Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/41676
4A Daily News – Friday, September 9, 2011 Opinion Going, going, Gott 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 There comes a time when all things move on, and such is the case for our beloved Dr. Gott fea- ture, which will publish for the final time Sept. 24. That's the word this week 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 from Universal Uclick syndicate, the company that supplies the Daily News with the feature. The good news is the company has signed on Dr Anthony Komaroff, a practicing physician and faculty member at Harvard Medical School, to take over. Five days each week, you'll read Ask Dr. K and the sixth day will be a more in depth release from the Harvard Medical School Adviser. Both promise to address read- er health question candidly and in plain English, just as Doc Gott has done for 28 years. But this got me to thinking about some of the other content that's been updated over the years in daily newspapers – thought to be stagnant by the less-attentive out there. According to MediaBistro.com, there are six such entities. The article begins with the premise, "Newspapers are dying, we know. But which sections are already dead?" Here's its list. The front page – the argument here, to paraphrase, is that anyone with a computer, Twitter, Digg and access to blogs has no excuse for not knowing the front page news by the time the person goes to bed, much less awakes to pick up the daily newspaper. Funny, a quick search of cyberspace con- tained very few new articles spe- cific to Tehama County. The only exceptions being those stories produced by the Daily News or Corning Observer. Strike one. Letters to the editor – granted, the parroted, partisan political ramblings of the self-proclaimed experts in our community fit this bill – you will find similar, but better informed rants from those with first-hand knowledge on the Web. But, again, I fail to find as many, if any, letters addressing truly local issues in any publica- tion, online or in print, other than the Daily News. Strike two. Restaurant reviews – ignoring our admittedly amateurish Munch Madness feature each year, we are no food critics. While you won't find reviews of local eateries outside of Yelp and other similarly amateurish venues, you're probably better off making your dining choices based on the Web. Ball one. Movie reviews – OK, so Sports Editor Rich Greene spent a fair number of years in film school before discovering jour- nalism, this doesn't mean we have any better insight into what will entertain movie- goes than the next guy – meaning the Web. After all, isn't the Web the ultimate next guy? We will occasionally run movie reviews or, more often, a family guide to movies. But don't take our word for it. We deal in facts, so fiction isn't our strong point. Ball two. Classified ads – Mediabistro says the establishment of Craigslist, a website that offers free classified ads, marked the beginning of the end for newspapers. No doubt, Craigslist and other online classified options have cut into our classified rev- enue. But these sources come with their drawbacks – the Web is by nature diluted; placing an ad is an open invitation to a world of scam artists; anything free and anonymous is begging to be abused; when you can speak to everyone, you say very little to your specific audience. Still, the dent in our revenues is clear. Ball three. Weather – if I ever thought for a second folks didn't take their Chip Thompson 545 Diamond Ave. printed weather report seriously, I might avoid an ulcer. Truth is, people rely a great deal on our daily weather report. Specifically, many have argued that our publication of the rain- fall totals from Red- ding are absolutely meaningless here in Red Bluff. Perhaps so. At this point I'm left to chose between accurate reports from Redding versus inac- curate reports from Red Bluff. Working on it. Close pitch, but steeeerike three. Withdrawing my tongue from my cheek for a minute, the Web is certainly changing the way we do business. As I've written before, though, until folks in Tehama County wake up and no longer care about the news and events impacting their daily lives, there will be no substitute for a team of journalists on the ground covering local news day in and day out. Chip Thompson can be reached at 527-2151, Ext. 112 or by e-mail at editor@redbluffdailynews.com. 