Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/279208
Here are a couple of WAGs (Wild "Arse" Guesses) for potential attractions in Red Bluff: The first, and least likely to ever happen, is to turn the former Cin - derella motel lot into a water slide park. Don't laugh; it could happen. Imagine having several straight, or even twisting, plas - tic slides ending in the Sacra- mento River. Put life vests on, then plop onto an inner tube at the top and ride a flowing water stream down and onto the river. Upon paddling back to the shore under the bridge, riders could hike back to the top with inner tube in hand; repeat un - til tired. Parking shouldn't be a prob- lem; signage on the freeway and visibility from the bridge would certainly boost visits to Red Bluff and give those staying at the RV parks another diversion. It just might make some money all summer long. The second, and more likely idea to take hold because it hap - pened before, are good, old- fashioned boat races down the Sacramento River. You may have seen photos in restaurants from the '50s or '60s show - ing what were probably local racers, with souped-up boats, cruising by River Park. Two or more competitors could start at Durango RV re - sort, providing a highly visible sight from the freeway bridge and end at the Elks Lodge, also visible from I-5. It obviously won't draw the top-fuel drag boats but so what. You can't tell me it wouldn't draw com - petitors and fans from all over, maybe even other states. Do it a few times and it could be a hit. Spoiler alert. You are warned that if you really want to watch the new Liam Neeson movie, "Non-Stop," no matter what plot twist might offend you, skip this paragraph. Oth - erwise, I learned about the vil- lain they chose to incorporate into the "terrorist-threatens- to-destroy-airplane" scenario; it is so disturbing as to war - rant letting readers know so they don't waste their money padding the bank accounts of movie moguls that must really hate America, as I see it. Here it is: The person threat- ening to kill people, that Liam Neeson's character must stop, is none other than a relative of someone who died in the 9/1½001 attacks by Muslim ter - rorists. Yep, that is apparently Hollywood's way of shoving their twisted version of terror- ism on unsuspecting movie-go- ers. As if that isn't offensive enough, a Muslim doctor in tra- ditional garb is the quiet hero, playing an even more sympa- thetic character (he doesn't drink alcohol, of course) than Mr. Neeson, playing a strug- gling alcoholic. If you're like most Ameri- cans, and me, you simply have no use for a thinly-veiled propa- ganda vehicle like what we were treated to ad in- finitum, ad nauseam dur- ing the Bush years. Then, the poor profits from un- popular anti-war, anti- Bush, anti-war-on-terror movies didn't total the cost of making even one of them. These movie producers, di - rectors and actors need to get the message that Americans don't stomach having heroes turned into villains and vice versa. On March 7, the Daily News had a follow-up article on the investigation of the local teach - ers' union, reported on Janu- ary 29, by CTA board members over accusations of unethical behavior surrounding the (ul- timately successful) efforts to rid the union of that pesky Su- perintendent, Lisa Escobar. The title, "Probe could lead to changes" with a sub-head "California Teachers Associa - tion asks local chapter to up- date policies," confirmed find- ings that, while no wrong- doing occurred, CTA board members "did have sugges- tions" for the local chapter. I have a suggestion or two: If, as I have read, the taxpay- ers bore the cost of paying for the balance of Ms. Esco- bar's contract, that amount of money ought to be reimbursed to the county by the union. I doubt it will happen but I think it illustrates the larger truth that it's easy to treat someone else's, particularly taxpayers', money with little or no regard. Public employee unions care nothing about the politi - cal preferences of their mem- bers, sizable numbers of which are Republicans and conser- vatives, since they function as ATMs for Democrat can- didates and liberal political causes. That their members, forced to join and pay dues, will opt out of both when given the chance has been proven in both Wisconsin and Michi - gan. Many thousands of public employees, particularly teach- ers, voted with their free will and paychecks to cancel union membership dues in Wiscon- sin when that state's laws were successfully changed to allow such freedom. Two Michigan teachers just successfully liti - gated their right to leave that state's teachers' union—a law- suit made necessary, in spite of passage a law establishing the "right to work" without joining the union—a right the unions tried to subvert by locking in contracts with municipalities forcing membership for up to 10 years. Ever accommodating of their members' interests, the teach - ers' union also buried the links and information on canceling membership so effectively that a lawsuit was needed to over - come phony claims by the union that teachers would have to wait until next August to leave. The total leaving the union could by now top 8,000. I don't hate unions; I just hate people's free will being abused by what are essentially institutional bullies. Judging by the rejection of UAW union rep - resentation at a VW auto plant in Tennessee recently, and the fact that private sector union membership is under 7 percent and dropping—I'm on the right side of this issue. Union hacks, spare me your cheap attacks. Don Polson has called Red Bluff home since 1988. He can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@ya- hoo.com. Column Water slide, races, movie spoiler and unions Cartoonist's take This Thursday the Te- hama County Democratic Central Committee will be discussing two up- coming events and a res- olution against the im- plementation of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. In addition they will con- sider endorsing the 2014 Insurance Rate Public Justifica- tion and Accountability Act that I discussed last week that will empower