Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/633045
WhileIwasanelectedmemberoftheCali- fornia legislature, it seemed like I spent a couple of decades discussing and debating California's right to use capital punishment. That is of course the death penalty itself. Mytakeisthatthispunish- ment is justified for certain hei- nous crimes. I especially have that opinion in cases involving the rape, torture and sometimes the resultant death of minors. An "eye for an eye" is the phrase and justification that I usually came up with. I believe there are certain crimes that do justify the lose of the perpetrator's life. In other words, shouldn't the punish- ment be equal to the crime? Some legislators I know think the death penalty is "cruel and unusual" punishment. However, it is a fact that most of the al- most 750 inmates on San Quen- tin's death row actually die of old age. Four term Governor Jerry Brown is one of those who has steadfastly been against this ultimate punishment. I wish that everyone knew how very long and difficult it is to obtain capital punishment in our justice system. To get that sentence one must have gone through a "bifurcated" trial, which is actually two trails. The first trial determines the extent of guilt and the second decides the punishment. In that second trial each member of the jury must be in favor of this ultimate punishment. Tragically, I know that some- where, somehow an innocent person is found guilty, but I pray that does not happen. Un- fortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. Earth is far from it. In one of my debates I asked the entire California Assem- bly to require capital punish- ment when a child was beaten over his entire body so badly that he died from "subcutane- ous" bleeding. That was because of the loss of too much blood immediately under the skin be- cause of all the blows the child had received. At the time, I even displayed the tragic and horri- ble pictures of the child's body to my opponents to get their support. As a California voter you may get one chance in 2016 to limit death sentence appeals along with expediting execu- tions and a second chance to ban all executions and change all of those punishments to life in prison. This second change is being heavily lobbied and sup- ported by actor Mike Farrell from the very popular television series "MASH." Interestingly, since capi- tal punishment was last rein- stated in 1977 in California, 117 inmates have died of "natural" causes. However, only 15 were executed for their crimes. Former Chief Justice the Cal- ifornia Supreme Court Ronald George, was quoted as saying "The leading cause of death on death row is old age." It is not unusual for two decades to pass before all appeals work their way through our courts on each conviction. Thirty one of our 50 states now use capital punishment. For your information, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia and Ar- izona implement it with relative frequency. And, only the Mor- mon state of Utah allows that punishment to be implemented by a firing squad. Also, oppo- nents of the death penalty say it is not a deterrent. Not to make a joke of this very serious mat- ter, but it certainly is when you count those who were executed and are now eliminated from our society and unable to con- tinue their dirty deeds. My take is that Califor- nia should maintain a capital punishment law. Mytakeonthemovies "In the Heart of the Sea" is a winner. Moby Dick is more impres- sive than you ever thought she was in the original movie starring Gregory Peck. StanStathamserved1976-1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is past president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@gmail.com. Mytake Capital punishment can be justified As a California voter you may get one chance in 2016 to limit death sentence appeals along with expediting executions and a second chance to ban all executions and change all of those punishments to life in prison. Water is a driving force of all nature Editor: The headline of this letter is a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci. After six months of valu- able experience working for the Drought Relief Program as an outreach intern at the Re- source Conservation District of Tehama County (RCDTC), this quote resonates deep within me. I feel a sense of responsi- bility to continue to take action against the drought and influ- ence others to do the same. Although it has become ap- parent to me that as citizens, we are generally uninformed and uninterested in the wa- ter crisis we face in our county, there are ongoing efforts to change that status quo. At the RCDTC, I was able to learn about and be a part of the ef- forts to educate the community and make a difference. I was thrown right into proj- ects such as the Rancho Te- hama Defensible Space Project that is creating fuel breaks for community safety, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival that shared films on a wide variety of topics from drought to land conserva- tion, Energy Upgrade CA that educated the community on en- ergy efficiency, Drought Busters which was a four part workshop series in cooperation with the city of Red Bluff and the start of the Conservation Conversation, a follow up to the film festival. At first, I was overwhelmed by the work and responsibili- ties that were placed on me, but with the help of my supervisors I felt confident and supported as I knew my work would be double checked and any un- certainties were explained. I managed to catch on to the way these projects worked and learned many new skills, from communicating with the pub- lic and organizing events, to re- searching and writing articles. At the events the RCDTC cre- ated, I was able to see a vision unfold and it filled me with ex- citement. Seeing the commu- nity brought together to learn certainly changed my perspec- tive on work. This internship has pulled me out of a life where I have worked meaningless jobs with no fulfillment and pushed me into understanding what it means to work for a job that has a purpose and ongoing mis- sion. I hope to see the RCDTC con- tinue to go into the commu- nity and make a difference be- cause we need to learn to con- sume water and other resources responsibly. — Alyssia Pommells, Red Bluff Area olive oil featured in Business Week Editor: For those interested in the latest agriculture crop in Te- hema