Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/451730
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 Theothernightwecaught part of the non-Disney movie version of Alice in Wonderland. It brought back memories of my father reading that book to my brother and me just before bed- time. The book was written by Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Dodgson, a math- ematician and Anglican dea- con. Although much of what he wrote both in Alice and re- lated materials may seem like sheer nonsense, a good deal of it is logical. Several years ago I purchased Carroll's com- plete works and made my way through the stories, poems, and sketches. It was almost as enjoyable as having my fa- ther reading to me when I was a boy. One quote stood out after seeing the movie it was from Carrol's Through the Looking Glass: "The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax— Of cabbages—and kings— And why the sea is boiling hot— And whether pigs have wings." In some ways this commen- tary will wander from this and that, although not discussing pig wings. I recall another Carroll anec- dote about the belief in impos- sible things: "Alice laughed, 'There's no use trying,' she said.'One can't believe impossible things.' "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. 'When I was your age, I al- ways did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've be- lieved as many as six impossi- ble things before breakfast." This commentary may be a little like dreaming about im- possible things. There was an interesting headline in the Redding paper recently; it was one not likely found in the Daily News about our city; it seems the Redding City Manager will be presenting an actual plan to make Redding a safer community. I hope such a headline for Red Bluff is not "an impossible thing." This is the time of the year when we go through the "pre- Spring" cleaning to get ready for the tax season. Activities in- clude going through the med- icine cabinet to see what has expired and trying to remem- ber the responsible way to dis- pose of old meds; gathering up old financial records and shredding them; finding stor- age for all those treasures accu- mulated on my workbench just in case I needed them, which, of course, I didn't; reorganizing the binders of materials for the various activities and organi- zations we in which we partici- pate; tossing old minutes from four years ago; scanning more photographs into the com- puter; cleaning out the various desk drawers to put all the pa- per clips in one place, the sta- tionery in one drawer, tossing out the excessive number of re- turn address labels provided by various organizations wanting donations, and smiling when looking at old treasures too precious to toss. While in the middle of desk duty, I was listening to NSPR and heard someone mention "back in the days of the PC era," referring to technology, not po- litical correctness. I hadn't thought we were done with the PC era, but I guess the smart phones, the tablet computers and such are not PC's. Except for Star Trek fans most of those things would have seemed "im- possible" not long ago. About the time I was pon- dering whatever era I am now living in, I found four slide rules tucked away in the far reaches of the middle drawer of my desk just behind the rul- ers. I had carried one of them on belt for two years while I thought I was going to be a chemical engineer, before I found out I was too color blind to work safely in any chemi- cal lab. One had belonged to my father, one to my wife, one was mine from college, and the fourth was an inexpensive six inch plastic slip stick I found too irresistible to ignore. Now, of course we can dispense with any knowledge of logarithms and estimation, while we sim- ply push some buttons on a handheld device. I would have said "impossible" in 1957. That made me think of film cameras, something I have put aside in the far reaches of an upstairs closet, hoping not to have to toss them away and wondering if they have any value. When we went to China in 2002 I took over 1200 pic- tures, each of which was devel- oped and then culled to what would fit into an album. Now, of course you can crop and edit right on the camera, transfer the pictures to your computer in an organized fashion, print the ones you want, and view all at your leisure on the com- puter. I suppose in 2002 that would have been an "impossi- ble thing," at least for me. JoeHarropisaretirededuca- tor with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHar- rop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop These are a few of my impossible things Correctiondueandcityis breaking the law Editor: When I write letters or stand up to confront an issue then find out I misrepresented a statement I have no problem admitting my mistake. I, per- sonally, believe that is how you earn trust and respect. In my last letter I wrote that on May 30, 1985 Western Waste was given $192,000 by CalRecy- cle to put the landfill into com- pliance. That is not true. While continuing my re- search I ran across an old Cal- Recycle report which was a con- tract between Mr. Arbini, who owned Western Waste, and the California Waste Management Board for a recycle operating station at the landfill funded by grant money. Mr. Arbini never fulfilled his part of the con- tract and was told to pay the $ 192,060 back. This was back in 1983-85. I have been told by a Cal- Recycle employee that the city has never legally closed the city landfill and it's been in non- compliance for years and there has been monies given or taken from other departments for a legal closure and up keep. Now for sewage problem. I highly commend the city for starting the replacement of the downtown sewer lines. I hope this will finally take care of the sewage smell in and around the City Park and the surrounding businesses. That smell, which Bruce Henz referred to as be- ing "notorious," was notorious because the city never fixed the problem for at least as long as I've lived here. We have the same problem on Walbridge, it's been going on since 2010. The City claims they are not responsible for fix- ing the sewage problem created when the Greenville Ranche- ria was built. However the city made them get all their build- ing permits, which means they had to inspect every step of the way till completion. Crabtree even said he would order monthly flushing of sewer lines the city has control over. And yes, I can prove that. And no they haven't been flushing the lines monthly. The city has not only been deifying California Health and Safety laws they are also in noncompliance of their own or- dinances. So to me if the city doesn't follow their own ordi- nances that means anyone who gets a notice from the city for non-compliance should tell the city, you comply with your own ordinances, to set an example, and then we will. How can a city file charges