Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/297813
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 Haven't the last couple of weeks been glorious? The hi ll s ar e gr ee n, t re es b ur st ing w it h le a ve s, wa rm , sunny days and wildflowers popping up out of the gr ou nd e ve ry wh er e th er e' s gr ou nd t o po p ou t of . In fact, I would ar- gue there are almost as many California poppies smiling back at me dur- ing my 10-minute com- mute each day as there are campaign signs. I'm not complaining. While the signs are a bit gaudy and definitely over - done — not being able to swing a dead cat without hitting one isn't much of an exaggeration — they are a good reminder that we all bear the respon - sibility of electing our local, state and national officials ev- ery few years. The candidates understand this and that's why most of them have been popping up just about as frequently as their campaign signs lately. I attend lots of community events. Sometimes I'm there to cover the event, but most of the time it's to keep up with what's going on in the community and what's on people's minds. The last couple of months I've noticed some new and not so new faces showing up at ev - ery large public gathering they can find. I'm sure these candi- dates have always been such ar- dent supporters of local events. I probably just didn't notice them until recently. Similarly, a handful of local candidates are going to great lengths to get face time in the Daily News. This is especially true of incumbents, who of late have to squeeze into each and every photograph being taken to submit to the paper. I don't mean to condemn any of the fine people running for of - fice — it takes a lot of courage and dedication to campaign for a job that will likely subject you to regular public criticism and offer little thanks. One of the charms of living in a small town is that just about anyone can bend the ear of an elected official, or one cam - paigning to be an elected offi- cial, whether it's at a candidate forum or a booth during a chili cook-off. The constant public appear - ances and thinly veiled at- tempts to be pictured in the pa- per are sort of like the cam- paign signs — bordering on ostentatious, but part of cam- paigning in small town Amer- ica. A fair price to pay. Rounding out my Round- Up experience After five years of the 11 Days of Round-Up, I realized I'd never been to the barrel racing held Wednesday night before the rodeo. A friend at the gym that morning asked whether I planned to go and I thought, what the heck. The bikini-clad cowgirls that entertain at halftime gained some national exposure this year as they were featured on a reality television show. Maybe it was time I found out what all the fuss was about. I was able to sneak out of the office around 7 p.m. and headed out to the fairgrounds, where I paid $5 to get in, bought a Bud Light from the Rotary booth and took a seat in the stands. For the next 20 minutes I watched what could best be de - scribed as a tractor ballet. Not a very good one at that. I asked a woman nearby how many riders had competed since the event started two hours earlier. She said there had been 100 so far and that or - ganizers were going to run 50 more riders before the halftime show. As I sipped my beer, mes - merized by pirouetting appara- tuses, I did the math in my head and realized it would be around 8:30 p.m. before the halftime show. Too late for me. Maybe it was a sign that I've finally grown up. Instead of having another brew and wait - ing the extra hour to see women in bikinis ride horses around the auditorium, I was thinking that I have a dog at home who's missing me, not to mention it's laundry night. I did enjoy the fully clothed barrel racers, though, and watched for about half an hour before riding off into the sunset. Friends don't let friends... I'm happy to say I didn't have as much fun at the barrel races as the gentleman who opted to ride a horse, bareback, through the lobby of the packed Pauline Davis Pavilion and up into the south grandstand, turn around and ride back out the front door. Only in Red Bluff. Chip Thompson can be reached at 530 527-2151, Ext. 112, or by email at editor@redbluffdailynews. com. Follow him on Twitter @Ed - itorChip. Chip thompson Popping up like wildflowers Cartoonist's take The 2014 Souvenir Pro- gram of the 93rd running of the Red Bluff Roundup is a stunning work of art. The photos are in vivid color and the articles well worth one's time to read between events. This is a fine piece of work by all who participated in its assem - blage. C. Kramer and Walker Lithograph come to mind. • • • Speaking of the brochure, I showed it to our burros, Jacki and Jane. Jacki, the oldest, was first to comment. "Last year we were in the Roundup Brochure, but this time we are not and we want to know why." "Yes, I know," I agreed. "This time, in our advertising space, we just show me, our son Bran - don and a painting of my late fa- ther Dave Minch. It is a genera- tional thing." "Well, you've had several gen- erations of burros at the ranch too. The people at the Bureau of Land Management in Susanville would be disappointed if they thought we were being ignored," said Jane. "That's not the worst of it," I commented. "There are peo - ple who think our state should be divided, and this lame brained idea, if it came to pass, could af- fect many interwoven state and federal ventures like the opera- tion of the Wild Horse and Burro program. It could be shut down and cut adrift if neither the north nor the south part of the divided state could get federal money to fund it. "We need rational people to step up and explain the poten - tial disaster of a divided state," I proclaimed…but, the girls had gone back to grazing and I had lost my audi - ence. Tsk,tsk. • • • And speaking of the disgruntled advocates for the new state of Jeffer - son, here is a brief rebut- tal regarding the "protect what is ours" argument, by a learned friend, who wrote, in part, "When I listen to the 'pro - tect what is ours' argument, I would very much like to ask if the speakers have mistakenly perceived Tehama County to be on the prosperous-county list. We have a lot of nuts and beef, but the world would not miss it if we quit producing tomorrow. On the other hand the garments