Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/42739
4A Daily News – Thursday, September 22, 2011 Opinion Youth advocacy Editor: 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 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 It's been said that "every child needs another healthy adult in their life." But I hope that it's under- stood that "every adult needs another healthy child in their life." In my case I have quite a num- ber of healthy children, now young adults, in my life, including recent- ly honorably discharged Young Marines First Sergeant Mary Hur- ton and former California Regi- mental Sergeant Major Annie Bennett. Mary and Annie are cousins and share wonderful Christian families. Both Mary and Annie are retired members of one of the most highly decorated, award-winning and recognized Young Marine units in the52-year history of the national program. Annie and Mary along with Carlin Bowles, Debbie Ortiz, Mikayla Erickson, Chris Collins and others were instrumental in the 2009 Fulcrum Shield award from the Secretary of Defense for youth drug demand reduction education, 2010 National Unit of the Year, with proclamations from the Cali- fornia Assembly, California Sher- iffs Association and Rep. Wally Herger that the Tehama County Young Marines are one of the leading youth organizations in California for youth drug demand reduction education. They were both also named as special delegates at the United Nations and voted against violence against women world-wide and were named as national Jimmy Trimble Scholarship winners — Annie for 2009 and Mary 2010. Only one male and one female Young Marine are selected each year nationally. As Jimmy Trimble recipients they traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the National Veterans Conference and Guam and Iwo Jima to assist WW II veterans who were able to revisit these islands many years after WW II. Hurton, Ortiz, Cierra Bledsoe and Reina Coley all attended the Military Order of World Wars at Annapolis. Both Mary and Annie were awarded the highest award in the Young Marine program, the Dis- tinguished Service Ribbon, by National Executive Director, Lt. Col. Michael B. Kessler, USMC (ret). What does this all mean to me? I know a great deal about the Young Marine national program because, everything I know about the Young Marines I learned from the Young Marines. The Young Marines have been strengthening the lives of Ameri- ca's youth since 1959. Semper Fidelis. John Minton, Red Bluff Mentoring Editor: It takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a village to fund our vital children's pro- grams. On behalf of the Tehama County Mentoring Program, I'd like to thank the Tehama County "villagers" who recently stepped up to support mentoring in Tehama County. As has been tradition for the last several years, staff at Tehama County Department of Social Ser- vices took it upon themselves to use personal time to create gift baskets for a fundraiser drawing for our pro- gram. These over-the- top themed baskets recently brought in more than $1,500 in ticket sales benefiting the Tehama County Mentoring Pro- gram. What a compliment to our program that staff who work with those families most in need see us as a youth prevention program worthy of their ongoing commit- ment and volunteered time. The success of these baskets was due not only to the remark- able quality of the baskets, but to the generosity of two local banks, Umpqua and Premier West, who generously allowed us to display the baskets and sold tickets. The baskets were also avail- able at Social Services and the Tehama County Department of Education. The employees at both buildings already do so much for children and yet they also con- tributed generously to the ticket sales. Of course, these baskets were filled with donations from incred- ibly generous Tehama County businesses. The donors are too numerous to list, but their gen- erosity was key to the success of the baskets. People wanted to win the baskets because they were filled with so many wonderful treats. Your Turn The money raised will support the mentors and mentees of Tehama County. Our mentors are volunteers who give generously of their time and talents to improve the lives and positive outlook of children in our communities. Our mentees are the future of Tehama County. An investment in them is always money well spent. Melissa Mendonca, Red Bluff 8th-graders Editor: Eighth grade commencement ceremonies are an important part of the transition from K through eighth grade to the more rigorous four years of high school and then even more rigorous college or vocational school. Our 11 grandkids are in four cities and two states requiring 5,000 miles of round trip travel to each 8th grade commencement. On May 31, we attended our tenth ceremony, this time in Indianapo- lis. Each commencement was memorable and solemn. The commencement ceremony affords the opportunity to publicly recognize the academic and com- munity