Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/29660
6A – Daily News – Wednesday, April 20, 2011 Opinion D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Reeds Creek Editor: I know this is not a new sub- Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 ject, but here we go again. Back in December a car was speeding and long story short mad the corner form Wilder to Reeds Creek Road too fast and landed in my son and daughter in law's front yard right were my grandson had his sandbox. My son wrote a letter and a lot of people responded about the stories they had from this road. The county came out and did evaluate the road and said they were going to make some changes. Nothing has been done yet. Last night I am watching TV in the living room and I can tell by the sound of the car that is approaching the end of Reeds Creek getting ready to go on Wilder, that is was going about 60 miles an hour and I jumped up and grabbed a phone and ran to the kitchen window because I just knew they didn't see the stop sign in time to stop. Well I watched this car try to stop last minute and went right through the intersection and through the barrier that is at the end of the road — because this has hap- pened so often — and down the hill were there are people living and cattle. I called for help and ran down there. What is it going to take to put a little yellow blinking light on the barrier or in the air. I guess when someone dies from it and the family pulls up all the letters that have been written to the editor and the county and they decide to sue the county because they are aware of this situation, maybe then someone will do something. Such a simple request from all of us on Reeds Creek Road to make our neighborhood safe and even save a life. Really. It doesn't have to be this way, a child could have been in a car coming down Wilder and made contact with this speeding car and it could have been fatal. Does it need to happen before something is done? I thought life was more important than the cost of a yellow blink- ing light? Sad. Angela Perry, Red Bluff Lip service Editor: Last week we purchased a vehicle from a large, reputable dealership in Redding. We were told that the 9-year-old vehicle had been serviced by their mechanics and that it was ready to go. The sales staff knew that the truck was for our son. Once home, upon closer inspection, we discovered that the mechanics in reality had done nothing. Yes, they had changed the oil. However, the radiator and transmission had never been flushed, the spark plugs were so worn that it is a surprise that the vehicle made the trip home to Red Bluff. Three of the four tires were dan- gerously under inflated, and the spare was flat. Thank goodness that we had the knowledge and resources to make things right, at a cost of more than $350. I shudder to think what might have hap- pened had our son left and head- ed back to Oregon on the assur- ances of those mechanics. Also, what would have happened to the individual who perhaps had spent their last hard earned nickel on a vehicle that in reali- ty, wasn't ready to go? It is disheartening that a prominent business would care so little for their customers that they would give lip service to customer safety. Nancy Hickson, Red Bluff Healthcare Editor: Mr. Wolfe predicted that uni- versal health care would be, “like Medicare sucked dry by the size of its bureaucracy with fraudulent billing, vans cruising the streets for anybody breath- ing to run through their clinics like an assembly line and scoot- er stores promising motorized scooters for nothing.” It wasn’t too long ago radical Republicans said if Universal Healthcare were voted in there would be a human stampede into every emergency room in the country, now Mr. Wolfe tells us the health practitioners will get so desperate that they will comb the streets for patients. I wish those “don’t you help those people with my hard earned money” conservatives would make up their minds. My vision of Universal Healthcare is quite a bit differ- ent then his. It would have noth- ing to do with insurance compa- nies. Instead of wasting money on middle men, the money would go directly to healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies. Your Turn Unfortunately this would lead to a massive lay off in the insurance industry but that could be offset by the openings in the health industry. You could picture it as an expan- sion of the VA system. It’s one of the best things our federal leg- islators ever came up with. And by the way, I believe the VA prac- titioners are paid by the hour not the patient. Here is how the VA system works for me. If I decide to see a physician, all I need do is call them to make an appointment. When time for my appointment arrives I go either to Chico or Redding. I am examined and if the doctor feels I need a certain medication, he or she prescribes it and the pharmacy in that clin- ic fills it and I go home. The cost to me is zero for all that plus I get travel pay to boot. Granted you may wait a couple of months but that has never bothered me. I have no idea what the cost would be for giving everyone in the nation these benefits, but hey, if the government can find trillions for the Wall Street crooks and bankers they should be able to find financing for Universal Healthcare. Business should be begging for this since there would be no insurance premiums to shell out. Financing a Universal Healthcare system makes a whole lot more sense then a never ending war that should never have started. Orval Strong, Gerber Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. On the government's menu Commentary Boy, school lunch sure has changed since I was a kid. The Chicago Tribune reports that a principal in a Chicago school forbids her students from bringing in their own lunches. She created the policy six years ago after watching students bring in "bottles of soda and flaming hot chips" for their lunches. By mandating that her students eat school-prepared lunches, she explains, she can be sure they are drinking milk instead of Coke -- that they are getting proper nutri- tion. In these nutty modern times, who can blame her? For starters, a lot of our kids are awfully chubby these days. Nearly 16 percent -- three times the percentage in 1980 -- are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If parents keep feeding their kids tasty, high-calorie treats, shouldn't principals and really smart people in the federal gov- ernment stop them? Besides, the government spends billions paying for break- fast and lunch in America's schools -- a smart principal ought to take advantage of that. Half of America's 30 million schoolchildren participating in the National School Lunch Pro- gram receive free grub -- at a cost of some $10 billion this year. Even kids from high-income families receive partial lunch sub- sidies. Now that President Obama has signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 into law -- the government will spend another $4.5 billion to make schools abide by new nutrition and anti- obesity standards -- government- funded lunches will do away with junk food in the schools. If only we'd had such pro- grams when I attended St. Ger- maine Catholic School in the '70s. In those unprogressive times, parents, not the government, were responsible for feeding their kids! Parents woke early in the morning to pack their kids' lunch- es -- though my mother wasn't very good at it. Every day, she made me a sandwich with Cellone's Italian bread, low-fat ham, lettuce and tomato. She always included a couple pieces of fruit and gave me money to buy milk. Every day, I sat next to Jimmy Schmidt. His lunch consisted of peanut butter and jelly on fresh Wonder bread, a can of Coke, a Hostess Ho Ho and a Nestle Crunch bar -- lunch heaven for a kid back then. Every day, I asked Jimmy if he wanted to trade. Every day, he looked at me like I had rocks in my head. So it delights me to think how different things would have been had the toxic treats that Jimmy brought to St. Germaine been forbid- den. Under today's anti- obesity guidelines, his sugary drinks, chocolate bars and Ho Hos might have been banned. Our principal might have con- fiscated Jimmy's treats, as some principals are doing now (I'm not making that up). Then Jimmy and I would have been forced to eat the very same government-mandated grub. I know we've lost any sense of personal responsibility in Ameri- ca. I know that government is totally out of control -- that pro- viding for needy kids is one thing, but meddling with every other kid's grub is well over the line. But I also know this: Though I never got to enjoy a nice choco- late bar, Ho Ho and cold can of Coke, I would have delighted in the knowledge that neither would have Jimmy Schmidt! I would have Tom Purcell enjoyed the shared misery that the govern- ment is masterful in creating. Now you know why school lunches have changed so much since I was a kid. ——— Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.