Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/613275
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 Calendaryear2015hasbeen another amazing year at the State Theatre. Not only have we completed sev- eral impressive restoration proj- ects, we have ma- terially increased the number of events and qual- ity of program- ming at the his- toric State The- atre. While I have attempted to recognize our financial and in- kind donors, I have been remiss in not publicly acknowledging the 18 hard-working members of the State Theatre Board of Directors. They collectively do- nate thousands of hours on be- half of acquiring, restoring and operating this grand old com- munity treasure. Let me ac- knowledge them now. •••• Joe Vine, a board member since 2011, has done a mag- nificent job serving as STFTA Board President for calendar years 2014 and 2015. He owns and operates the Copy Centers in downtown Red Bluff and Oroville, and is in way over his head with his wife Heather and two small daughters, Purna and Everest. •••• Bob Douglas will assume the important position of STFTA Board President for calendar year 2016. Bob is familiar with running things as before retir- ing, for a decade or so he was Superintendent of the Tehama County Department of Educa- tion. Bob and his wife Jackie also own and operate the Te- hama Oaks Winery. •••• Jackie Douglas is STFTA Board Secretary. She is also sleeping with the President-to- be, which is permissible since she is his wife. Jackie is also re- tired from the Department of Education. Most importantly, Jackie serves as chairwoman of the local Relay for Life, and was recently selected as Woman of the Year in Tehama County. •••• Wes Combes serves as Vice President of STFTA, which is fitting, as he was president of our sophomore class in high school, and is at least as smart as me. Wes enjoyed a long and distinguished career as Associ- ate Superintendent of Red Bluff High School. •••• Amanda Davidson has served as STFTA Vice President as well as Restoration Commit- tee Chairperson. Amanda is sweet, adorable, hardworking, and most important, she is one smart cookie. STFTA is lucky to have her. •••• Joan Allen serves as STFTA Treasurer. A retired school- teacher, Joan comes to life when schoolchildren visit the State Theatre. Joan is also a member of the local Sale fam- ily, so she knows her way around this community. •••• Christy Forward, our very own fiery redhead, is chair- woman of the STFTA Market- ing Committee. She has been a key member of the State The- atre Project since way back in 2010 when a steering commit- tee was formed to explore the possible purchase of the the- atre. Christy is employed in the insurance industry, and is also co-owner of the Human Bean; she's a busy lady indeed. •••• Amanda Wigno Harter, an- other intelligent young board member, serves as our Social Media Chairwoman. She is em- ployed as the North State Mar- keting Communications Man- ager for Dignity Health, and is a member of the local Roller Derby team. •••• Austin Harter has been as- sisting with State Theatre ac- tivities for the past decade. A jack-of-all-trades, he does any- thing and everything at the theater. Most importantly, he had the good sense to marry the afore-mentioned Amanda Wigno a year or so ago. •••• Nancy Weber, when not chasing cows on her cattle ranch east of Red Bluff, serves in the critically important and busy position of Membership Chairwoman. Nancy does an amazing job, and we are so thankful she serves on the ST- FTA Board of Directors. •••• Jean Moran, a good friend and another member of the RBHS Class of 1963, has been instrumental in pursuing and receiving grant funds on be- half of the historic State The- atre. She is most proud of her several children and grandchil- dren, to the point of being al- most obnoxious. •••• Brandon Minch, a lifelong resident of the community and building contractor extraordi- naire, serves as the Facilities Chairman for STFTA. Many of the wonderful restoration proj- ects at the State Theatre are di- rectly attributable to the tal- ents of Brandon Minch. •••• Andre Scheutz, is a promi- nent local anesthesiologist and our resident State Theatre Mu- sician. He is responsible for finding our magnificent Schim- mel grand piano in the State of Wisconsin, and for that we are extremely grateful. •••• Velma Trujillo, former Mayor of Red Bluff and mother to half a dozen grown boys, serves in the critical position of Volun- teer Coordinator. Boy, has she recruited a great bunch of vol- unteers. •••• Kevin Borror, owner of the Tehama Angus Ranch, is the quiet man on the STFTA Board of Directors; however, when Kevin has something to say, the entire Board stops to listen as Kevin appears to know what he's talking about. •••• Carmel Growney has been a hardworking STFTA board member for the past year. To know Carmel Growney is to love Carmel Gowney. Enough said. •••• Kelsey King is the newest member of the STFTA Board of Directors. Though I have yet to get to know her well personally, I have observed that when there is work to do, Kelsey is first in line. Welcome aboard, Kelsey. •••• Bill Cornelius is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff and a champion of the State Theatre. •••• If you would like to honor the above hard-working Board of Directors, you can best do so by attending our events, be- coming a State Theatre mem- ber or by making your 2015 year-end tax-deductible con- tribution to the State Theatre for the Arts. Further informa- tion can be obtained by calling 529-2787. On behalf of the State Theatre for the Arts, thank you for your support. •••• Happy Birthday Billie Jean; love you very much. 