Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/815805
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 Boy,haveIgotadealfor you. How would you like to attend eight thoroughly en- tertaining con- certs at the his- toric State The- atre for only $7.50 per con- cert? Well, you can. Continue reading, and sooner or later I will get around to telling you how. By now most of you are likely aware that the State Theatre for the Arts owes much of its considerable suc- cess to its anchor performing arts partner, the Tehama Con- cert Series. Originally called the Te- hama Concert Association, TCS has been in existence for the past eighty years, tell- ing you all you need to know about this organization's com- mitment to providing a high quality cultural and perform- ing arts experience to mem- bers of the Tehama County community. A list of past presidents and other board members of this organization reads like a who's who in terms of com- munity leadership. Fortu- nately, that tradition contin- ues with the leadership pro- vided by current president Micah Stetson, secretary Gail Locke and treasurer Everett McDonough. In earlier times, the Con- cert Association was affiliated with Columbia Broadcasting, but some 30 or 40 years ago the Association decided to go it alone; a decision that has never been regretted. Let me share with you how the Tehama Con- cert Series functions. Every year, representatives from the Tehama Concert Se- ries travel to Portland, Ore- gon where, along with rep- resentatives from dozens of other associations, they at- tend performances featuring talented musicians, singers, dancers, etc., from through- out the world. It is from these performances that TCS selects concert entertainment that ultimately ends up at the his- toric State Theatre. For much of its existence, the TCS was handicapped by not having a performing arts venue that it could truly call home. Concerts were some- times held at local churches, and at other times in the high school auditorium and Per- forming Arts center. In what can only be viewed as a win-win, the State The- atre for the Arts purchased the theater in 2011. Since that time, the Concert Series has enjoyed calling the historic State Theatre home. I would be remiss if I did not point out that many long-time Con- cert Series members not only contributed in a significant way to the purchase of the theatre, but were instrumen- tal in raising funds to acquire our beautiful $85,000 Schim- mel grand piano that now graces the Haleakala stage. We like the folks at the Con- cert Series… a lot. •••• How does a Tehama Con- cert Series membership work, you ask? The Tehama Concert Series is a membership-based organization. While tickets may be purchased on a per- concert basis ($30), the cost of concerts is largely covered by the amazingly reasonable cost of full season memberships. The 2016-2017 TCS season is coming to a close, and the upcoming 2017-2018 member- ship drive is officially under- way. Let me share with you membership details. The 2017-2018 TCS schedule is already scheduled with the following quality concerts: Oct. 4, Acoustic Eidolon. Nov. 10, Jason Colman presents "The Piano Magic of Floyd Cramer." Dec. 9, North State Symphony's Holiday Cham- ber Concert. Feb. 2, 2018, Pam Drew Phillips, pianist. March 9, 2018, Janelle Nadeau, Harp- ist with Humor. April 29, 2018 Women of the World. I also have it on good au- thority that there is a more than strong possibility that a second North Valley Sym- phony concert will be pre- sented in the spring of 2018, bringing seven concerts to the upcoming TCS season. What will you pay to attend seven quality concerts at the best performing arts venue in the entire north state? I am glad you asked. 2017-2018 TCS single-per- son memberships may be pur- chased prior to June 1 for $60. Family memberships are available for only $135. Sin- gle-person memberships rise to $70, and families to $155 after June 1. •••• If you are not currently a TCS member and want to add one additional concert to that $60 membership, do I have a deal for you. This Fri- day, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. the TCS will present its final con- cert of the 2016-2017 season. "Everything Fitz" is return- ing to Red Bluff as the Con- cert Series' second highest rated show ever. If you would like to attend this wonder- ful concert, let the folks at the box office know that you would like to apply the $30 admission cost to your 2017- 2018 season membership and you will only owe an addi- tional $30 to see the entire 2017-2018 TCS schedule. If you would like additional infor- mation please visit www.te- hamaconcertseries.org, or call 727-8727. •••• In just two short months the historic State Theatre will "go dark" for a couple of sum- mer months in order to re- place all 740 seventy-year-old theatre seats. It is our plan to also restore balcony flooring, install carpeting throughout the theatre, and repair ceiling damage while the seats are out of the auditorium. These exciting restora- tion projects are also expen- sive restoration projects. For- tunately, we live in a giving community that understands the importance of ensuring the State Theatre will serve the community for genera- tions to come. The STFTA has established a seat replacement sponsor- ship program where, for $500 per seat, sponsors are allowed to honor someone or some- thing important in their lives with a nameplate inscription that will remain on a seat for decades. Sponsorships are sell- ing at a brisk pace. We have even carved out a "Red Bluff High Class of…." section, with about a dozen classes partici- pating thus far. Seat sponsorship informa- tion is available at www.state- theatreredbluff.com. •••• Coming to the State The- atre: May 4: Rave On! The Buddy Holly Experience. Check out other concerts at www.statetheatreredbluff. com. BillCorneliusisalifelong resident of Red Bluff, a retired Chief Probation Officer, a champion of the State Theatre and an exceptional athlete. He can be reached at bill. cornelius@sbcglobal.net. WilliamTells Aconcertoffer you can't refuse Cartoonist's take We need to rethink Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. On April's fourth Thurs- day for the last 25 years, parents have been tak- ing their kids to their workplaces to help kids "envi- sion their future and begin steps to- ward their end goals," according to the executive director of the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day Foundation. Regrettably, it's time we focus these kids on the end goals of middle-aged Americans. Look, I'll be 55 this week. I am at the tail end of the baby boom. There are millions of older baby boomers ahead of me, already sucking the marrow out of So- cial Security, Medicare and other government programs. Since I began my professional writing career in 1984, I've paid thousands in FICA — Federal In- surance Contributions Act — taxes to help older Americans en- joy their golden years. In more recent years, through good for- tune and incredibly hard work, I've paid enough in FICA taxes to cover the monthly mortgage pay- ment on a very nice second home. I'm glad to have done my part. But I'm worried that the genera- tions directly behind mine have zero interest in supporting my retirement years and zero abil- ity to do so. I speak of the millions of 20- and 30-somethings living in Mom and Dad's basement, eat- ing Mom and Dad's grub and driving Mom and Dad's cars — cars with automatic transmis- sions, because manual transmis- sions would be too traumatic for these snowflakes. They're highly skilled at video games and know where the best tattoo artists are located. But working hard in the incredibly competitive private sector is not something they're up to. And while these generations squander their most productive years "chilling," my generation is losing out on the massive tax revenue that is needed to fund our golden years. We may have to write off mil- lions of members of these gen- erations and hope to God that the younger generations that follow can be our salvation — which brings us back to Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. It's time for some tough love, I regret. Our youngsters need to realize that older generations spent them into more than $20 trillion in debt — which they're on the hook to pay. There's no time to worry about their self-esteem or self- fulfillment. They will not have the luxury of pursuing their dream jobs. Sorry to say, they will have to do what the World War II gen- eration did: take the first good job offered, work their tails off, put up with miserable workplace politics, and keep getting pro- moted into increasingly stressful and unpleasant jobs — so they can pay the massive taxes that are needed to cover the mas- sive obligations left to them by the spendthrift generations be- fore them. Hey, 7- to 12-year-olds: Like it or not, you need to focus on sci- ence and engineering and learn how to create and build things in America again. You must be- come highly creative entrepre- neurs and come up with inno- vative new products, employing lots of people who produce mas- sive amounts of wealth — so that the government can keep afloat. Not only must you provide for tail-end baby boomers like me, but you'll be carrying the load for millions of loafers in the gen- erations immediately ahead of you. These loafers may succeed in making a Bernie Sanders-type president, who will give them more of your money so they can "chill" in