Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/561773
AcoupleofweeksbackIre- ceived a text from the loyal fol- lower of my column. He sug- gested that, as the fifth most read local colum- nist in the Daily News, I use my considerable in- fluence to con- vince the powers that be to lower the gates on the Diversion Dam and give us back our beautiful Lake Red Bluff. Because I am totally and un- abashedly full of myself, and be- cause I miss not being able to barefoot water ski in the slough, I would love to call in a couple markers and fill up the lake by Labor Day, next. Unfortunately, as good as I think I am, even I will not be able to walk on that water again, as—sadly—that ship has sunk. I do, however, be- lieve the reader was on to some- thing. A couple of columns ago I congratulated a community- minded lady by the name of Kim Berry for enhancing the self esteem and self worth of disadvantaged children by sending them off to school with a new set of clothes and a spiffy new haircut. It is my personal opinion that one can make a case that our fair city is very much like that disadvantaged child. We can complain and whine and piss and moan until the cows come home; but the fact is that we ain't never ever gonna see a Lake Red Bluff again. That is, save and except for a few days or weeks a year, if and when Mother Nature decides it is time to rain on our parade. Bottom line, we live in a disad- vantaged community, and it's time to get us some new clothes and a spiffy new haircut. I don't know about you, but ev- ery time I drive east on Antelope Boulevard or on Interstate 5 as it passes through town, I think to myself—sometimes out loud— how disappointing it is that hun- dreds of cars carrying thousands of people pass by every day. The folks going by are left with a per- ception that the dried-up, over- grown, stagnant, burned-up, snag-infested East Sand Slough somehow represents what this community is all about. Unfortu- nately, as we all know, sometimes perception is reality. I should make it clear that I am aware that many in this community have already done what they can to clean up and the slough. I am aware that good folks volunteered hun- dreds of hours to remove sev- eral tons of homeless encamp- ment garbage and litter. I am aware that folks cut down and removed the worst of the trees, and I am aware that the AB 109 crew worked their tails off to improve the area. As a retired government em- ployee, I am fully aware that bu- reaucracy moves very slowly, when it moves at all. I am not sure, but I suspect that there are several different agencies with jurisdictional responsibilities in regard to the slough. Having said that, I am confi- dent that if this community de- cides to do something really cool with that festering sore of a slough, it can be accom- plished in a reasonably short time frame. While I would love to see the East Sand Slough fully devel- oped with walking trails and a community park, the fact that the slough often floods dur- ing winter months likely makes such development impractical at best. All I know is, that for me at least, the current condition of the East Sand Slough is disap- pointing at best. While I salute those who have worked so hard to rehabilitate the area thus far, I believe we are capable of so much more. I am not sure if the ultimate responsibility for the slough lies with the city of Red Bluff, the county of Tehama, the state of California or the United States of America; but I know very well Mayor Clay Parker and County Board Chairman Burt Bundy. I know State Senator Jim Nielsen, and I know U.S. Congressman Doug LaMalfa. I would like to believe that each of these gentlemen cares deeply about the health and welfare of this community. I would simply ask each of them, the next time they have a chance, to drive In- terstate 5 from Diamond Av- enue on the south, to Adobe Road on the north—and to take a good hard look at the sand slough on the right. If you are satisfied with what you see, I am sorry to have bothered you. If, on the other hand, you agree that the land- scape reflects poorly on our wonderful little town, I would ask you on behalf of the entire community to individually and collectively "use your consider- able influence" to rehabilitate the area to its maximum poten- tial. This community deserves that. •••• Way back in the day I felt for- tunate to head out to the first day of school in a new pair of Levi's, a new pair of Converse tennis shoes and a clean T-shirt. Boy, have things changed. A couple of Mondays ago my iPhone started exploding with Facebook notifications featuring photos of dozens of little John- nys headed back to school. Little Johnny is wearing a $300 pair of Air Jordan sneak- ers, an ultra-flamboyant pair of pink and royal blue baggy shorts, a neon orange silk shirt, a pair of color-coded Ray Ban sun glasses and a gold chain around his neck that very likely cost more than my first car. He's packing a camouflage-colored backpack filled with his iPhone, iPad and half a mummified tuna sandwich left over from the final day of school last year. The only thing he's missing is paper and pencil. Looking at little Johnny on Facebook feels very much like the feeling I sometimes get when grandma pulls a photo of her latest grandchild out of her wallet. While the only response I am allowed to give is, "Isn't he cute," or "She's adorable," what I am often thinking is, "That's the homeliest baby I have ever seen." •••• This Friday, Aug. 28, the his- toric State Theatre proudly presents The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra. While tickets are selling fast, great seats remain available. Tick- ets can be obtained at Tehama Country Visitor Center, by call- ing 529-2787 or at the theater box office prior to the perfor- mance. BillCorneliusisalifelong resident of Red Bluff, a retired Chief Probation Officer, a champion of the State Theatre and an exceptional athlete. He can be reached at bill. cornelius@sbcglobal.net. WilliamTells A slough of possibilities to spruce up town Cartoonist's take There were so many people buying "breakfast bags" of her- oin from street dealers one Phil- adelphia morning, the traffic came