the first chance they got as a ma- jority, with a sure-fire presiden- tial signature, they choked like a skinny-necked goose being force-fed gravel. Their oft-repeated mantra was "Repeal and replace" but when push came to shove, they resorted to "Ordeal and dis- grace." "Raw deal and lose face." "Surreal and deface." For the new President, it was a lesson in Government 101. The head of Trump University got himself schooled. The learning curve for Apprentice Chief Exec- utives looks to be a mite steeper than the reverse trajectory of a bundled tax return wrapped around a vodka bottle thrown off the roof of Trump Tower. Trump's legitimate shock at the turn of events seems to in- dicate he hadn't been paying at- tention the last couple of years. And this could very well be why, traditionally, the presidency has not been an entry-level position. This is the very same consum- mate deal maker that earlier asked, "Who knew health care could be so complicated?" Um. Everybody. Except you. Again. In defeat, the author of "The Art of the Deal," blasted every- one; the Democrats, the media, Nancy Pelosi, Paul Ryan, Charles Barkley, until finally placing the blame for the scuttling of Trump Care on his own right wing's Freedom Caucus. The group that demanded concessions, received them, then still wouldn't vote for the bill. With friends like those, who needs lizard-like, alien in- vaders? The problem was, after elim- inating standards for minimum benefits including ambulances, hospitalization, prescriptions, maternity care, drug and mental heath treatment, pediatric ser- vices, emergency services and labs, the American Health Care Act was less health insurance and more malady assurance. 24 million citizens were esti- mated to lose health care cov- erage under the AHCA and that was before the total vivisec- tion of the bill. Making passage even stickier since moderates ran away like avocados leaving Mexico the week before the Su- per Bowl. The group switched its name from Tea Party to Freedom Cau- cus, because they're fighting for the freedom of all Americans to die without government in- tervention. To them, compro- mise isn't just a dirty word, it's a hanging offense. Even with the rope strung around their own necks, they are resolute as glue- footed moths on a porch light. Now Trump says he's moving on, because "The best thing we can do, politically speaking, is let Obama Care explode." That's what you want from a leader. Someone willing to sacrifice. His constituents. But moving on isn't a total lock either. He hasn't yet said, "Who knew that a border wall or tax re- form or rebuilding our infrastruc- ture could be so complicated," but now that the Tea Partiers have the taste of blood in their mouths, he might. The best news for all con- cerned is that Obama Care still covers depression. Will Durst is an award- winning, nationally acclaimed columnist and comedian. Go to willdurst.com for info about his new one-man show "BoomeRaging: From LSD to OMG," and the documentary "3 Still Standing." Will Durst The head of Trump University got schooled ChipThompson, Editor How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS Will Durst Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, April 1, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6