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4A Daily News – Friday, December 30, 2011 Opinion 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 Just one more thing... 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 "What is there to say, and what is there to do, my heart's in a dead- lock...I'd even face wedlock, with you." These lyrics, by Billy Butter- field, are apparently no longer in vogue with young people today. Sources say that soon only half the eligible men and women in the U.S. will marry. This is a startling statis- tic. In my day (here we go again), it was the stated desire of everyone I knew to get married and have chil- dren. Today they have kids in droves but a marriage certificate is not high on their list of priorities. Why is this? Is it the women, seek- ing independence and equal status, who have made this decision...or is it the men who feel being bound to one woman for life is counterpro- ductive? I can attest to the benefits of a lengthy marriage with the right mate...but the right mate is a matter of luck and chemistry. A true reli- gious believer apparently first "sees the light" and avows he or she has been "saved." Something like this happens when two people connect, though it may not occur at first meeting. The missus could not stand me the first time she caught my act back in the 7th grade. I think it might have been the 8th grade, but I bow to her recollection. In any case I was a pain in the butt to many, not only in elementary but in high school as well. Associates said my social skills were not fully developed until I was drafted into the army, and realized I could get killed before said skills came to fruition. So what have we learned during this brief confessional? Well, to be truly fulfilling, one's life should feature interacting with one's fel- low man. Or woman. Either is fash- ionable these days. Children are optional, but if one wants to live Fans of the detective series Columbo will remember Peter Falk often returning to a room to ask just one more bit of information while questioning a sus- pect. It was usually that bit of information that gave him the clue he needed, as the tactic tended to trip up the unsuspecting suspect. A couple of exam- ples of that showed up this week in your Daily News as part of the World Briefing you find in most editions. Both short stories left out key information necessary to make sense of the news. Chip Thompson 545 Diamond Ave. Most times the blame for this falls on me. In fact, I apologized and took the blame in both cases, only later to find out the error happened in the offices of The Associated Press. Fitting the news into the space available means frequently cutting it down to size. Fortunately, jour- nalists write in the inverted pyramid style — no, this doesn't mean we prefer our Pyramid Ales bottoms up, though many of us do. The inverted pyramid puts the most important information as close to the top of the story as possible and the follow- ing paragraphs include further details. Many readers don't read stories all the way to the end, so this style allows them to get the most relevant news before they move onto another story. The two stories that ran this week were shortened versions of longer sto- ries — the first about the Hexagon project being declassified and the other about a teen who discontin- ued treatment when she discovered she was pregnant. Both were orig- inally written in feature form, which plays fast and loose with the inverted pyramid in order to allow a story to unveil itself further along. When these stories are included in the World Briefing, it's some- body's job to shorten them to the five or six paragraphs typical of those items. With features, simply lopping off the rest of the story means you might leave key infor- mation on the cutting room floor. It's understandable. When you work with inverted pyramids long enough, it's easy to trust the news readers need is somewhere in those first few paragraphs. In Wednesday's edition we ran the full Hexagon story, about an ambitious Cold War era satellite program. Thursday's edition con- tained a clarification that the teen was undergoing cancer treatment when she discovered she was preg- nant. As always, we regret the errors. *** For those wondering why they have been reading more colum- nists and wire features and fewer letters to the editor and local con- tent this last week, you have the holidays to thank. There are few busier times for most folks than the couple of weeks of holiday celebrations at the end of December. So busy, in fact, that few make time to write letters to the editor or local news releases for their clubs or events. Much of everyday life in Tehama County stops as we gather with family and friends to celebrate and prepare for these special occasions. The newspaper doesn't stop and neither does its appetite for content. On the plus side, the editions this week are an apt illustration of how much you as readers and community members contribute to your local newspaper — we may take the heat when things go awry, but the Daily News is every bit as much your paper as it is ours. Have a safe and happy New Year's celebration. 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), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 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. I don't Commentary forever, then they can only do so via their progeny. It all comes down to one's right to choose, doesn't it? *** Did you know that Smelt, that little 3-inch fish, is staging a come- back in the Sacramento Delta region? It's population is reported to be at its highest level in decades. Perhaps we can once again enjoy a good Smelt sandwich...or bar- beque. You smirk, but with Gin- grich as a potential candidate for president, anything is possible. *** We are a spoiled nation not accustomed to standing in long lines as they do in Europe awaiting service, food, clothing or what have you. To remedy this, computeriza- tion has come to the rescue for the literate. Therefore, don't you find yourself feeling faintly superior to the common folks when you stride into Raley's supermarket, pick up your items and then purposely posi- tion yourself in front of one of their self service registers? Folks stand- ing in line at the conventional checkout lines can only stare wist- fully at you and wish they had your computer oriented acumen. And, speaking of lines, I note, at the Post Office, while standing in same, that we are truly an advanced and civilized nation. We stand a respectable distance from the per- son directly in front of us, and when they move forward, we do likewise thereby avoiding a gap in the line which might abet ruffians wanting to crash. All in all, a jolly good show. *** In this coming year, we might harken to the words of naturalist and filmmaker David Attenbor- ough. Q. Why are you campaigning against creationism being taught in British schools? A. I feel that chil- dren should be taught science, and science does not accept a literal interpreta- tion of the Bible, as far as Genesis is concerned. If you wish to teach that as a part of a religious story, that's fine, but don't teach it as though it's sci- ence, because it is not. Q. Are you optimistic about the future of the natural world? A. No, I'm not. There are three times as many people living on this world as when I stated making television pro- grams. They've all got to live some- where. They've all got to find food. They all want to drive motorcars. All those things require land and space and the only place it can come from is the natural world. So, the natural world is under increas- ing pressure. *** Robert Minch I Say editor writer from Gerber reported he had found someone's cell phone and left it at Radio Shack with the hope that someone would retrieve it. Apparently someone did, but failed to thank him for doing so. The gentleman from Gerber proceed- ed to wax wroth over this slight. My hope for the coming year is that he receives a plethora of "thank yous" to assuage his indignation. If we had his address, we could start a chain letter to this effect. *** Ah, the absent minded… A couple had become forgetful Last week questions were answered by a hoard of readers, one such being newcomer B. Helleck- son who knew the correct species name's for familiar fauna: Cervine, deer; Colubrine, snake; Hiricine, goat; Larine, gull; Ovine, sheep and Viverrine, civit or any catlike preda- tor. This week's quiz: If there is still an annual Soap Box Derby, where is it held, what is Batman's butler's name, what magazine character said, "What Me Worry?" and what was actress Mary Pickford's sobri- quet? *** Back in October, a letter to the to the extent that they took a special memory class in which they were taught to remember things by word association. The husband was telling his next door neighbor about it. "What was the instructor's name?," the neighbor asked. "Uh…let's see…what was his name…uh, what's the flower that has thorns but smells nice?" "A rose?" "Yes, that's it," said the husband triumphantly as he turned to his house and shouted, "Hey , Rose! What's the instructor's name?" 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.