our insurance com- missioner to justify and approve any future increases in Califor- nia health insurance rates. The meeting starts a 6 p.m. at the Lariat Bowl in Red Bluff with guests welcome as early as 5:30 for a meet and greet. There is much to discuss including an upcoming Veterans Forum on March 26 and a Women's Social on April 5. It may surprise you that the Central Committee does not march in lock step with our popular democratic governor. Those familiar with the party know we are a diverse group of individuals with some com - mon interests but many individ- ual perspectives. This is what keeps us vibrant and alive, seek- ing to share individual insights and craft mutually beneficial outcomes. One of the most perplexing matters of the day surrounds Governor Brown's proposals to alleviate state-wide water short - ages with a massive tunneling project in the Bay Delta. For the sake of clarity the "Resolu- tion against the implementation of Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP)" is quoted in its entirety below: "Whereas: Bay Delta Conser - vation Plan (The Plan ) calls for two giant water diversion tun- nels served by three new North Delta intakes, besides the exist- ing intakes at the South Delta along Sacramento River. Con- struction of the tunnels and the three intake facilities will al- ter the landscape of Delta along Highway 160 hugely, adding miles of detours to the High- way and convert thousands of acres of Sacramento - San Joa- quin Valley's prime farmland to industrial purposes, Whereas: The excavation of two massive tunnels, each 44 feet wide and 35 miles long, would generate tens of millions of cubic yards of muck mixed with ex - cavation chemicals, and disposal of which can cause an environmental disaster in the Delta re - gion, Whereas: Exporting water from Sacramento River poses a grave threat to the life of the river itself, and continuous diversion of water over the years will reduce the flow drastically and it will eventually make the Delta unfriendly to both farmers and fish due to the looming re - verse flow of sea water into the Delta. Agencies engaged in the planning and the proponents of the water export have no defi - nite answers to the above con- cerns, and; Therefore be it resolved: That the Tehama County Democratic Central Committee urges Gov - ernor Jerry Brown and State Water Resources Board to stop the plan in order to save the Sacramento River, the Delta and thousands of acres of prime farmland in the Bay-Delta re - gion." This resolution comes in the aftermath of a presenta- tion sponsored by the Tehama County Democratic Central Committee last summer enti- tled "Over Troubled Waters," by Tom Stokely of the non-profit California Water Impact Net- work that advocates "for equi- table and environmentally sen- sitive use of California's wa- ter" through research, planning, public education and litiga- tion. Based on his over twenty years experience as a resource planner in Trinity county Mr. Stokely called the whole plan pitched by Gov. Jerry Brown a farce based on lies and bad sci - ence. He said the proposed tun- nels would be especially de- structive to the north state, threatening to deplete Trinity Lake water storage to such low levels there will not be enough cold water to release to the river, particularly in drought years. By supporting events such as this that may run counter to the political party aims our lo - cal democrats are kept aware of current events and can critically consider the proposals of their leadership. For contrast con- sider the telephonic "town hall meetings" of Rep. Doug LaMalfa. These are nothing more than partisan shams with screened callers providing fodder to a con - servative showman. The fact that so many local voters laud this man and his tactics speaks to the fact that many here choose to consider only what they find agreeable while dismissing the views of others labeling them as fanatic environmentalists, loony liberals or even less respectful terms. Everyone is welcomed to our Democratic Central Committee meeting to respectfully express their opinions and share in - sights that help to form and im- plement policies that can most benefit us all. While we seldom agree with one another in en- tirety, through education, soul searching and compromise we strive mightily to craft a better future for all especially when sometimes our democratic gov - ernor is all wet. Richard Mazzucchi is a retired re- search engineer specializing in en- ergy efficiency and renewable en- ergy. He has travelled extensively and now makes his home in Los Molinos, where he is striving to manifest a sustainable and spirit - ual lifestyle and operate a barbe- cue equipment and supply business. He can be reached at living-green@ att.net. Positive Point Sometimes our democratic governor is all wet Two or more competitors could start at Durango RV resort, providing a highly visible sight from the freeway bridge and end at the Elks Lodge, also visible from I-5. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Steve we are thinking of you so sorry to read about your printing business hope you are doing ok. Caroline-Carolyn Whitlock Regnell: Face- book comment about Sunday fire in Corning Hope you are okay Steve Turner!! Sandy Richard Van Dyken: Facebook com- ment about Sunday fire in downtown Corning Greg Stevens, Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDIToRIaL BoaRD 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 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151 ext. 112 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FaCEbook.CoM/ RbDailynEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDbluFFnEWS Don Polson The fact that so many local voters laud this man and his tactics speaks to the fact that many here choose to consider only what they find agreeable while dismissing the views of others labeling them as fanatic environmentalists, loony liberals or even less respectful terms. Richard Mazzucchi OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Tuesday, March 18, 2014 » MORE AT FaCEbook.CoM/RbDailynEWS AND TWiTTER.CoM/REDbluFFnEWS a6