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4A Daily News – Wednesday, June 29, 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 Be part of the solution Editor: 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 I am writing this in response to "No solution" (Sharon Eliggi, June 22). Ms. Eliggi was right when she said, some in our community "feel a permanent homeless shelter in Red Bluff will help alleviate the problems of homelessness" The key words in that sentence are "help alleviate". A permanent shel- ter is not a 100% cure for home- lessness, but it is a good first step. This last season the PATH Winter Shelter served 208 families (HUD considers a single person a family). 41 of those families found perma- nent housing after staying with us. This is 20% that went from home- lessness to housing. The Winter Shelter is a nomadic, simple pro- gram. To accommodate the churches PATH has to close at 8 a.m. and open again at 5 p.m. Just imagine what we could do if we had a space to hold day time pro- grams, to help people get back on their feet. PATH does not allow registered sex offenders in the shelter. I know that Parole offices have restricted people with this kind of record from coming to the shelter. PATH cannot do anything about people who are not registered. Having a permanent shelter or not, does not impact this issue. Ms. Eliggi is right in her statis- tics of alcoholics and drug use, but she didn't go quite far enough. In that survey, taken by the Continu- um of Care, it was noted that many of the homeless are taking pre- scription drugs. A high percentage of our homeless have mental health issues, and take medications to help them. Other homeless are dia- betic, using insulin. These folks have to take drugs on a daily basis. As far as alcoholics go, PATH allows alcoholics to come to the shelter as long as they are not intoxicated while there. Yes, one of the M-2 zoned properties is on Hess Rd, It is a long way out, and the shoulders of the road are narrow, not to mention the speed limit is higher than it is in town. We felt the safety of the homeless was in jeopardy at that location. And yes, the grant is through the State of California. It is paid for by bonds. The funds have been set aside for this purpose, and it is almost one million dollars. I learned recently that when this kind of money comes into our community, it turns over 2.7 times before it leaves. That means the man building the shelter, draws a paycheck. He buys new tires. The man whom he bought the tires from, buys a new wrench, and so on. In this way, a big project not only supplies jobs, but improves the economy of our county. Can we afford not to do this? Let's not throw the baby out with the dish water. Please attend the July 5th Council Meeting, at 7p.m., at the Red Bluff Community Center, and ask the Council to vote to rezone the property at 320 Breckenridge, from a C-3 to an M-2. Allene Dering, Red Bluff Not the right location Editor I think we would all agree that we need to help the poor and homeless. I would dis- agree, though, on the proposed location for this shelter. At the present time, there is an effort for Red Bluff to brand our county and we are raising money and plan on spending $250,000 to do this. Much of this is to make our downtown area with its shopping and business- es a place to come. Dog Island Park has done a great job of cleaning up the area and making it a nice place to play. something against the law that story is always on the front page or at the very least in the police report. I under- stand that it is news and needs to be reported. Your Turn Having a homeless shelter so near to downtown is not going to help our branding pro- ject — it will hinder it. Paying $300,000 for this parcel in this down market is ridiculous. I understand that it is "grant" monies, but where do those grant monies come from? Isn't it our money? There has got to be a better location for this shelter. My thought would be a property already devel- oped with room for more development perhaps with an area for planting a garden so that they could have something to work on. Seems to me this happened a little quickly with the property that has come up. I'm hoping that you will come to this meeting on July 5 to have some common sense prevail rather than attempting to pull heart strings. It will be held at the Community Center. I will also be forwarding this to my City Council members. Lois Rogan, Red Bluff Little League Editor: As I read your paper I see that when young people do Why when young people are doing something good in the com- munity is it less likely to be report- ed. Red Bluff has a very good Little League pro- gram and not once was there anything in your paper about the games these fine upstand- ing young people played. The Tournament of Champions for District 1 Little League was played here, nothing. 9- 10 year olds, 10-11 year olds, and 11-12 year olds are all playing the all-star tourna- ments all over the north state and I would presume that will not be covered either. If it was in your paper it would read "12 year old boy throws ball at another 12 year old boy, no other information available". Oh wait, I think I figured it out. Little League can not be covered on the local scanner. It would require attending games and leaving the reporters desk. By the way they probably don't offer a free dinner if you cover it. Give the young boys and girls of the community their just due when they earn it in a positive way too instead of filling up space with dogs, cats, and everything else lay- ing on their back. Jim Ross, 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. Good old neighbors Commentary I drove through my old neigh- borhood a few weeks ago. It is like many suburban neigh- borhoods that sprouted up in the 1960s. Many of the people who moved there grew up in the city. All of them wanted big yards in which their kids could play. Many wanted to be near St. Germaine Catholic Church and its elemen- tary school. We moved into our new house in 1964, when I was 2. It was a basic, square house — brick on the bottom, white siding on the top — designed for raising children. And there were a lot of chil- dren. I was born at the tail end of the baby boom. Neighbor kids were everywhere. The Gillens had four; the Bennetts, three; the Greenaways, four; the Kriegers, five ... It was a traditional time, to be sure. Fathers worked and worried about the bills. Most mothers stayed home and worried about the kids. But there was less to worry about then. Moms ran the neigh- borhood. Kids were free to play. One summer, the fad was to make skateboards by nailing old roller skates onto two-foot pieces of 2-by-4. So many kids rode their skateboards down Tracy Drive, the pavement turned gray. When the young families moved into their new homes, a lot of work needed to be done. Grass, shrubs and trees were planted. Concrete patios and driveways were poured. Porch roofs were built, basements remodeled into family rooms. Most of the fathers were in their 20s then. They spent Saturdays helping each other. They enjoyed breaking a sweat and drinking a few ice-cold beers. Most every decision these young parents made was based on the needs of their children. The principles they lived by were sim- ple. They treated their children as little souls that God gave them to watch over. They wanted them to have a solid moral foundation and good education. Most of us attend- ed St. Germaine School. Despite the struggles these par- ents encountered — all people, rich and poor, encounter struggles — most stayed married. Most believed they would be together "until death do us part." More than a decade ago, after my parents moved out of the neigh- borhood, they threw a party for the old neigh- bors in their new house. I tended bar at the event. The last time I had seen many of these peo- ple had been more than 20 years earlier, when I was still a kid myself. At the party, I had a chance to learn about these good people. Every person in that room was a child of the Depression who came from nothing. One told sto- ries of how the row house he grew up in was freezing cold in the morning. He wouldn't get out of bed until he heard his father go down to the basement to fire up some coal. Tom Purcell worked three jobs — 60 hours a week — to keep up with the bills. In spite of the fact that they hadn't saved much money and wor- ried about their futures, they married young, had families right away and worked hard. They scrimped and saved and gradually built a wonderful world for themselves and their children. And every one of them raised chil- dren who are all doing well in life. These good people are in their 70s and 80s now. They're retired and living the good life. They have plenty to celebrate. It was my honor to spend an evening with them. Another told me that for nearly 20 years of his marriage, he Tom Purcell, a freelance writer is also a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.