Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/32062
4A Daily News – Friday, May 20, 2011 Opinion Tehamacountyisms sought 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 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 The last few weeks I’ve been on double-time, putting out the daily edition while trying to pull together a new project about which we’re pretty excited – Tehama the Magazine. Think Enjoy Magazine, a top- notch publication for the North State, if it focused specifically on our home county. While we won’t claim the pro- ficiency those who put together Enjoy enjoy, we did try to incorpo- rate design elements you won’t find in your Daily News. A bonus to the project was being able to hire some local talent to write a few articles. All submit- ted excellent work and I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I did. Like any project we do, outside help provides the bulk and those of us inside are left filling the gaps. Such was the case with Tehama the Magazine. I figured on writing a couple of features in my free time. Unfortunately one of the stories I had planned to write centered on an outing that was canceled due to inclement weather. To fill that gap I wrote a story that involved getting up at 4 a.m. on a weekday and driving 80 min- utes to a remote CalFire lookout just west of Paskenta. A good friend is the adventurous and active type, so she agreed to wake early and join me. Around 4:45 a.m. we headed off to the wilds of the Mendocino National Forest. Along the way I mentioned that I had never visited Paskenta, pro- nounced as would rhyme with magenta. She quickly admonished me and said folks around here don’t pronounce the name of the southwest Tehama County town that way. She grew up in Corn- ing, and any self-respecting Tehamacountian — my word, not hers — would pronounce it Paskenna — as would rhyme with antenna. That got me to thinking. I was quickly familiarized with the debate over almond versus ammond when I arrived a few years back. The argu- ment I’ve heard is that we don’t pronounce the "l" in salmon, so why should we pronounce it in almond? My answer is that English is a complex lan- guage — there’s an “h” in rhyme, after all — but that doesn’t sway many. Then there’s Thomes Creek, which most would pronounce to rhyme with combs. Not so, I’m told. In fact, locals pronounce it to rhyme with promise. Another, not pronun- have to wonder if our county or city is somehow yearning to break away from the Union and become its own nation. I’m certain there Chip ciation but word choice, is the use of citizens when we really mean residents. There is no such thing as a Thompson 545 Diamond Ave. Tehama County or Red Bluff citi- zen. We are citizens of the United States of America, or some other nation, but are residents of coun- ties and cities. Yet it pops up all the time, so I are many other local anomalies out there and this is my plea to send them along. Maybe we can gather enough to publish a Tehama-English dic- tionary, or at least a guide to local dialect. My fellow citizens, including those in Paskenna, I implore you to eat your ammonds and report your findings. A future column may be richer for your efforts. Chip Thompson can be reached at 527-2151, Ext. 112 or by e-mail at editor@redbluffdailynews.com. 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. Forgetting vetting leads to regretting Commentary “Vetting.” Use a word three times and it is yours: A hiring by a city official may be bereft of vetting. “Vetting” is a term for investigat- ing a person’s background. The term is usu- ally bandied about by political parties. When a person is running for president, sev- eral people are considered as vice presiden- tial running mates and a thorough vetting or investigation of their backgrounds is con- ducted to make certain there are no skele- tons in their closet. You might think this lack of background check is not of great import when it comes to selecting someone to run a local city agency, but it would be unfortunate to install someone with a poor track record and see the agency run into the ground as an encore to their previous debacle. City officials sometimes do not return phone calls when confronted with dereliction…but then they might have other fish to fry. * * * After reading a recent quiz about Rio Street once being called High Street, and frequented by ladies of the evening, S. Sale reported her grandfather, Nathanial Isaiah Boone, had a dental office high atop the old Crocker Bank many years ago. He apparent- ly had the aforementioned ladies as patients from time to time, and recalled an instance when he handed a mirror to one such for her to examine her new bridge work. She held the mirror for a close up, then extended her arm for a full facial exam and announced to the good doctor Boone, “I think I am in need of a vacation.” Maybe you had to be there…but if you were, you would be awful- ly old by now. * * * The road department did a bang up job on the resurfacing of Walnut Street and the installation of the old time street lights. Many an automobile suspension system will outlast the warranty because of such smooth sailing. There is the little matter of the steep drop off of the alley behind the Cone & Kimball Plaza, but I’m sure it will be resolved presently. * * * The state budgetary short fall may lead to a closing of the Ide Adobe Park. That would be a blow to the late Rawlins Coffman and yours truly. Years ago we drove out to the Adobe and noted how it was falling into ruin. I shot some 16mm film, we hired a private plane and flew to Eureka for a meet- ing of The State Depart- ment of Parks and Beaches. I set up my projector and showed to the assembled group what was happening to the historical site. Two of the members were in the entertainment business; Will Rogers Jr. and Leo Carillo. They were sympathetic to our cause and voted $50,000 to its restoration. On the day the restoration was complete, the city staged a parade, a pageant on the site and a barbecue at the fairgrounds where Will signed autographs. I later made a film of the event from beginning to end and received permission from Columbia records to put a soundtrack to it with background music by Dave Brubeck. A copy of same should still reside in our Tehama County Library. R. Coffman would revolve in his grave if he knew of the potential closing. * * * Our local Sears store manger Philip Smith wrote an essay on how he felt about his home town and mentioned our gem, the State Theatre. As a result, he was awarded $2,500, being only one of seven designated sites...and is donating the money to the State Theatre. Good show. Tomorrow, the 21st, at the store, there will be the event “Finding America’s Treasures” sponsored by Crafts- man, where appraiser Larry Hull will eval- uate items brought in by local folks to be posted later on Facebook with Frank Fritz. With food and drink it sounds like the place to be. * * * It has not been a good week, what with the Giants dropping a pair to the Colorado Rockies. It didn’t have to be that way. The missus and I knew when the starting pitchers needed to be yanked, but did manager Bochy? No, he just kept them in until they allowed too many runs by the Rockies. Tsk, tsk. * * * Robert Minch I Say Last week’s quiz was answered first by R. Ram- sey, who knew that the Bat- tle of the Coral Sea in WWII was unique in that, for the first time in naval history, opposing ships were out of sight of each other, that Schlitz was the beer that made Milwaukee famous, and that the first airplane to break the sound barrier was the Bell X-1 piloted by Chuck Yeager. This week’s quiz: If the liner was stood on end, which would be the taller, the Queen Mary christened in 1936, or the Empire State building built in 1931, the longest word ever used by Shake- speare (in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act 5, Scene 1), and, true or false: until 1850, golf balls were stuffed with sheep droppings. * * * Audio tapes of the old Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding radio shows will certainly lift a mood. Such dead pan satire not requiring visuals are rare these days. Our late daugh- ter Madalyn and I used to recreate them with local subject matter with varying degrees of success. Ah, those were the days. * * * Apparently some folks took offense at last week’s dumb blonde joke. We shall try to be more circumspect...but not much. A woman had a call from her husband’s doctor. “We’ve made an awful mistake,” the doctor said. “We mixed up your husband’s test results. He’s either got Alzheimer’s...or a venereal disease.” “What should I do?” wailed the wife. “I’ll tell you what,” said the doctor. “Send your husband out for a walk. If he comes back...don’t sleep with him.” Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff and former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine. He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail.com.