Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/490678
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@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 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 If I asked you to describe Tehama County, you might think of the Gateway to Mt. Las- sen Park, or as a place of spacious orchards, or a scenic route for the Sacramento River, or, if you were thinking of summer, "hot." You might describe the panorama of Lassen and the surrounding mountains, the promi- nence of Mt. Shasta to the north, the prox- imity of lakes and creeks for recreation. You might say it is a nice place to raise a family. I would include all of the above in my own description. Onewaytoattemptade- scription is through the use of data, that is raw numbers that measure surrogates for what we are looking for. Those data numbers do not actually mea- sure the quality we are trying to determine, but they are hints at what we are de- scribing. The annual Robert Wood Johnson Foundation county health rankings were released in mid March. These rankings try to measure how healthy our area is and provide a road- map for improvement. Tehama County's rankings do not com- pare well with either the rest of the state or our neighboring counties. In the area of Health Fac- tors, which looks at quality of life and length of life, en- vironmental quality, access to health care, and social and economic factors, Tehama ranked 46th out of the 57 counties surveyed. Our neigh- bors, Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Shasta, and Trinity ranked 30th, 33rd, 43rd, 38th, and 42 respectively. We have 58 coun- ties in California; Alpine was not surveyed. It has a popula- tion of less than 1,500. In the area of Health Out- comes which looks at obesity rates, alcohol and drug use, and sexual activity, we looked marginally better; we ranked 47th; our neighbors ranked 42nd, 28th, 50th, 36th, and 54th. When it came to length of life we ranked 46th; for healthy behaviors we ranked 54th. According to the survey the percentage of our Hispanic population is almost 40 per- cent lower than the statewide average. The median household in- come in the state is $60,185; in Tehama County it is $43,459. The median is the half way point between the highest and lowest; so in Tehama County more half of the households make more than $43,459. The Federal Poverty level for a family of 4 is about $24,500. Recent Census data shows about one in six households living below the poverty level in our county. The survey found our mo- tor vehicle crash death rate was more than twice the state- wide rate; our drug poisoning death rate was over 25 percent higher than the state rate. The premature age-adjusted mor- tality rate was over 30 percent higher than the state rate. The rate of alcohol impaired driv- ing deaths was the same as the statewide average. Some of the factors that contribute to these rankings are items that we can influ- ence. For example the rate of adult smokers in Tehama County is more than 50 per- cent higher than the statewide rate and our teen pregnancy rate remains high; these are issues we can address. Some issues are out of our hands. The percent of our lo- cal population over 65 is half again that of the state as a whole. We are growing older and probably losing our younger folks who look for jobs elsewhere as retired folks move in. We are not seeming to be able to attract many new jobs here, and we have lost the vi- brant blue collar middle class that was here when we arrived more than 40 years ago. We have cash strapped local gov- ernments. Enrollment in pub- lic schools peaked eight years ago and is in decline. The per- centage of our population be- tween the age of 19 and 64 is less than the statewide num- ber, meaning we have a rela- tively shrinking labor market even with a high unemploy- ment rate. It might be easy to say we are in a downward spiral. Data are only numbers; they can- not overcome a dedicated cit- izenry willing to fight for the improvement of their commu- nity. We can toss up our hands and say, we'll never get out of this swamp, or we can roll up our sleeves and work to im- prove our community. We can support the Cham- ber of Commerce in its efforts to attract visitors and new businesses to our area. We can support efforts to keep our area clean and looking attrac- tive; all of us can do simple things like picking up trash, frequenting local businesses, and spurring on our local gov- ernments to be imaginative. We can insist on well marked roads and clearly readable road signs. We can support efforts to improve law enforcement. We can insist on strictly enforced safe driving. There are other things we can do as well; the list is very long. We have plenty of opportu- nities from volunteering at the hospital, joining a service club, supporting local efforts at im- provements, using personal contacts to let our friends know about this place. We live in a very nice place, but I believe it is a work in progress. A work we can all participate in. JoeHarropisaretired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net. Joe Harrop Oneprofile of Tehama County Cartoonist's take Showband members we care Editor: What is a parade without a marching band? And what is a marching band without the inspiring visual of the smart uniform? Anyone who has watched the Rose Bowl pa- rade can attest to the power of the uniform to increase the impact of a high school band. Our hearts swell with the mu- sic and our eyes are treated to the pleasure of , well…uni- formity. I would like to share the appeal that was delivered to the governing board of Red Bluff High School in No- vember by an enterprising band member named Alex- andra. Red Bluff High School does not have uniforms. They march in their per- sonal clothes, the uniform be- ing denim. This band mem- ber