that will protect us from the elements are not ours – those clothes be - long to them, the people who grow fiber and form it into cloth- ing, and ship it to us. The elec- tric, gas and gasoline power that makes life bearable is not ours; it is theirs, and they pipe it, wire it and ship it in to us. The cars we drive, the computers we live on, etc. — none of that is ours; it is all theirs, and they ship it in to us. And don't even get me started on our water. The last time I looked it was Shasta and a few other counties who had the dams, to which counties we are they with reference to water con - trol. The exchange of our stuff for their stuff is what Adam Smith would have called free trade; it is the soul of the capi - talist system, which as we know is the tide that floats all boats. Countries (or newly formed states) who think they can get their stuff while keeping our stuff need a refresher in Eco - nomics 1A." • • • The Daily News has solved the small print problem in one fell swoop. To placate hundreds of disgruntled readers lobby - ing to enlarge the font, our favor- ite newspaper is offering a free magnifying sheet. Now elderly readers will have one more thing to misplace. I can hear it now. A wife calls to her husband, "Bring me my stuff so I can read the Tuesday installment of Alice in Wonder - land in the DN." The husband says, "Pardon me?" The wife continues, "You know… about the Mad Hatter's Tea Party!" The husband does as he is bid only to be chastised with, "No, you old fool…you forgot my free magnify- ing sheet." As to the expression "in one fell swoop." Google says it means "all gone" or "all done as in a single action. Fell, as in felling a tree…swoop as in swooping down and whisking away. To kill: was felled." However, if a person fell from a tree, he could live to tell about it…so, never mind. • • • Speaking of corrections, in my last effort, I wrote of the pen - chant of the less than affluent so- ciety favoring tiny dogs as pets. I wrote of them having them "on a lease." Readers probably thought this a typo at best. No, actually it was an innovative idea for the frugal to rent pets rather than purchase them outright. Are you buying that explana - tion? No, I thought not. • • • Last week's quiz was an- swered first by J. Yingling who knew that the sound of the letter "E" is embedded in letters of the alphabet BCDEGPTVZ, that the letter "X" is pronounced in the musical instrument Xylophone , and that the palindrome created when Camus observed Sumac is "camus sees sumac." This week's quiz: Try this one again: If you add up the letters in a deck of cards what total do you come up with? Example, ace is 3 letters, king is 4 etc. Also,what is the name of the mythical Greek king prominent in the Iliad? His name consists of three, three let - ter palindromes. And the San Diego Padres once had an out- fielder — who was touted to be the best hitter since Ted Wil- liams — whose last name con- tained no major vowels. Who was it? • • • A man visited an eminent psy - chiatrist and said, "Doctor, I've got this problem. I keep halluci- nating that I'm a dog. I know it sounds crazy, but I can't seem to control it." "This is a common canine complex," said the doctor. "Come over here and lie down on the couch." "Oh no, doctor. I'm not allowed on the furniture." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and au - thor of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmur- ray@hotmail.com. robert Minch The Burro of Land Management Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. and charge/fine them for the stolen water. linda Hayes: Comment on tighter county restrictions for those who cultivate marijuana Just my opinion, but probably not the tourist attraction we have to offer. Shirley Schirmer Skinner: Comment on coverage of Bikini Barrel Racing event Chip Thompson Robert Minch the daily News has solved the small print problem in one fell swoop. to placate hundreds of disgruntled readers lobbying to enlarge the font, our favorite newspaper is offering a free magnifying sheet. By The Washington Post This editorial appeared in Thursday's Washington Post: The country's inadequate mental health system gets the most attention after instances of mass violence of the sort that the nation has seen repeatedly over the past few months. Not all who commit these sorts of atrocities are mentally ill, but many have been. After each, the national discussion quickly, but tempo - rarily, turns toward the men- tal health services that may have failed to prevent another attack. Mental illness usually is not as dangerous or dramatic. Nearly 23 million Americans live with schizophrenia, bipo - lar disorder or major depres- sive disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Very few of these men and women are potential mass- murderers; they need help for their own well-being and for that of their families. A few, though, need services that will keep them from harming them - selves or others. The nation's health system needs to do bet- ter at treating all types. The Affordable Care Act has significantly increased insur- ance coverage for mental health care. But that may not be enough to expand access to sparse men- tal-health-care resources. Be- sides, the government is already spending billions on mental ill- ness treatment; it has an inter- est in making sure taxpayers get results. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., has a bill that would do so. The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act is more com - prehensive than other recent ef- forts to reform the system and perhaps has the brightest pros- pects in a divided Congress. The bill would reorganize the billions the federal government pours into mental health ser - vices, prioritizing initiatives backed by solid evidence and tracking their success. It would change the way Medicaid pays — or, in this case, underpays — for certain mental health treatments. It would fund men - tal health clinics that meet cer- tain medical standards. And it would push states to adopt pol- icies that allow judges to order some severely mentally ill peo- ple to undergo treatment. aNothEr viEw A mental health checkup OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Friday, april 18, 2014 » MORE AT FaCEbook.CoM/rbdailynEwS AND TwiTTEr.CoM/rEdbluFFnEwS a4