Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/52085
4A Daily News – Friday, January 6, 2012 Opinion The Monday that wouldn't die 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 It seems appropriate to approach the discontinuation of the Daily News' Monday print edition with a popular theme from a daily comic strip – Garfield. Bad things happen to 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 Garfield on Mondays, so I know we will have at least one who won't decry the loss of the edi- tion. I'm guessing the rest of you won't be as pleased to no longer receive a Monday paper. I count myself among your ranks, but the realities of the newspaper business and down economy made it a necessity. While I could fill the rest of this space bemoaning the loss of one-sixth of our weekly prod- uct, it wouldn't change the fact that Monday's edition was the last one you'll likely see for awhile – if ever again. Sorry, but that's the truth in this industry. Instead, I want to answer some questions about what will change for the Tuesday through Saturday editions you'll contin- ue to receive. First, you will still have news available Mondays on redbluff- dailynews.com. If everyone enjoyed reading news on the Internet as much as they do in print, our presses would have gone silent long ago. But the news will be there on the site – in most cases earlier Monday and even Saturday and Sunday – thanks to the ability to publish news electronically as it hap- pens. The regular fixtures from Monday will be shifting, for the most part, to Tuesday's edition. You'll find the health and fitness page, Monday opinion colum- nists and Kid's Corner in Tues- day's paper. Scott Marcus will move to Friday's page 2A, which doesn't host a regular columnist. News and sports coverage will be posted online shortly after it is produced, so readers will get more timely results rather than having to wait until Monday morning for events that took place Saturday and, some- times, Friday after deadline. There will be a learning curve as those of us in the news- room put on webmaster hats, but I promise to make the transi- tion as smooth as possible. For those determined to get their news from a print edition, many of the weekend stories will be pub- lished in Tuesday's edition. We don't want to leave these folks behind. Newspapers have been contracting since I learned to read. We've all done what we can to fight the change with innova- tive solutions, many of which have post- poned the inevitable. But progress is inertia and no amount of effort can change the laws of physics. Chip My sons rarely pick up a print edition, but they read the news every day. News on the Internet is what they grew up with, just as many of you grew up fetching the newspaper from your doorstep. In a generation or two, the print newspaper will be a quaint, albeit vital, part of our heritage. That said, the resources required to produce a daily Thompson 545 Diamond Ave. report of the life and times of your community will remain in place as long as you desire the information. You may read it in a different format, but somebody will need to be in the field gather- ing and publishing it. When people ask me whether the Daily News will be around in a few years, I typi- cally say, "When everyone in Tehama County wakes up and no longer wants to know what's going on in the community, we'll be done. Until then, there will be a Daily News." I'm sad to see Mon- day's edition fall by the way- side, but happy that our news- room will continue to provide the community the news and information it demands. 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: 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. Baby it's cold outside Commentary In our days of family skiing, we occasional- ly had to endure severe cold weather while rid- ing lengthy ski lifts. We had no respite except for telling the kids to imagine it was actually very warm and the cold was merely only in their mind. They didn't buy it, of course, but it was good for a laugh. One day, years later, the missus had a con- versation with former Olympic skier Billy Kidd, who was the pro at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Kidd said he was wearing experi- mental boots designed to keep his feet warm. Whereas we liked to think we were hot dog skiers who could tough out any conditions....we were encouraged that Kidd, having endured the elements all over the world, could still opt for a little foot comfort. I mention this trivia because I was gifted with a vest at Xmas, which features a chargeable heating packet. It is called "Core Heated Clothing" and it works like a charm. It comes with a charging device similar to a cell phone charger and can continue to emit heat, on a high setting, for 2 hours...or with a larger bat- tery for 4 hours. No skier or stand -around -arm -flapping senior should be without one. *** Joe Klein, in an article for TIME titled "How Much Government Is Enough?" writes a rather telling paragraph: "The Republican candidates have raised the question of the post-Roosevelt welfare state...the regulatory programs initiated by Teddy Roosevelt and the social safety net ini- tiated by FDR. Ron Paul offers this in its purest form: 'The Washington establishment believes that you have the freedom to keep what you earn and take care of yourself, but you won't do it. So they want to do it for you ...and have been trying for the past 70 years since the Great Depression. But we've learned that government can't do it either.'" *** Sources say your life expectancy in the U.S. is now 81.3 years, that 35 percent of Americans are or will be obese and that, if you are a female, you can expect to give birth to two children, whereas if you are Nigerian, count on raising 4.82 kids. This, apparently, is what we have to look forward to in 2012. Tsk, tsk. *** A reassuring news break from The AP wire service, dateline Bethlehem, tells of the annual cleaning of one of Christianity's holiest church- es, which deteriorated however into a brawl between rival clergy as dozens of monks feuded over sacred space at the Church of the Nativity, and battled each other with brooms until police intervened. What is reassuring is not that they bat- tled, because, in one form or another, over the centuries various religious groups have done battle, but that, in this instance, the weapons of choice were brooms. If we could convince all nations to abandon their weapons race and restrict their combat to the broom, think of the money and lives that could be saved. All beribboned gener- als could be relieved of com- mand and charwomen and cleaning ladies elevated to command position. This is an idea whose time has come and, with this platform, a pacifist-minded candidate could sweep the polls. *** An appreciative reader, one L. Chamblin, avows she is less than enthusiastic about some of the other DN columnists to the extent that she has considered cancelling her subscription. However, to continue reading one particularly enlightened columnist, cough, cough, she asks if she might subscribe to the Friday edition only. I am reluctant to broach this subject to the editor or the publisher, both gentlemen of refinement and high character, for fear they will laugh, snicker or guffaw. You must under- stand they cannot play favorites. They have to present balanced news coupled with a smat- tering of other, perhaps more biased, columns. In this manner they keep their subscription base of gun toting 2nd amendment advocates versus those who rely on local constabularies to keep the peace. However, consulting our vast achieves of columns over the years by my father and myself, we could be cajoled into running the I Say column five days a week (it could have been 6 days but Monday's are no longer on the DN's print agenda)...and could keep up the pace for the next five years or so. Just a thought. It might provoke column envy amongst our brother and sister writ- ers, but that is the risk the DN might have to take. *** Robert Minch I Say Last week's quiz was answered correctly by many, but first under the wire was N. Rick who knew that the Soap Box Derbies are still held in Akron, Ohio, that Bat- man's butler was named Alfred, that magazine charac- ter Alfred E. Newman said, "What me worry?" and Mary Pickford's sobriquet was "America's Sweetheart." This week's quiz: In Walt Disney's film Cinderella, name the two step-sisters, the first names of the singing Andrew sisters, and what do you have to be to join the Ananias Club? *** Under the title of "…and that's where the fight started," here are a few examples. I took my wife to a restaurant where the waiter took my order first. I ordered a very rare rump steak and he replied, "Aren't you worried about the mad cow?" and I said, "Nah, she can order for herself." My wife was standing looking into the mir- ror and said to me, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compli- ment." I replied, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect." I rear-ended a car this morning and really felt badly about it. The driver of the other car got out and I was startled to see that he was a dwarf. He looked up at me and said, "I am not happy!" So I said, "Well, which one are you then?" 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.