government-subsidized basements of their own. Sorry to interrupt your child- hood with such harsh realities, kiddos, but we are where we are. Enjoy Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day with Mom and Dad. Then get home and get cracking. The fate of our massively in- debted nation depends on you. Tom Purcell, author of "Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Wicked Is the Whiskey," a Sean McClanahan mystery novel, both available at Amazon.com, is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom@TomPurcell.com. Tom Purcell Time to make it 'Get to Work, Daughters & Sons' day In what can only be viewed as a win-win, the State Theatre for the Arts purchased the theater in 2011. Since that time, the Concert Series has enjoyed calling the historic State Theatre home. Bill Cornelius Tom Purcell On his way to the White House, President Donald Trump forgot all he knows about nego- tiating. Author of best-selling "The Art of the Deal," President Trump reneged on his impor- tant campaign promise to end the deferred action for child- hood arrivals amnesty without getting a whit in return. Back in 2011, then-citizen Trump bemoaned that Washing- ton is full of politicians, but not a single negotiator could be found among them. After telling the Associated Press that DREAM- ers can "relax" and that they're not a target for deportation, but without leaning on Congress for something in exchange, Presi- dent Trump can include him- self among the missing dealmak- ers. President Trump gave Dem- ocrats a gift-wrapped prize they coveted, a continuation of new work permits and renewals for illegal immigrants, without ask- ing for anything — American job saving E-Verify, for example — in return. At various times since his in- auguration, President Trump has referred to DACAs as ex- ceptional kids that, because he loves children, he'll treat with great heart and compassion. Ap- parently, President Trump not only doesn't know how to cobble together a deal, he doesn't know much about DACA either. First, DACA permits were granted based solely on the ap- plicants' claims. U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services never conducted face-to-face inter- views, so no one really knows whether the minor aliens' claims were fact or fiction. DA- CAs had no burden of proof; USCIS accepted any and all claims. Came as a young child, went to high school in the U.S., have a GED, lived in the U.S. for two years or more? All sounded good to USCIS. Second, if the illegal im- migrants were employed pre- DACA, they're identity thieves. Identity theft is a felony pun- ishable by a jail sentence and/ or fines. In the millions of words written since President Obama's 2012 executive action that cre- ated DACA, little has been said about identity theft. In fact, the USCIS DACA application specif- ically instructed candidates not to list fraudulent Social Security numbers they may have been used on employment forms. Third, speaking of crimes, DACA permits were granted to candidates that may have had three misdemeanors. To unplug the huge court backlog, many misdemeanors were pled down from felonies. Most people don't include multiple misdemeanors and felonies in their definition of exceptional kids. Fourth, President Obama's DACA wasn't approved by Con- gress, the only branch of the gov- ernment that can write and pass immigration legislation. Presi- dent Trump surely knows this, just as he knows that with a sim- ple one-paragraph memo to US- CIS that would take 60 seconds to draft, he could end DACA. Standards for DACA eligibil- ity are so lax that, according to Chris Crane, head of the Immi- gration and Customs Enforce- ment union, having any crite- rion at all is pointless. Crane said that the Department of Homeland Security ordered his agents to release anyone who said they qualified for President Obama's DACA. Nearly 800,000 DACAs have been issued. Those that are truly exceptional could be han- dled on a case-by-case basis, in- stead of granting a blanket am- nesty that includes work per- mits and other affirmative benefits. President Trump's flip- flop on ending DACA, a corner- stone of his campaign prom- ises to make immigration poli- cies work for Americans, bodes poorly for other more restric- tive reforms his base hoped for when they voted for him. As of today, President Trump owns DACA, and may have to suffer the consequences in 2020. Joe Guzzardi is a Californians for Population Stabilization Senior Writing Fellow. Contact him at joeguzzardi@ capsweb.org and on Twitter @ joeguzzardi19. Joe Guzzardi 'Dealmaker' Trump flip-flops on Dreamers OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, April 26, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4