Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/355208
GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD 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 Todaymarksthe50thanniversaryofthe passing of Senator Clair Engle, of Red Bluff, who served as Tehama County District At- torney, in the State Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. What follows is a Daily News editorial that was published the day Engle died, July 30, 1964. "Iamtheresurrectionand the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and be- lieveth in me, shall never die." The loss of Red Bluff's most distinguished son is felt deeply by all Californians and many Americans everywhere. But no more deeply than we here in Red Bluff and Tehama County. Clair Engle's political career has been a source of inspira- tion and pride to those who knew him not as Senator, Con- gressman and Mr. D. A., but just as plain Clair. It is hard to realize that the cigar smoking, sharp witted hurricane was just one of the boys when he was in Red Bluff. While at the Nation's capitol he built a reputation as one of the most colorful individuals to stride the halls of Congress. History will record this. But in Red Bluff the memory of Clair Engle is deeply etched on the hearts of his Tehama County friends and neighbors. It would be impossible to list the many things he did for his home county, Northern California, the state and na- tion. Nearly everything we see about us was made better by this great legislator. Senator Engle's well being has been in the thoughts and prayers of practically every cit- izen of his home town since that fatal August day nearly a year ago when he was stricken down. Knowing Clair, we are sure that all he would ask is that we continue the good works that he initiated. He would not want us to give up, he would not want us to grieve, he would not want us to do any- thing different, he would only ask that we carry on. Perhaps the poet Sir Walter Scott put into words, the fol- lowing, that better expresses our feeling: He is gone on the mountain, He is lost to the forest, Like a summer dried foun- tain, When our need was the sor- est. The font, reappearing, From the rain drops shall borrow, But to us comes no cheer- ing, To Duncan no morrow. Editorial Clair Engle, 1911-1964 Thefactsabout the State of Jefferson Editor: Clearly, the three little words which our Tehama County Su- pervisors found impossible to utter during the first half of 2014 were "Legislative Analyst's Re- port." This 16-page report by the nonpartisan and independent Legislative Analyst's Office ef- fectively debunks the myth of the Jeffersonian Utopia with all its flowery promises of prosper- ity. It sets out in detail just how badly the new state would fare. There are many notable revela- tions. For brevity's sake, here are five which come to mind: Jefferson would be the poor- est state in the United States. Yes, poorer than Mississippi. Not only that, upon "independence" the new state will promptly face numerous expensive endeav- ors which it can ill afford. Doc- umenting and dividing assets and liabilities will be among the first. All of which will take mountains of money and a de- cade or more to accomplish. Perhaps Measure A with its al- leged purpose as an opinion poll should have read as follows: "Are you in favor of your county be- coming the poorest state in the nation, yes or no?" Disputes would be resolved in the courts. West Virginia and Virginia had disputes which lasted for 50 years, including several law suits that went as far as the Supreme Court. With a vastly different, far more com- plex modem world today com- pared to 153 years ago, the pos- sibilities for expensive lawsuits and counter-lawsuits are end- less. Along with the enmity and discord, this costly activity could extend to where one's own grandchildren and great-grand- children won't see a light at the end of the tunnel. Gives a whole new meaning to the word "re- boot" doesn't it? Businesses in the new state; if they happen to have operations and employees in towns not a part of the newly-formed state, could be required to file multi- ple income tax returns. For busi- ness owners in this category, take a deep breath here, if you felt tax time was challenging be- fore, just wait. Decisions concerning water would depend on such entities as the Board of Commissioners, the new state's leaders. Congress and, in some cases, courts. So, if you thought you were seeing water wars before, you haven't seen anything yet. A slug fest over water disputes among par- ticipants like these and we are talking years of unmitigated di- saster. And, all of it having been brought to you under the guise of solutions. The start-up costs for a new state's operations will involve many years and billions of dol- lars. And possibly a whole lot more if all does not go smoothly. Factor in some of the inevita- ble fiscal and policy disputes, a dearth of trained and experi- enced professionals, missteps, poor choices, non-cooperation, miscalculations, bad decisions, failed starts and the new state will be able to call itself Jef- ferson all it wants but its citi- zens will be living in the state of chaos. In the face of so many glar- ing variables, it becomes read- ily apparent that no amount of spreadsheets, summaries or pro- jections could possibly establish a cloak of financial viability for any new proposed state. And, more importantly, cer- tainly none which happen to be dubiously compiled from alleged government websites and subse- quently presented for consump- tion in all their fact-check-free glory. It is pure fantasy to believe that it could. Or, worse yet, it is — sorry to say — mind-blowingly stupid to believe that it could. All of which convinces me there are three little words that are not impossible for me to ut- ter when it comes to the five member Board of Supervisors and how they — metaphorically speaking — gave away the deed to the ranch on July 15. In arranging to ultimately end the existence of Tehama County and all operations at 727 Oak St., what did the Supervi- sors get in return for the future termination of the very positions which they, themselves, hold as county officials? —JaniceStout,LosMolinos No replacement part can repair rotten citizenship Editor: Regarding whomever hit my beautiful little Porsche on Satur- day around 6 p.m. by FoodMaxx and drove away, shame on them. While parts for the car can be ordered and the damage re- paired, it's too bad the same cannot be said for this person. It would be nice to order a part to repair their damage and make them a better citizen of the world. Unfortunately, one does not exist. How sad. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost. — Jan Petersen, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take Might be next to useless, possibly dangerous on the east side of the block. Not much visibility for those exiting the parking lot behind Peter Lassen Square. Terry Compton-Friedemann: On a change to diagonal parking along the west side of Washington Street in Red Bluff. I have watched these boys play a lot of baseball over the years, and this is the most focused and ready I've ever seen them. We just got back from the ballpark and they were all business while there. They are ready to represent Corning and the entire North State. Joe Messmer: On Corning 15- and 16-year-olds Little League team reaching the state championship. Here's a trend that may not bode well for the future of our coun- try: According to data from the Bureau of La- bor Statistics, only 40 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds have sum- mer jobs — down from 75 percent of teens a generation ago. As it goes, according to the NerdWallet website, teen sum- mer employment has been de- clining for decades. Why? One reason is that jobs typ- ically tailored for teens are ei- ther shrinking or being taken by older folks. Another is that more teens are attending sum- mer school, participating in ex- tracurricular activities and vol- unteering. But a third reason is the most troubling: Fewer teens are willing to flip burgers or work manual la- bor during their summer vaca- tion, according to recruiting firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. Which is a shame, because work is good for teens. It exposes them to how industry works. It teaches them the value of a dollar. It gives them the dig- nity of exchanging their la- bor for money that they can use to support their educa- tion or maybe buy their first junker car. But most of all, teens who don't work are miss- ing out on some incredible growth experiences. I got my very first job in the summer before I became an eighth-grader. I persuaded a neighbor to hire me to cut her lawn for five bucks. She had an electric mower with a long ex- tension cord — which I promptly ran over and destroyed. I got canned before I finished the job. The next few summers, I worked at a driving range. I had to wake up at 5 a.m., ride my bike 2 miles up a hill, then pick up a couple of acres of golf balls with an aluminum picker. Some- times, I worked the evening shift. I wore a metal cage as I worked — as dozens of people tried to hit me with golf balls. I was paid $1.25 an hour for this honor. The summer before 10th grade, I built up a decent busi- ness mowing lawns, but the summer before my junior year — when I had my driv- er's license, finally — I hit the mother lode. I put ads in the paper offering a service to re- build stone and block retain- ing walls. After a few months of mis- takes and mishaps, I learned how to bid the jobs. I hired two or three others to help me run the jobs. I slowly began to mas- ter the art of cutting and placing stones. And the cash came roll- ing in. I was doing mighty fine for a 17-year-old and had earned enough in a few months to pay for my first year of college. I worked a series of jobs in college: dishwasher, jani- tor, handyman, grass cutter. I worked as a bouncer, too, which involved kicking drunk people out of bars and mopping up that which some patrons couldn't keep down — the most respect I ever got, then or now. In any event, these jobs helped me learn how to socialize and work with others. I learned how to sell, bid jobs and manage money. I learned self-reliance and the joy that comes with a job well done. As more of today's teens miss out on such experiences, how might that affect their future? How might it affect America's future? Are we encouraging more kids to rely on the government, rather than themselves, to meet their basic needs in their adult years? The Congressional Bud- get Office recently reported that big-government programs like ObamaCare will discourage peo- ple from working. A strong work ethic is what built America. We need to main- tain our work ethic to keep our country going and produce our needed tax revenue. That's why I'm troubled that fewer teens want to work these days Tom Purcell, author of "Misad- ventures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Hu- morist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pittsburgh Tribune- Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Purcell@ caglecartoons.com. Tom Purcell Teens not working doesn't work for America After a few months of mistakes and mishaps, I learned how to bid the jobs. I hired two or three others to help me run the jobs. I slowly began to master the art of cutting and placing stones. And the cash came rolling in. I was doing mighty fine for a 17-year-old and had earned enough in a few months to pay for my first year of college. Sounding off A look at what readers are saying in comments on our website and on social media. Tom Purcell OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, July 30, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6