Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/395161
RedBluffpolicecrack down on bicycle violations Editor: As an active member of the community who as been riding bikes in this community for the last 14 years both recreation- ally and as an amateur athlete, I hope that the Red Bluff Police Department will do its duty in educating both bicyclists and drivers. All of the press relating to bike accidents has been biased towards the cyclist. Riding a bi- cycle is a right first and fore- most, where as driving a car is only considered a privilege by the DMV. This would be a great time to not only advertise but to equally enforce the new bill that was passed in Califor- nia and took effect as of Sept. 16. The Three Feet for Safety Act requires motorists to give at least three feet of clearance when passing people riding bikes. Since we share the road, and our roads are not always in the best condition, I would caution drivers to pause or slow when passing bicyclists. The added five seconds is not going to make a big differ- ence in a commute with an au- tomobile. But injuring or kill- ing a bicyclist like myself has devastating consequences, since I am a son, husband, father of three children and mentor to the hundreds of students that I encounter as a teacher and ad- ministrator. —RichardCherveny,RedBluff Yes on HB 4307 and HB 4038 Editor: I have used raw dairy prod- ucts for years and drank raw milk when I could get it. Please let us have this healthy drink without such difficulty. I feel better when I have nat- ural food as God intended for us to consume. Thank you for taking the time to read this. — Ida Works, Red Bluff Suspicious of Measure D Editor: Measure D, the quarter cent tax put on the ballot by the City Council, originally was to go only to the police department, fire department, parks and rec- reation. With AB 109, staff and bud- get cuts, the police depart- ment has done its best to keep the populace of Red Bluff safe. The department needs the rev- enue from this tax to rebuild the department back to the way it once was. Same for the fire department and our parks definitely need to be taken care of. However, the way the coun- cil has it written on their web- site they have the words, "and for other public services: Mea- sure D would help restore some of the lost funding, al- lowing the city to improve ser- vices." Don't get me wrong, our city is in desperate need of a lot of things. By passing this tax as written the revenue will go into the general fund and it will be used for whatever the council wants it to go for. They claim that the spending would be subject to annual audits. We are always subject to annual audits. They're also boasting about measure E as being a backup to keep them in check on how they're spending the money. According to their state- ment, "Companion Ballot Mea- sure E allows voters to voice their opinion regarding on how the funds are spent: 85% to improve police and fire ser- vices and the balance to sup- port parks and other city ser- vices." Have you ever gone to a City Council meeting and voiced your opinion about something? Well I have, many times and most of the time it doesn't get me anywhere. Meaning, Mea- sure E does not change the way money is being spent, we just get to voice our opinion. Just like we can and do now. Please, if the council mem- bers are not willing to set up a trust account for this quarter cent tax, and it could be writ- ten that 85% be placed in this account and 15% goes into the general fund, I'll except that, then please don't let it pass. If it all goes into the general fund within the first year the populace will have forgotten or won't care how the money is be- ing spent and that's what the council is counting on. I would hate all this new rev- enue to be spent on replacing all these sewer lines and put- ting the old city dump into compliance, which the State just might make them do. Put- ting the money in a trust will protect this money. — Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff Reaching our youth Editor: As I near the end of my more than 30 years in mentoring youth, 16 in Tehama County, I'd like to share a few experi- ences and some things that I've learned in working with our youth. This is only my opinion based on my own experiences, training and research. There's so much more to learn, though. I feel I've seen and met with nearly every type of child and parent. Most parents truly do love their children and chil- dren mostly love their parents. Normal parents make their fair share of mistakes. I'm a par- ent and grandparent and I feel I can honestly say, that I've been there, done that. Kids, four and older, do need a lot of very special attention. This includes attention from other than their own parents. We know this as socialization. Of course, there's a risk of ex- posing our kids to what lurks out there. Drugs, alcohol, to- bacco, gangs, bullying, energy drinks, the list can go on and on. But what about mentoring programs? Over the years I've come to believe in three values or ideas when it comes to men- toring kids: There's no such thing as a bad kid, only bad ex- amples; every child needs an- other healthy adult in their life; and everything we know about our kids we learn from our kids and a few good men and women. It's okay to dis- agree but I need to believe in these values or it wouldn't have been worth it to stay involved all these years. It's not easy but we need to strive to be the best examples our children see and hear be- cause they will see everything we do and hear everything we say. Kids are smart. We were kids once. We were smart, back in our day, weren't we? Now we are wise. Wisdom matters. Healthy examples can mean getting involved in programs that provide a certain type mentoring, such as the Police Activities League and Scouting for example. There are other great programs also. Check out these programs one at a time. What values do they proclaim and actually practice? Ask ques- tions. One of the best ways to learn about our kids and teenag- ers is to try and actually learn from them. I feel, as a kid from the 1960's and early 1970s that I taught my parents' genera- tion a few good things. Really, though, they were just patient with most of us most of the time. We need to practice that patience now. I see now that they were glowing about us be- cause they observed us using our brain power. We mostly sur- vived them and they us. Kids today process that same brain power. Be patient. Look for it. It's there. Some may ask, "Well, what about discipline and God," and all that? Discipline is a Latin word