against someone for non-com- pliance when the city sets an example of doing the something and getting away with it, not only local laws but state laws? Just ask the state EPA by call- ing 916 807-4985. Or ask our lo- cal CalRecycle employee, Tim Potanovic at 527-8020. These sewer smells are det- rimental to people's health and doing nothing about fixing the problem is against the law. — Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff Racism is alive and well Editor: Nothing new. A judge in Ari- zona said Arizona must give un- documented immigrants driv- er's licenses. We knew that was com- ing but they also don't have to buy auto insurance. Isn't this a form of racism? We citizens have to pay it or no renewal of our yearly license tags. Nothing new, I'm just totally fed up. Compounding the problem is people here hire them because they work cheap and they don't pay all the requirements like workmen's compensation, etc. Who's to blame? Everybody is to blame. Too many draw workmen's compensation when they can work, too many can't afford to pay workmen's compensation on their employees, so this is the rub. Nothing works right in this country anymore. Every- thing is convoluted and instead of enforcing laws, more laws are made which aren't enforced ei- ther, and the nuts in charge fo- cus on important issues like un- der-inflated footballs. On and on ad nauseam and life goes on. Now we'll have Cubans in- vading this country, more mouths to feed, give cellphones, medical, dental, housing and food stamps. We have people born here we can't take care of. We can't take proper care of our vets who sacrificed their lives for this country. Sorry so much of the world is in turmoil, but those people need to get in the fight and take charge. How many of our young men have died for the sake of other countries and we still take the heat as the bad guy. My son didn't go into the service and I'm glad. I've al- ways loved this country and re- spected it but not anymore. It's worse now than it ever has been and Congress and the President are still pussy-footing around. Calling all the shots. Our generals retire because of all this bull. Let them do their job, do yours Congress and Mr. President. Mind your own business, quit calling the shots on warfare, you don't know what you're doing. Recently in New York, the man who was killed while re- sisting arrest for selling indi- vidual cigarettes, out of work, but we're voting recreational and medical marijuana in all over this country. Had no idea so many needed medical mari- juana. Yeah, right. Racism comes in all nation- alities, at work, in school, it's everywhere. Not just in Chi- cago or Ferguson. The black cop who killed a 95-year old man in a retirement home, he had a bean bag in his hand threatening the cop, shot dead, was it on the news more than once? Racism. Alive and well, all over. Not just against the black people. — Bernice Cressy, Cottonwood Your opinions Cartoonist's take With a legislature controlled by Democrats and a sometimes un- predictable chief executive whose critics still fa- vor the "Governor Moonbeam" nick- name he had de- cades ago, Cali- fornia is often the outlier in U.S. gov- ernance. But the rest of the nation should pay close at- tention to what Gov. Jerry Brown and his colleagues are up to. Over 900 new laws are taking effect here during 2015 — some seemingly frivolous, such as mak- ing it easier for folks to bring their dogs to restaurants; others practical and long overdue, like requiring cell phones to have kill switches to render them useless if stolen. Perhaps the boldest initiative is the new law allowing undoc- umented immigrants to obtain California drivers licenses. Not surprisingly, there have been long lines at DMV offices for the pro- gram that could bring as many as 1.4 million people out of the shad- ows, while making the roads safer for all motorists. Another new law allows those residing here il- legally to obtain state-funded stu- dent loans. California's new laws respond to almost every hot button on the national agenda. Some of the spe- cific actions solve only slivers of the problems yet represent a start — and a wake-up call for the na- tion. Gun control, for example, seems to defy sweeping changes on the national scene but can be addressed in smaller ways at the state level. Among California's new laws is one that gives fami- lies the right to seek a judge's help in preventing their troubled and dangerous relatives from owning weapons. Another requires toy guns to be brightly colored so as not to be confused with real fire- arms. On the environment, one new measure requires greater disclo- sure by oil and gas companies re- garding their fracking operations. Another law requires landlords to allow apartment and condo resi- dents to grow fruits and vegeta- bles in containers. In the area of juvenile justice, records of young offenders will be automatically sealed if all court- directed orders are followed. Also, kids who skip school can no lon- ger be incarcerated as a penalty for failing to obey a judge's order to attend class. Many new California laws pro- tect and expand basic rights. One mandates a minimum of three days paid sick leave per year for all workers. Another makes it easier for those in prison to ob- tain DNA evidence for legal chal- lenges. Same-sex couples are now allowed to identify themselves on birth certificates as "father," "mother" or simply "parent." Not all residents, of course, support every new law. Among the blunders, I believe, is a law that will ban all single-use plastic bags in supermarkets beginning this summer. While it is true that these bags can contribute to litter and pollution, they also help con- sumers when repurposed wisely, such as for kitchen garbage. Be- sides, reusing paper and cloth bags is unsanitary. Opponents of the law are seeking to delay it while placing a referendum on the November 2016 ballot to over- turn the measure. Overall, most of California's new laws make eminent sense. One bars public officials from us- ing campaign funds to pay fines for illegal use of campaign funds. Another prohibits owners of pro sports teams from deducting league fines from their taxes. And it goes on: It's now legal to use digital money, such as Bit- coin, for business transactions in California. State-operated stores are barred from displaying or selling copies of the Confeder- ate flag. And, the red-legged frog, featured in Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Ca- laveras County," is, under a new law, California's official state am- phibian. Peter Funt is a writer and speaker. His book, "Cautiously Optimistic," is available at Ama- zon.com and CandidCamera.com. Peter Funt California lays down the laws on national issues Joe Harrop Peter Funt OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, January 24, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4