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4A Daily News – Wednesday, June 8, 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 Drama class Editor: Congratulations to the Red Bluff High School Drama Class. Each production this year has 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 been different and special. It let each student express the variety of their talent and a bit of humor was just right for each show. The costuming in “Our Town” was beautiful. The dress- es were so right for that time, right down to the shoes. Best wishes to all of you and thanks for a full season of great entertainment. Elizabeth Watson, Red Bluff PG&E allowed to triple dip Editor: PG&E was given $3.4 billion from stimulus money as a step- ping stone for the future Smart Grid. The plan was to install 10 million SmartMeters and natur- al gas SmartMeters by 2012. Just recently PG&E asked for $42.5 billion stimulus money to deploy installers and controllers for roughly 75,000 commercial and industrial customers. In 2007 SmartMeter installation started in Bakersfield, Kern County and the surrounding area. Around 2 million were installed. Costumers started complain- ing about their utility bills dou- bling and some tripled. PG&E ignored the complaints and con- tinued installing them. The PUC backed PG&E on every com- plaint issue. In 2010 after three years of complaints, PG&E acknowl- edged a problem with Smart- Meters made by Landis+Gyr. These meters started sending diagnostic signals that indicated possible problems. PG&E claims the Landis+Gyr were installed mostly in the Bakers- field area. You can find the name of the manufacture by looking at the face of the Smart- Meter. If it is made by Lan- dis+Gyr the name will be at the bottom of the face. If made by G.E. it will be in the middle of the left hand side. Ours is made by G.E. PG&E has also reported problems with at least 45,000 other SmartMeters stating some have a software glitch that caus- es the components that stores energy-use data to reboot itself, occasionally losing some data which causes PG&E to guessti- mate your usage. Some of the gas meters caused the device to either double each customer’s usage or cut it in half. Landis+Gyr said their meters were still under warranty so replacing them won’t cost PG&E customers. The PUC gave PG&E permission to col- lect, from their customers $1.9 billion over the next three years to pay for the removal of the old analog meters and gas meters. PG&E will profit a 6.3 percent rate of return. We now know the CPUC is the one who ordered PG&E to install these SmartMeters and told them not to worry about the complaints they were not their problems. PUC said they would deter any and all obstacles. PG&E was not to stop installing the SmartMeters. By the end of last years’ fourth quarter, Brian Hertzog stated the annual financial report was $36 million over budget due to the extra cost of communicating with customers to calm their fears. When asked if the PUC was going to allow PG&E to not only pass these extra costs on to their customers but to also pass on all costs incurred from the San Bruno explosion the answer was yes, the Chief Financial Officer Kent Harvey will be addressing these issues. Do an Internet search for Sil- ver Springs Network there will be about five different sites. They will tell you all about what’s going on with all this Smart stuff and why. The PUC has allowed PG&E to pass on Peter Darbee’s, the CEO of PG&E for the past six years, retirement package of $35 million to their customers. However when Jerry Brown got into office he, just recently, got it stopped. We, as customers, have already paid $9.6 million. Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff Carrie Fox Editor: In reading our local paper I felt as if the very oxygen was being taken from me. Carrie Fox was so much more than was stated in any col- Your Turn umn, announcement, etc. She was the most beautiful, non- judgmental and loving woman I have ever known. We could be out on our motorcycle and I could feel so rotten and she would remind me that I was valu- able. We could see her at any function that her and her husband were working and she always would pull me out of a funk. I do love God, but I am damn mad that it seems as though we always lose the most valuable angels we have. Carrie was just that, an angel. She will be very missed by our family, as she always was a bright light, even when things were very dark. As as suggestion, live your life as Carrie did. Live, love, laugh. I am one who needed her, she always reminded me to hold my head up and she treated me so much better than I was able to treat myself. God bless all family, friends and anyone whom lost Carrie, she was a true blessing to so many people. Sometimes the world is so unfair and I know that her spirit is watching over us all now, she will be missed by even those of us whom were distantly known, so I know her family is in incredible pain. I hope our community can help heal such an incredible loss. Carrie was a twin, yet still one of a kind. Bless everyone whose lives she touched, she sure made a difference in mine. Donna Long, Red Bluff 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. Needed — Awashing machine that washes Commentary I need to buy a new washing machine. I guess I'm out of luck. I refer to a fascinating article written by Mark Thornton for Mises Daily, part of the Ludwig von Mises Institute website (mises.org). Thanks to the government, you see, washing machines aren't what they used to be -- and they're getting worse. It wasn't long ago -- prior to World War II -- that folks washed their clothes by hand or used clunky hand-cranked machines. During the postwar con- sumerization boom, labor-inten- sive clothes washing was made easy by automatic electric machines. In 1956, Wisk, the first liquid laundry detergent, offered a vast improvement over the soaps Americans had been using to clean their clothes. Competition among deter- gent and washing machine mak- ers continually improved the quality of both. To be sure, clothes washing had become so easy and effec- tive, even clumsy oafs such as I could do it with little effort. But our government is unwit- tingly reversing our washday advances. Thornton cites a 1996 Con- sumer Reports test of 18 wash- ing machine models. Thirteen were rated excellent, five as very good. In fact, any decent detergent and any machine would get your clothes nice and clean back then. In 2007, Consumer Reports tested 21 models. Not one of them was rated excellent. Seven were rated as poor, the rest as mediocre. What's worse: Consumer Reports found that in most cases, the clothes were as dirty after washing as they were before. True, some high-end front- loading machines fared slightly better, but they are much more expensive and, the report found, have issues with mold. Why are newer models so much less effective than 1996 models? The federal govern- ment. It set energy standards for washers in the early 1990s. A decade later, the Department of Energy made those standards significantly more stringent. To meet the new standards, machine manufacturers began abandoning the traditional top- loaders in favor of front-loading washers, which use less water and, therefore, less energy. But that also results in less rinsing -- the mother's milk of get- ting clothes clean. "The easy stuff like sweat is mostly removed, but all the tough stuff like grease and body oils largely remains," writes Thornton. turned out." Imagine that: A government mandate having an unintended consequence. So here I am, look- ing to replace an old washing machine, and I learn that the old, worn-out one will still do a better job than one that's brand- spanking new? I better hoard some As a result, people using the new machines end up doing multiple loads with higher water levels or washing the same clothes two or three times -- all of which defeats the government's energy — and water — saving goals. Sam Kazman, general coun- sel of the Competitive Enter- prise Institute, writes in The Wall Street Journal that "when the Department of Energy began raising the standard, it promised that 'consumers will have the same range of clothes washers as they have today,' and cleaning ability wouldn't be changed. That's not how it Tom Purcell 100-watt incandescent bulbs before the ban on incandescents takes effect, so I have enough light in the laundry room to see how unclean my clothes are. 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. Or maybe I can find some old shop that refurbishes wash- ers made before 1996 -- assum- ing it's still legal for somebody to operate such a business. ———