meaning "to teach." It's not about harsh treatment of insulting or in- juring someone. That, to me, is just bullying. We've all done it and we've all felt it. Done poorly it hurts. We all see God in our own ways. Most of us feel that be- lieving in God is believing in good. Does it matter what vi- sion we have? If it is good then it must be God. Again, only my opinion. There are way more troubled kids today than in the past. Kids need a lot of time from us. As I begin to do less men- toring with our youth in the community I hope many more folks who have this desire to leave something good with at least one child before they ar- rive in their later years, lying in bed waiting to die, wonder- ing whether or not they made a difference in the life of at least one child. Only one. The power of one? There are a lot of wonder- ful, caring adults from all walks of life in each commu- nity. Whether or not your expe- riences were good, bad or ugly with an adult back in your day you can still leave your mark on this world. Resources are out there for you to discover. Please leave your legacy for at least one child. Give that child a life worth living. You have that power. — John Minton, Red Bluff Youropinions Cartoonist's take By Danny Tyree Was F. Scott Fitzgerald scouring through IRS data when he wrote about the dif- ferences between the very rich and the rest of us? Using statistics from item- ized returns (2006 through 2012), the Chronicle of Phi- lanthropy (a Washington- based newspaper covering the nonprofit world) recently re- vealed that poor and mid- dle-class Americans have in- creased their charitable giving in the wake of the Great Re- cession. Those making more than $200,000 annually have cut their donations. To be sure, the wealthy still give more in absolute terms (es- pecially to the arts and higher education); but as a percentage of their income, they (on aver- age) are coming up short. One should not blame the rich for being spooked by Wall Street calamities of the pre- vious decade. Certainly, the more affluent are entitled to maintain a "rainy day fund" — although some of those funds could withstand anything short of the animals marching along, two by two. Some of the wealthy blame the underprivileged for their own problems, but others pride themselves on being more in touch with the less fortunate. ("Don't criticize a man until you've walked a mile with his personal shoemaker.") Some of the wealthy believe they are already practicing oo- dles of "preemptive charity." ("Face it, if I don't leave a big inheritance for my idiot chil- dren, they'll wind up wards of the state. You're welcome.") It seems that the wealthiest take little inspiration from Spi- der-Man's mantra "With great power comes great responsibil- ity." If they apply comic book philosophy at all, it's ensur- ing that their offshore bank ac- counts go "Up, up and away." Besides comparing eco- nomic groups, the Chronicle of Philanthropy article also ranks states and cities accord- ing to their residents' rate of charitable giving. Perhaps it's an oversimplifi- cation, but the Chronicle notes that states with the highest church attendance tend to give more. Maybe religious people see the poor and think, "There but by the grace of God go I," whereas the more secular folks may think, "Honest, I thought that homeless person would evolve into something more Brooks Brothers suit-y. Live and learn." Utah is the most giving state. The state with the low- est charitable rate is New Hampshire, which explains the new state slogan, "Live Free (Or At Negligible Cost To Me) Or Die." Danny Tyree welcomes reader e-mail responses at tyreetyrades@aol.com. Another view Are you giving enough to charity? The minimum wage concept was first introduced in Amer- ica in 1938 by President Frank- lin D. Roosevelt. Last month the Los Angeles City Council gave fi- nal approval for an increased minimum wage. Certain Los An- geles hotel work- ers will now get $15.37 an hour. The move for a minimum wage is now being proposed everywhere from local juris- dictions to the White House it- self. In Washington, Republi- cans are allied against Presi- dent Obama's call to raise the federal minimum wage. As of September, 38 states had in- troduced minimum wage bills during their 2014 sessions. Eleven states have enacted in- creases to their minimum wage. On the surface, I know it's an issue that seems hard to oppose, but is a minimum wage really an anti-free enter- prise issue? I believe it is. As a child my dad once told me, "Son, if you work for it, you can keep it. If you don't work hard, then you will envy those who do." Because of that ad- vice I started working a bit harder, and then the rewards began to increase. We don't need a minimum wage. We need more govern- ment support for business in California. When going fish- ing, you should not guaran- tee someone a certain num- ber of fish. It is much bet- ter to just teach them how to fish. If there is a minimum wage, should there also be a maxi- mum wage? Sounds strange I know, but if you really want our government to control both the top and bottom of our income spectrum we will end up with severe socialism. Oh, wait. That's too close to communism. Someone once told me that a Communist is someone who does not have anything, and wants to share it with us all. That's a good laugh, but I hope if you are like me, you are not interested in communism. It's been tried and it failed miser- ably. California's Governor Jerry Brown is now supporting an increase in our minimum wage. Does a minimum wage defy common sense? Is it un- democratic? Again, I believe it is. You might be saying, "As a big elected official, Stan, you once were actually gorging yourself in the public trough." I say; "No. I simply fell in love with public policy and ran for the California Assembly so I could do my best to change things." I certainly did not get rich serving there. Please give me your thoughts and opinions on min- imum wage or anything else at StanStatham@gmail.com. I would appreciate it. Stan Statham served 1976- 1994 in the California As- sembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965-1975. He is presi- dent of the California Broad- casters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. Stan Statham My take on the minimum wage When going fishing, you should not guarantee someone a certain number of fish. It is much better to just teach them how to fish. 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 Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, October 9, 2014 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6