County, and surrounding counties, read the Bloomberg Business Week article dated Jan. 31. While more traditional local olive trees for fresh olives are being removed to plant higher value almond or walnut trees, a new crop of Spanish olive oil trees are being selectively planted on large acreage. High labor and water costs has made fresh olive harvest- ing unprofitable for many local ranchers. The possible replace- ment is densely planted black olive trees, machine harvested with grape harvesters for high quality extra virgin oil. The work that would have been done by 15 laborers in a day is done in a half hour by a grape harvesting machine. Unfortunately, crop scientists have not been successful in de- veloping mechanical harvest- ers for local traditional fresh olives that do not damage the fruit, hence the high cost of manual labor harvesting. It is always interesting to read of entrepreneurs will- ing to take a risk with a new source of income from an in- vestment. — Joseph Neff, Corning Sanders vs. Trump Editor: Now that Trump has the en- dorsement of the Tea-Party Goddess he is sure to win the Republican nomination for President. Bernie Sanders' numbers aren't too shabby on the Democratic side. So next November it looks like we will have a choice be- tween Donald Trump or Ber- nie Sanders. Let's do some comparisons. Donald started out in busi- ness with what he called a small loan from his daddy. I for one would not call a mil- lion dollars a small loan but that's just me. Bernie's father didn't have an extra million laying around so he had to go to work like the rest of us. Neither of the two served in the military. But today Trump is all for going to war at the slightest hint of a provocation. On the other hand Sanders was against risking soldiers' lives so a few tycoons could ac- cumulate more wealth. He is of the same opinion today. As a matter of fact Sanders has been saying the same things and fighting for the same dis- enfranchised groups his whole life. Trump says if elected he will make this country great again but how he plans to do that is a great mystery. On the other hand Sanders is constantly explaining his plans for uni- versal healthcare, raising the minimum wage, raising taxes on the rich and hiring millions to fix our deteriorated infra- structure. Bernie seems to think trickle up works much better than trickle down and history agrees with him. Eisenhower pegged the highest tax rate at 94% and this country was never more prosperous. As for civil rights, Bernie marched with King. There is only one major can- didate worth voting for and that is Bernie Sanders. — Orval Strong, Gerber Your opinions Cartoonist's take After four decades, Black His- tory Month remains controversial. What is your position? Should the celebration remain un- changed? Should the commem- oration of African-American milestones be spread through- out the year? Or should a color- blind, seamlessly integrated timeline of the accomplishments of all races and cultures be America's goal? I took it upon myself to ask a collection of presidential candi- dates, government spokespersons and media pundits for their gut instincts on Black History Month. Any connection you draw be- tween these unguarded, off-the- cuff comments and specific indi- viduals are entirely up to you. One speaker confided, "I see America as a land of equal op- portunity, where if your father and your brother got to live in a white house — or Casa Blanca — with a rose garden, you have an equal opportunity to do so as well." Another political mover and shaker proclaimed, "Gone are the days when blacks were re- garded as less than human. Oh, hey, could you jump through these hoops for me before regis- tering to vote?" One official shared, "It's a na- tional disgrace that blacks had to sweat in the hot sun picking cot- ton. According to the U.S. Consti- tution, ethanol production would have been a much better choice." Bold assertions were com- mon. ("I'm sure if I had been president in the 1860s, I would have done exactly what Abra- ham Lincoln did — except with- out the whole 'boots on the ground' thing. And beards and stovepipe hats? Can you pay a focus group enough to like pres- idents with beards with stove- pipe hats?") One interviewee opined, "Booker T. Washington. W.E.B. Du Bois. The Tuskegee Airmen. Today's African-Americans stand on the shoulders of giants. Speak- ing of that, I wish you'd stoop a little. I can't see my reflection in the mirror." Comments included, "And I truly believe that steel-driving man John Henry would have laid down his hammer and died much more peacefully if someone had slipped him some medicinal mar- ijuana — and the knowledge that his opponent the steam-powered hammer would eventually be de- nied its supply of coal." One leader agreed, "I don't know where America would be today without the contributions of black citizens. Um, I'm not even sure where America is to- day with the contributions of black citizens. Geography is not my strong suit. I just know I can see Beijing from my front porch. You bet'cha." I couldn't resist recording the observation, "I don't really know what to say about this 'Roots' remake on TV. I know that I've done an exhaustive search of 'TV Guide' and not a single writer would ever come out and say definitively that this Kunta Kinte guy was not Canadian." Posterity needs to know, "Of course, with a concealed carry permit, Rosa Parks could have had the whole & %$# bus. I'm just saying." A progressive respondent ar- gued, "I know they called the Sidney Poitier character Mis- ter Tibbs, but I think he should have been allowed to use the girls' shower if that was how he rolled." Celebrate black history, even if hidden agendas do tend to creep into politicians' praises. "I have no doubt that, if he was alive today, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. would declare, 'I have been to the mountaintop — I had to climb there to escape the rising ocean levels pre- dicted by heretofore wildly in- accurate computer models. Any day now, the polar bears will be floating into the Promised Land. Any day now..." Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree Politicians' candid thoughts on Black History Month 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 By Danny Tyree OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, January 28, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4