Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/349217
MISS WilliamB.Idecould hardly be blamed for build- ing his adobe beneath what, even in the 1840s, was a stately oak near the banks of the Sac- ramento River in Red Bluff. That oak shed nearly all of its limbs Sunday morning, one of the larger branches crash- ing through the roof of the his- toric structure. The state had been managing the risk of the tree over the years to protect not only the adobe but visitors to the State Historic Park, but when an oak fails in the heat there's little anyone can do but get out of the way. HIT While the damage to Ide's adobe means it may never look quite the same again, we ap- plaud the staff at the park for taking the steps and the time to make sure nobody is put at risk during the removal of the debris and that both the building and what remains of the tree are protected and put to best use for the com- munity and the general pub- lic. The historic area of the park, where the tree failed, re- mains closed and cleanup, es- pecially removal of the limb that damaged the adobe, has been painstaking, as it should be. It would have been easy for the park to simply remove the part of the tree still stand- ing in order to reopen the park more quickly. Instead, officials are seeking input from the Ide Adobe Interpretive Association and the community as to what should become of the remain- ing tree. With some creativity and planning, the ancient oak can remain a part of the park, in some form, for future gener- ations to enjoy. MISS Ears in the newsroom perked up earlier this week when there were reports of a gunshot victim near Antelope Boulevard on Rio Street Mon- day afternoon. It turned out to be a domestic situation in- volving a BB gun. As shoot- ings continue to pile up in the community this year, our first thought continues to be a de- pressing "here we go again." HIT The Red Bluff Little League 10- and 11-year-old baseball All- Stars have captured district and section titles and are headed to the Northern California State Championships, where they'll begin play today. The titles con- tinue the tradition of excellence our local Little League program has shown for decades. No mat- ter what happens at the state level, we look forward to this group representing Red Bluff again at the major level next summer and, who knows, maybe having us all dream of the Little League World Series once again. HIT Simpson University sign- ing Red Bluff Spartans baseball players Kyle Martin and Chase Root to scholarships would have been a hit worth story on its own. But what we liked the most from the story was the way Martin and Root put their aca- demic accomplishments on par with those on the diamond. Mar- tin offered this advice for his younger peers who hope to fol- low in his footsteps: "You need to do well in school, because do- ing well in school is one of the things that helps kids get schol- arships. A lot of them just take it that 'I'll be good enough, I can just go on an athletic schol- arship,' but there's always going to be a kid who's just as good as you and he also carries a higher grade point average than you so they're going to be, like, 'why would I not take the kid I can more rely on.'" MISS We sometimes won- der whether certain members of the Red Bluff City Coun- cil simply enjoy the sound of their own voices. While we're glad the council approved this week future beer gardens at the Wednesday night farm- ers market, which should at- tract more people to the al- ready popular chamber event, it was a related discussion that leaves us scratching our heads. City staff pointed out that clo- sures for certain long-estab- lished events such as the an- nual Round-Up and Christmas parades need to be brought before the full council for ap- proval — just one more hoop through which organizers must jump in order to do something good for the community. Staff suggested these events could be approved by the Technical Advisory Committee, which reviews them now and makes recommendations the council almost always follows, in or- der to streamline the process. The council would still be able to review the decisions and ap- peal them if there was a con- cern. Fortunately three of the five council members voted to approve the change, cutting a bit of red tape for organizers. The other two? One said she liked items coming before the council for approval and com- ment. The other said he feared the streamlining step would create additional bureaucracy — the exact opposite of what it will do. Hits and misses Oaklimbhit is a big miss Well, we made it through World UFO day, July 2, without incident. No one spotted mys- terious objects over the North State or little green aliens vis- iting their backyards. That was a relief. As far as I can tell the local search for Bigfoot has been put on hold since the DNA results of sample bigfoot hair have all shown the hair had come from more familiar species, such as bears. It may have been the Su- per Moon that brought out the crazies on Tuesday, July 15 in Shasta and Tehama counties where the boards of supervi- sors explored the Twilight Zone of Government Plots and Sim- ple Solutions to all of our prob- lems. Or, as the cynical among us feel, it was a stupendous ex- hibition of the politicians' art and a lack of courage. If I understand what I read correctly, one of our illustrious supervisors said in voting for the declaration endorsement for the State of Jefferson, our local board was making a statement. It was also buying some time to study the issue even further be- fore anything else might hap- pen. It would also likely take the spotlight off of the board to the collective relief of its mem- bers. The board was not making a very original statement, how- ever. It has often commented on the unsettled nature of our state, the unfairness to the county because it has no true representation, and the need to make some changes. These are not new statements, and "studying" the possible impact of a real State of Jefferson will not make those changes either. Of course, the board may be just hedging their bets. It is likely they never thought that Measure A would pass, but the faithful rallied the troops and won a victory, even though the number of votes for Measure A equaled less than one quar- ter of the registered voters. The parade of horse drawn wagons, homemade and professional signage and loud proclamations may have been too much for the board to deal with. So