to a standstill — and the dealers cursed at anyone who dared honk. So recounted Lou Gentile, a for- mer undercover operative for the Pennsylvania State Police Or- ganized Crime Unit, as he told me about the pervasiveness of America's heroin epidemic. "In the past, heroin addicts tended to be street users who stood on street corners in im- poverished areas," said Gen- tile, now CEO and founder of CSI Corporate Security & In- vestigations in Monaca, PA. "Today, addicts include soc- cer moms, business executives, high school kids with money to spend and people from every walk of life." Most have one thing in com- mon: Their addiction began with a prescription medication, such as OxyContin, a morphine- like drug. "The problem is that some physicians have no concept of addiction and are prescribing pain medication at unreason- able quantities," said Gentile, "and others are 'pain docs' who are abusing their authority." Once addicted, many users switch from prescription drugs to street heroin. "They switch because street heroin is easier to source and significantly less expensive," said Gentile. "It's about 10 per- cent the cost of prescription medication, which can cost up to $80 a pill." The easy availability of low- cost street heroin does not bode well for addicts or for society. Like any drug, the more her- oin the addict uses, the more he needs to experience the same high. If the addict stops using, he'll go through a world of hurt: depression, nausea, jitteriness and extreme flu-like symptoms. Most addicts can't bear the symptoms, so they keep getting more heroin. Those with money have the means to fund their death spi- ral. The odds are that they'll keep buying more heroin un- til they finally overdose fatally — as happened to actor Philip Seymour Hoffman a year and a half ago. Those who lack the funds fre- quently steal from family mem- bers or break into homes and businesses to fund their next fix — a bank a half-mile from my suburban home has been robbed four times in the past 18 months by heroin-addicted young men. The only hope for all ad- dicts is that they get profes- sional counseling and make it through a few weeks of pain- ful detox. Even under the best- case scenario, they will be ad- dicts for life. "The mental addiction to opi- ates will be there forever, and relapse is not uncommon," said Gentile. Those who fail to make it through detox — or relapse af- ter detox — face dire con- sequences. In 2012, Allegh- eny County had 288 overdose deaths — well up from 22 in 1984. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office es- timates that the number has jumped 25 percent in the past few years. USA Today reports that the U.S. suffers more than 44,000 fatal heroin overdoses every year. So, how do we address this epidemic? Physicians need to be better educated on the risks involved when prescribing pain medica- tion. It would be helpful, too, to establish a central prescription repository, so that patients will be flagged if they attempt to get multiple pain medications from several doctors. Patients need to be aware of the incredibly addictive ele- ments of prescription pain med- ication. Just because they are prescribed by a medical doctor does not mean they are worry- free. Patients should be wary of prescription pain medication and use it with extreme cau- tion. Most importantly, if you are at a party and someone offers heroin to you, leave. It is possible to become an ad- dict the very first time heroin is used. To those who think they can use this incredibly addictive and destructive drug in a recre- ational manner, Gentile offered words of wisdom from a recov- ering addict he knows: "If your mind is weak enough to try heroin, your body is weak enough to become addicted to it." Tom Purcell, author of "Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood" and "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" is a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review humor columnist. Send comments to Tom at Tom@ TomPurcell.com. Tom Purcell America's heroin epidemic All I know is, that for me at least, the current condition of the East Sand Slough is disappointing at best. While I salute those who have worked so hard to rehabilitate the area thus far, I believe we are capable of so much more. GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIAL BOARD 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 Tom Purcell Bill Cornelius President Barack Obama: The White House 1600Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, D.C. 20500 Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414 Fax: 202-456-2461 president@whitehouse.gov U.S. Senate Dianne Feinstein: Hart Senate Office Building Room 331 Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3841 Fax: 202-228-3954 One Post St., Suite 2450 San Francisco, CA 94104 415-393-0707 Fax: 415-393-0710 Website: feinstein.senate.gov Barbara Boxer: Hart Senate Office Building Room 112 Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3553 Fax: 202-228-3865 501I St., Suite 7-600 Sacramento, CA 95814 916-448-2787 Website: boxer.senate.gov U.S. Representative Jared Huffman: 1630Longworth House Office Building Washington D.C. 20515 Phone: 202-225-5161 Fax: 202-225-5163 3173rd St., Suite 1 Eureka, CA 95501 Eureka phone: 707-407-3585 Fax: 707-407-3559 Website: huffman.house.gov Governor Jerry Brown: State Capitol Building, Suite 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-445-2841 Fax: 916-558-3160 State Senate Mike McGuire: 130310th Street Sacramento, CA 95814Phone: 916-651-4002 Fax: 916-651-4902 710E Street Suite #150 Eureka, CA 95501 Eureka phone: 707-445-6508 Eureka fax: 707-445-6511 To email, visit http://sd02.senate. ca.gov/contact/email State Assembly Jim Wood: P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0002 Phone: 916-319-2002 Fax: 916-319-2102 Eureka phone: 707-445-7014 Fax: 707-445-6607 To email, visit http://asmdc.org/ members/a02/ Let them know How to contact public officials from Washington, D.C., Humboldt and Del Norte counties and North Coast communities. OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, August 26, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6