service accomplishments and the granting of academic tuition scholarships for continued school choice education. Eighth grade graduates deserve recognition for their hard work with an in-school commencement ceremony. Joseph Neff, Corning 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; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Shedding the light on LightSquared Commentary Generally speaking, generals do not tell lies. Nor are generals in the practice of concocting stories before congressional committees. That is why Air Force Space Com- mand General William Shelton's gutsy and potentially career-ending and provocative testimony to the House Armed Services subcom- mittee recently should be taken seriously. General Shelton claims he was pressured to alter prepared con- gressional testimony, or "say things" he "didn't agree with" that would, in the end, benefit the com- munications and satellite company, LightSquared, which is funded by major Democratic Party campaign donor, Philip Falcone. According to General Shelton, LightSquared's plan for a 4G net- work could seriously impede the effectiveness of the military's GPS receiver systems, and testified he was pressured to say "the interfer- ence problems could be mitigat- ed." The "interference" has been described as participating in a tele- phone conversation during a rock concert, and precision GPS could be severely degraded or jammed, as a result. Irrespective of potential nation- al security implications Light- Squared was given the green light, in what some describe as a "fast- track approval" by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), currently chaired by Presi- dent Obama's long-time basketball buddy Julius Genachowski. On March 1, Ken Boehm, of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), reported, "Under extremely unusual circumstances, the FCC recently granted…Light- Squared the right to use wireless spectrum to build out a national 4G wireless network. LightSquared will get the spectrum for a song, while its competitors [like AT&T and Verizon] have to spend bil- lions." Back in early February, the NLPC had requested an investiga- tion by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, alleging favoritism was granted in exchange for campaign contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, after a visit to the White House by hedge fund billionaire Phil Fal- cone, who runs Harbinger Capital, the owner of LightSquared. Falcone claims he is a Republi- can, and at worst, neutral political- ly, but the fact remains he is among a small percentage of Americans who have had the privilege of pay- ing a personal visit to the White House that appears to have paid off personally. While it is tempting to blow this off as yet another "Pay for Play" deal, which runs the risk of being normal in politics these days, think again. You see, the company, Light- Squared, used to be called SkyTer- ra. In 2005, Barack Obama invest- ed more than $50,000 in SkyTerra – at the bidding of SkyTerra investor – and, according to ABC News, a friend of Presi- dent Obama - George Haywood (the same George Haywood that was invited to the White House India State Din- ner). In March, 2007, the New York Times report- ed four principal owners of SkyTerra (and friends of Obama), had raised more than $150,000 for Obama since 2004. When questioned about his investment, Obama claimed he had opened a blind trust and "had no knowledge of any stockholding [sic] with this account at any time," explaining "After I got [sic] my [$1.9 million] book contract, I had money to invest..." insinuating that his investment in a company prin- cipally sponsored by political allies was mere coincidence. Obama later sold his investment at a loss after assessing the potential politi- cal ramifications. On September 15, 2011, Light- Squared Chairman and CEO, Sanjiv Ahuja issued a defensive statement on its website, Light- squarred.com, saying it is "ludi- crous to suggest LightSquared's Susan Brown success depends on political con- nections." During the hearing the same day, House Armed Forces Subcommittee Chair- man Michael Turner, R- Ohio, took the opposite opinion, chastising the administration for approving LightSquared proposals and repri- manding FCC Chair- man Julius Genachows- ki for both granting a January 26 waiver to LightSquared, and fail- ing to show up at the hearing to "discuss the significant harm to national security that may result from the FCC's action." Promising a "possibility of real change" while speaking about campaign finance reform during a speech in 2008, Obama com- plained that, "special interests drown out the voices of the Amer- ican people and will continue to erode our politics." Mission accomplished. Susan Stamper Brown is an op-ed columnist, motivational speaker, military family advocate and grief counselor who writes about politics, the military, the economy and culture. she can be reached at susan@susanstamperbrown.co m.