the board acted and now will think. I have a solution for them; it might or might not save their collective faces, but it is a way out of the dilemma they face: they could conjoin themselves in the collective study of jet trails with their sister board in Shasta County. Perhaps an in depth study by such wise folk could lead to the identification of what has caused California to go so bad. It could also lead to a procla- mation that no jets will fly over Tehama and Shasta counties. It is foreseeable that such action could play into the hands of the governor of our hated state and let him lobby even more for the high speed rail system that could bring jobs to all of California, do away with jet trails, and cut the commute from Gerber to Sacramento for one of our dis- tinguished representatives. Well, if the board means they will study this idea of Jefferson, it might be good that they include a regular spot on each of their upcom- ing agendas to look in depth at various issues before they go farther down the road of craziness. They may find there are ways to increase our influ- ence in the state and that the desire to create a third world state is not the message they want to send. Joe Harrop is a retired educa- tor with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHar- rop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop On UFOs, Bigfoot, jet trails and the State of Jefferson Cartoonist's take Ifyoucan'tstandthe heat, stay out of the kitchen Editor: Red Bluff Mayor Danielle Jackson saw Greg Stevens' e- mail as a threat or a bribe? He was merely pointing out the truth. The City Council has not been supportive of the Cham- ber of Commerce — the one entity which is working dili- gently to bring in new busi- ness to this community. If the chamber stopped do- ing all it does, there cer- tainly wouldn't be any en- tity working to attract vis- itors or other businesses to Red Bluff. Unfortunately, the City Council has acted like our 19th century federal gov- ernment when it dealt with Native American tribes. It signed treaties it did not keep, blatantly violated them, took back land and made many promises it failed to honor. Many of us who be- long to the chamber do not want to see taxes raised be- cause we are just recovering from the economic down- turn and creeping taxes are not in anybody's best in- terest. I would suggest that the mayor make an effort to work with the chamber rather than taking umbrage with a dedicated citizen who is only trying to bring com- merce and tourism to our community. It would be refreshing to have the City Council work in tandem with the Cham- ber of Commerce rather than an us-against-them attitude. Other towns and cities man- age to do this. This is petty politics at its best and our community does not need this kind of nonsense. —Linda McCay, Los Molinos I won't dance Editor: Ms. Knorr misquoted me in her letter of July 17. I said, "I have no time for you," not, "the likes of you." I am not obligated to acqui- esce to Ms. Knorr's overtures. I have the right to say no. I am offended by her conde- scending and insulting part- ing remarks to me: "You are misinformed." "I feel sorry for you." "I will pray for you." — Sue Gallagher, Los Molinos Not a crime, not even fraud Editor: June 4th we signed up in Red Bluff at the local store to add wireless home phone and internet. Our present carrier's internet was horrible. After nine years we gave up. After about a week, the phone wasn't working out and nobody came to install the in- ternet. Went into the store and cancelled the new addi- tions, wireless home phone and internet, which was within the 14-day period you had to cancel. Nothing was done. They took our paper- work, wouldn't give it back, said they had to shred it, and then said it was for their files. Our paperwork. Our copies. Time went on, we were happy, all was well until I got the bill for one month, $278.03. Long story short, this Red Bluff store did nothing they said they did, we even paid $43.25 to cancel but noth- ing was done. After almost two weeks, going back to the store, even went into Red- ding to the real store, not an indirect store like Red Bluff, we've talked to the fraud de- partment and everyone says we have to go back to the Red Bluff store. We've called a dozen times, no one will call back, we've gone in there too, they will do nothing. Today I went to the Red Bluff police department. Did you know that even if internet was installed some place else, on purpose or by accident, and it's charged to us it's not a crime. Not even fraud. We have to go back to the store, which we've called many times again today, they will do nothing. I specifi- cally asked the manager what she was going to do and she said she wasn't going to ar- gue with me all day. I told her we're going to sue and we are. Only in America. What has gone wrong in this country? The criminals have all the power, these big companies push people all over the place, it's a sad thing so many of those they cheat are poor and ignorant and think they can't do anything. Or they don't have the money. This isn't the America I grew up in. Incidentally, we went on a Tuesday afternoon at 2:15 to the Valley Cinemas to see America. We were late but I thought there probably won't be anybody there, we'll have the pick of seats. Not so. A lot were there, it was a won- derful, tasteful movie and has even won an A+ in the movie industry, which is rare. When it was over, everybody clapped, me the loudest. About time something is done with all that goes on. I don't plan on voting for any incumbent, we need new blood. — Bernice Cressy, Cottonwood Get the money out of politics Editor: Stop the whining about money in politics and I urge the powers that be to pass a bill to publicly finance all fed- eral elections. — Robert Hogan, Red Bluff Your opinions The board ... has often commented on the unsettled nature of our state, the unfairness to the county because it has no true representation, and the need to make some changes. We sometimes wonder whether certain members of the Red Bluff City Council simply enjoy the sound of their own voices. GregStevens,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 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@red bluffdailynews.com Phone: 530-527- 2151ext. 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 OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, July 19, 2014 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4