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: governor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S. SENATORS — Dianne Fein- stein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Mont- gomery St., Suite 240, San Francis- co, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224-0454. Bon mots and cheap shots Commentary Fellow columnist D. Polson, prior to taking a vacation to recharge his batteries near a spe- cial lake in Oregon, suggests that I lobbed a "rhetorical cheap shot" in my column when I wrote (of him) "You can't be a Christian while booting the homeless out of town." He main- tains he made no such recommendation for dealing with the homeless...and cites my remarks as another example of writers "mak- ing stuff up." The definition of "cheap shot" is an unfair verbal attack on a vulnerable target. Don is vulnerable? Aw c'mon. Don appears to spend a lot of energy defending his position as spokesman for Con- servative and Tea Party political factions, while maintaining that readers often miscon- strue, misquote and "make stuff up" regarding his writings. I personally find his writings well constructed and erudite. And yet, it is hard to believe he does not espouse getting rid of the homeless when he writes, "It might not always have been fair, but there were often good rea- sons for police to escort vagrants to the out- skirts of town, and tell them to keep moving." He also takes umbrage when I questioned his Christian ethics regarding his cavalier concept of the homeless...and I wonder if he considers "vagrants" in the same breath with "home- less." I do not consider myself a Christian, and therefore should not attempt to define the term for him, but some of their basic tenets such as love thy neighbor, do unto others and so forth, appear to be lacking in his sermons. I hope such tenets can be found in the bible, and that I am not just making stuff up. But if we set aside Christian ethics and accept the fact that most people only pay lip service to their religious beliefs, then what is lacking in the indifference to the homeless atti- tude is, in the final analysis, humanity. * * * Wednesday, in The Passing Parade, I wrote of the hike Brandon and Kevin took from Tomhead Mountain to Forest Glen, an estimat- ed 50 mile stroll in two days. What could have resulted in their not being picked up by yours truly in a timely fashion, is that, when George Selvester and I took the trip over 50 years ago, there was a Forest Glen. Today there is a sign signifying there is a town thereabouts with 25 inhabitants…but there is no there, there. The General Store is gone, no post office, no pay phone and cabins for rent were nowhere to be found. In other words, if our plans were to meet the hikers at Forest Glen, per se, we might not have met them for hours or days. Fortunate- ly our rendezvous was a nar- row suspension bridge some 2 miles from the former town site. Not very important to arm chair readers I suppose, but to the hikers, it was good the pickup was there when they hit the bridge. They were showing ever so slight evidence of fatigue. * * * Although there is no sign of a job market recovery in Red Bluff, there has been some interest from major players in the retail market. Although these things take time, we could see some demolition and ground breaking on south Main one of these days, which would be a very welcome sight. * * * A friend loaned me a large collection of audio tapes of the Jack Benny radio show. Benny has always been noted for his timing and the large cast of characters, but listening to the familiar format over the years, I was star- tled to conclude that the humor is almost exclusively based on insult and response. Doesn't seem such a show could be all that endearing... but it was. * * * Must be more to the story of the Red Bluff Peace Officers Association having to hand out a flyer pleading their case for salary and bene- fit parity when it comes to other city employ- ees. The City Council could not be that dense and unresponsive could they? Oh they could? Excuse me. * * * Have you noticed the new brick enclosure for the Cone & Kimball Tower? It is a wel- come addition and designed to display, on the interior, a photo and history of the former land- mark. Now if we can just find the proper place to display the huge bell from the tower, we will have fulfilled our goal of creating a people friendly park. * * * Robert Minch I Say Last week's quiz was answered most succinctly by L. Bullock who knew that a balk could be called on someone other than the pitcher in a baseball game. If the manager indicates to the pitcher that a particular batter should be walked, the catch- er must stand in the catcher's box to receive the wide pitches. If he steps out while doing so, it is a balk and the batter can advance... She also knew that the regulation baseball is 9.25" in circumference and weighs 5-5.25 oz. She reported many more specs, but let's move along to this week's quiz: Rin Tin Tin was a famous dog star in the silent films of the '20s. Where was he born, who discovered and trained him, what was his breed....and how high could he jump? * * * Three aspiring psychiatrists from three leading universities were attending their first class on emotional extremes. "Just to establish some parameters," said the professor to the student from UCLA, "what is the opposite of joy"? "Sadness," said the student. "And the opposite of depression"? he asked the young lady from Clemson. "Elation," she said. "And you, sir," he said to the student from Georgia. "How about the opposite of woe"? The Georgia student replied, "Sir, I believe that would be giddy up!" Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff and former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine. He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail.com.