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. William Tells Tipofthehat to the board of directors Cartoonist's take Last week was an ugly day for civil discourse. Innocent employees were en- joying themselves at an annual Christmas party when two shoot- ers, clad in mili- tary gear and car- rying assault ri- fles and numerous magazines, be- gan mowing them down — killing 14 and wound- ing at least 17. A thoughtful person would be furious — furious with the two well-trained shooters, a husband and wife, who had carefully planned to carry out such an attack. He was an American citizen. His wife was born in Pakistan. He was 28-year-old Syed Riz- wan Farook. She was 27-year- old Tashfeen Malik. They had a 6-month-old child, who they left with the grandmother before slaughtering innocent people. He worked with the victims, government employees and was, according to his father, a very religious Muslim. Neigh- bors said he and other men were working in the wee hours in his garage. A thoughtful person would want to know what moti- vated this latest attack. A crit- ical thinker would want to get to the root cause. Until we un- derstand the root cause of our problems we will never solve them. But thoughtfulness and crit- ical thinking are running short in public discourse these days. Before some of the victims had their last breath — before the blood began to dry — our growing number of knee-jerk political hacks were using the tragedy to attack their political opponents. ThinkProgress initially re- ported that the shooters were white — gleefully criticizing "conservatives" who said the at- tacks appeared to follow tac- tics used by Middle Eastern ter- rorists. The article was removed once it was discredited by ac- tual facts. Other media outlets quickly injected Planned Parenthood into the dialogue. "It's a few blocks away," wrote one MS- NBC tweeter — despite the fact that its location was a few miles away and had nothing to do with the shootings. Disappointed that the shoot- ers didn't fit their desired nar- rative, the partisan focus shifted toward our need for more anti-gun laws. Look, we do need to elimi- nate loopholes in the way fire- arms are being purchased in our country, but the rifles the shooters used last week were obtained illegally through a friend and modified to impose maximum damage. In France, where the gun laws are much stricter than U.S. gun laws, assault rifles are also banned — but that didn't stop terrorists from getting them. According to The Guard- ian, the "western Balkans are awash with guns left over from the wars of the 1990s" and "Eu- rope's open borders and grow- ing trade in illegal weapons means assault rifles are rela- tively easy to come by on the black markets." If Prohibition can't stop alco- hol consumption and anti-drug laws can't stop America's heroin epidemic, do you really think our gun laws will stop determined fa- natics from getting them? The point is if we want to thoughtfully address the cause of mass shootings in America, civil discourse is the only solu- tion. Mental health is a common denominator in many mass shootings. So let's address it civilly. Congressman Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), a psychologist, has put forth thoughtful legislation to overhaul American's men- tal health care system and take specific steps to help people with mental illness. Can our po- litical class please move this bill along in a meaningful, nonpar- tisan manner. The fact is the threat of at- tack from religious ideologues is growing. I know this be- cause ISIS, the terrorist organi- zation that inspired last week's attack — and that carried out the horrific attack in Paris — has promised more attacks in America. The threat is real — and pub- lic discourse that mocks polit- ical opponents and blames our woes on red herrings isn't going to solve this problem. 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 Civil discourse needed to address terrorist threat Tom Purcell A little-noticed provision in the highway funding bill Con- gress passed last week threat- ens a right most Americans take for granted: the right to travel abroad. The provision in question gives the Internal Rev- enue Service the authority to revoke the passport of anyone the IRS claims owes more than $50,000 in back taxes. Congress is giving the IRS this new power because a de- cline in gas tax receipts has bankrupted the federal high- way trust fund. Of course, Con- gress would rather squeeze more money from the American people than reduce spending, repeal costly regulations, or re- turn responsibility for highway construction to the states, local governments, and the private sector. On the other hand, most in Congress fear the political consequences of raising gas, or other, taxes. Giving the IRS new powers allows politicians to increase government reve- nue without having to increase tax rates. Some even brag about how they are "cracking down on tax cheats." Pro-IRS politicians ignore how this new power will pun- ish Americans who have actu- ally paid all the taxes they are legally obligated to pay. This is because the provision does not provide taxpayers an opportu- nity to challenge a finding that they owe back taxes in federal court before their passport is revoked. Because IRS employ- ees are not infallible, it is in- evitable that many Americans will lose their right to travel be- cause of a bureaucrat's mistake. It is particularly odd that a Republican Congress would give this type of power to the IRS considering the continuing outrage over IRS targeting of "Tea Party" organizations. This is hardly the first time the IRS has been used to intimidate its opponents and/or powerful pol- iticians. Presidents of both par- ties have used the IRS to target political enemies. For example, one of the ar- ticles of impeachment brought against Richard Nixon dealt with his attempt to have the IRS au- dit those Nixon perceived as po- litical enemies. During the 1990s, an IRS agent allegedly told the head of an organization support- ing then-President Bill Clinton's impeachment, "What do you ex- pect when you target the Pres- ident?" Can anyone doubt that some Americans will be targeted because an IRS bureaucrat does not approve of their political be- liefs and activities? Ron Paul is a former Congressman and Presidential candidate. He can be reached at VoicesofLiberty.com. Ron Paul Will the IRS take your passport? Bill Cornelius OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, December 9, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6