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4A Daily News – Saturday, February 11, 2012 Opinion Ide Adobe 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 Editor: The William B. Ide State 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 Park in Red Bluff is slated to close this July. In an effort to keep the Park open, the Ide Interpretive Asso- ciation is accepting donations. The goal is $85,000. We need to raise this money by April to keep this important historical icon of California open to the public. Donations may be sent to The William B. Ide Interpretive Association at William B. Ide Adobe SHP 21659 Adobe Road, Red Bluff, CA 96080 or please call (530) 529-8599 for more information. Dave Freeman, Red Bluff River fix Editor: Mr. Bob Bradley, in his Feb. 9 letter, described his observa- tions of fishery problems on Antelope, Mill and Deer creeks during the 1970s. Since then responsible agen- cies such as the Dept. of Fish and Game and Los Molinos Irri- gation District, in cooperation with land owners, water right holders, the Nature Conservato- ry, California Department of Water Resources and other state and federal agencies, have com- pleted a number of projects to improve conditions for fish, while preserving the legal water rights of landowners. Some of these actions include improvement of dams, fish ladders and placement of screening facilities. A rather novel method to preserve water supply to irriga- tors and still allow water flows for fish passage was to install large deep wells to supplement irrigation water during low creek flow periods. I suggest that Mr. Bradley or other concerned parties contact the LMID, DFG and DWR offices to get updates on what has occurred in the last 30 years. They might request a tour of the new facilities, and an update on the effectiveness of the work. Maybe this effort would war- rant another article describing the past efforts, evaluation of the current situation and plans for the future. John Elko, Red Bluff Column response Editor: In regard to Richard Mazzuc- chi's Column Positive Point Feb. 7: He states "First of all the Sier- ra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, Natural Resources Defense Council, and American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy can hardly be charac- terized as fringe groups as they represent the concerns of the American environmental and scientific communi- ties." To use your analogy, Mr. Mazzucchi, "What a load of crap." These are fringe groups orga- nized and run, mostly, by extreme left-wing lawyers with law degrees from liberal universities, such as Yale, and they all have an extreme left- wing political background. Some with close ties to the cur- rent Obama Administration. With the Sierra Club the means justifies the end, such as when they wanted to stop the timber industry from harvesting timber they invented the idea that spotted owls only survived in old growth timber, when in fact they did just fine in second growth timber, even old barns and just about anywhere. Local- ly we recall the Long Horned Elderberry Beetle fiasco. Union of Concerned Scien- tists used junk science to get the outcome they wanted for their report on global warming and climate change. Your Turn Natural Resources Defense Council is made up of extreme left-wing lawyers, law profes- sors, Obama supporters and cab- inet members. All opposed to the Keystone XL Pipeline and at least one of the co- founders was arrested protesting it. American Council for an Energy Effi- cient Economy, Rosenfeld, one of ACEEE's founders, recently retired as head of the California Energy Commission. In 2008, Rosenfeld announced his desire to see all new California homes be equipped with a radio con- trolled thermostat that would allow the state to transmit price and reliability signals to the house, allowing customers to change their energy usage with changes in price. Sounds a whole lot like PG&E's the Smart Meter to me. One has to wonder how much influence they had in the government's pumping tax dollars into failed wind and solar energy projects, such as Solyndra? Les Wolfe, Red Bluff 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. Pelican guano and white wine Commentary With apologies to Jean Barton and Bill Borror, I must confess that I went an entire week with- out beef, the Internet, and my cell phone. We just returned from a week in Costa Rica. I enjoyed the sunshine, the fresh fish, and the relaxed atmosphere of warm weather, sunglasses, shorts and sandals, and the ocean. There are always surprises when you travel. On this trip we were surprised to see an entire cliff side-trees, cactus, and all- covered in white; as we learned from our guide, the trees were the roosting site for a flock of peli- cans, and the white material was pelican poop. That reminded me of another trip. In 1997 we