was effective in sharing her awareness that we would never send a sports team onto the field or court or track without a uniform. It is just part of the deal. Visual and performing arts in California public schools, for the vast majority of dis- tricts, simply do not receive the funding needed to fully meet the needs of students who are creative, disciplined, academic team players. Re- search on brain development and achievement shows stu- dents who play an instrument and work to perfect their art and craft are developing the same area of the brain used for math and engineering skill development. Band members play well with others, and that social responsibility and connection in high school is very impor- tant for healthy adolescent development. They show up and practice, practice, prac- tice. Mastery of a band in- strument can greatly enhance the chance of success in a col- lege application. One can play in a prestigious military band in service to country. Red Bluff High School's band needs uniforms, and there is very good news about how we, their patrons, can make this happen. The to- tal cost to outfit our band from head to ankle is about $27,000. Shasta Regional Community Foundation Mc- Connell Fund has funded performing arts needs at Red Bluff High School in re- cent years, making essential equipment and infrastructure purchases. Reasonably, in- terest and investment by the community must be demon- strated for this to happen for Red Bluff High School's band. Can we, as a community, raise $5,000 for the high school band? Contributions of any amount from organi- zations, businesses and good citizens will make this goal one that is a pleasure to meet. If you, a person who expects more and gives what you can, would like to contribute, here's the way: Checks should be written to Red Bluff High School and mailed to P.O. Box 1507, Red Bluff or delivered to the district office at 1525 Douglas St. Give a big cheer to our band in the Round-up Parade. — Barbara McIver, Red Bluff What is society's responsibility Editor: As the homeless problem rears its ugly head again, I ask everyone to think about this; how responsible are we, as a society, for those who make bad decisions in their lives and choose to live the life of a vagabond? Societies are judged and measured by how they treat their weakest members. At first, one thinks of the weak- est members being children, animals and the physically or mentally handicapped, all of whom rely on the stron- ger members of the society. But what about the homeless? Where do they fit in this puz- zle? The "there for the grace of God go I" attitude is justified. However, I have never been remotely close to being home- less. I always somehow man- aged to pick myself up by my boot straps and take care of business. Maybe the problem is, some people don't have boot straps to lift themselves out of their quandary. — Vickie Linnet, Corning Cruz scares the liberal elite Editor: Just like Bo and Luke Duke, I'm just a good ole boy trying to get by. Unlike your columnist Rob- ert Minch, I speak plain Eng- lish not correct English for I don't have the command of those big fancy words he and all the liberal intellectuals use. I'm guessing they're not really talking to me but to the intellectuals that read what these liberal elite chose to put in print. However, once in a great while Bob, I mean Rob- ert, submits a column that catches my eye, as the one about Ted Cruz being danger- ous and deranged and I labo- riously waded through it. To my fellow good ole boys and all the good ole girls out there deranged means a sick mind or loony. Now the rea- son the intellectual liberal elite believe conservatives like Ted Cruz are loony is be- cause he speaks plain Eng- lish so both intellectuals and those of us not so intellectual can understand what he is talking about and that scares the crap out of the socially elite. The following is a few ex- amples why Bob, I mean Rob- ert, believes Ted Cruz is de- ranged and loony. Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 — May 2008, Cruz was the first Hispanic So- licitor General in Texas, the youngest Solicitor General in the entire country, and had the longest tenure in Texas history. Partner at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he led the firm's U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice. Cruz has authored 80+ SCOTUS briefs and presented 40+ oral arguments before The Court. Cruz served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Cruz was the first Hispanic ever to clerk for a Chief Justice of the United States. In the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Cruz assembled a coalition of 31 states in defense of the principle that the 2nd Amend- ment guarantees an individ- ual right to keep and bear arms. Cruz presented oral argu- ment for the amici states in the companion case to Heller before the United States Court of Appeals for the Dis- trict of Columbia Circuit. Cruz has successfully de- fended the Ten Command- ments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation. Yes there is a God and I pray He isn't done with Amer- ica, Ted Cruz or Bob, I mean Robert. By the way, in most conversations Hillary is only addressed by one name and it isn't Hillary. A touching story about Bob's, I mean Robert's, fa- vorite photo of the old meat plant it reminded me of one of the poems my father used to recite "The Last Leaf" By Oliver Wendell Holmes 1831. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Letters to the editor The percent of our local population over 65 is half again that of the state as a whole. We are growing older and probably losing our younger folks who look for jobs elsewhere as retired folks move in. Joe Harrop OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Saturday, April 4, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B4