took our first three week vacation and spent the time exploring France. We were interested in French wines, so we started our trip venturing north east from Paris into the Cham- pagne country where we learned about the history and etiquette of that bubbly wine. Turns out it was not considered so snobby when it was first created, but it has grown into a status symbol. After returning to Paris we took the high speed rail to Nice, and several days later we drove to the Loire Valley to visit its famous chateaux. While in the Loire Valley we stayed in the small town of Blere at the Hotel Cheval Blanc. The hotel was rec- ommended by a letter writer to the travel section of the SF Chronicle; it was run by an up and coming chef and his wife, and the meals were both very elaborate, delicious, and, unlike in local French restaurants, were very filling. We were only able to order the full course dinner one time because we didn't have room for all it offered. The hotel owners had an open air garden and a hot house where they grew the fresh vegetables and herbs. Each morning we would go down for a continental breakfast, carefully stepping around the two maids who were on their hands and knees scrub- bing the carpeted stairs. One Sunday afternoon, after we had visited one of the famous chateaus of the region, we found ourselves outside an old rural church with a walled cemetery and lots of vines. Across the rut- ted road from the cemetery was a farmhouse with a sign saying there was wine for sale. We decided to see just what was being offered. We pulled into the grass drive- way beside the house, and stopped along the porch. I got out of the car and knocked on the door. No one answered, but just as I had stepped off the porch and reached for the car door, a woman came outside; apparently she had been baking based on the flour on her apron and on her arms. Between her French and our attempt at French we figured out that the winemaker was tak- ing a nap and that we should come back later in the afternoon. About the time I had just com- pleted my three point U-turn, the door opened again and a man with an oil cloth apron and rub- ber boots came out, motioning for us to stop and follow him. We parked the car and followed, reminding ourselves of proper wine etiquette. He led us through a garden and then a small vineyard to a cliff at the back of his property. There was a large thick wooden door in the cliff side secured by an enormous padlock like you would normally see in a cartoon. He enthusiastically put up his hand for us to stop while he searched for the key in the potted plants near the door. Once the door was opened he said some- thing about waiting a minute while he turned on the single light bulb hanging from a twisted wire attached to the high ceiling. Then he warned us in French to watch out for the bat guano on the floor of the cave. We managed to step over a coating of the white cov- ering the first foot and one half inside the doorway and entered the wine cave. We followed the winemaker wash tub, took two wine glasses down from the dusty shelf above the tub, held them up to the light, and then wiped them out with his handkerchief. Joe Harrop He took the tubing from me and proceeded to fill the two glasses. Ever mindful of our recently acquired wine etiquette, we carefully held the glasses up to the distant light, mak- ing admiring gestures about its color and clarity. Of course, we really didn't know what we were doing, but we thought it was the right thing to do. The winemaker was clearly enjoying watching us. Next, we swirled to a wash tub against the cave wall. He carefully selected some clear plastic tubing about an inch in diameter, washed it was water, blew through it, and motioned us to follow him deeper into the cave. We stopped in front of a large wooden barrel with a plug on the top. He picked up a wood- en mallet from the floor beside the barrel, and began attacking the plug. After several blows, he loosened the plug and pulled it out. Then he inserted the tubing into the barrel and gave a huge sip, then another, and finally, with a smile on his face, he handed me the tubing which he had crimped to prevent any flow of wine; he then went back to the the wine around in the glass a bit and tried to detect its "nose", that distinctive aroma wine snobs write about. We smiled and the winemaker smiled in seeming pride. We then took a measured sip of the wine, swirled it around our mouths, and swallowed. The winemaker looked on in anticipation and pride as we smiled again, afraid to tell him it was the worst white wine we had ever tasted. We bought two bot- tles and drove away. We sup- pressed a chuckle until we were out of site from the beaming vint- ner. Joe Harrop is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to the North State. He can be reached at DrJoeHarrop@sbcglobal.net.