Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/70308
6A Daily News – Friday, June 15, 2012 Opinion DAILYNEWS 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 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 Easier than ever to contact a reporter Reporters get their story ideas in many different ways. Sometimes it's an issue brought up at a public meeting, other times it comes straight from a press release. Reporters can find stories by simply driving around town as part of their daily routine. Many story ideas come directly from readers. Not every pitch ends up with the reporter writing about it, but nearly 99 percent of the time a reporter will at least hear you out and explain why or why not it might have news value. The 1 percent of the time a reporter isn't going to hear you out is when you threaten that, should they cover your story, you may accidentally kill them. That was the case this week when the Daily News received a letter from an individual trying to get coverage about a financial crisis he had been caught up in. The letter contained a warn- ing to the news media attached to the front. "You must understand that a hit man could easily play the roll of a reporter to get in close. I don't want innocent blood shed. I am defending my family 24/7 and if somebody approach- es my property that I do not know then I will air (sic) to the side of caution and defend my family with the utmost vigi- lance and we will survive," the letter states. I cut off the 39 exclamation points he ended the letter with, but you get the gist. Fortunately for readers with serious news story ideas, con- tacting a reporter has never been easier. You can feel free to call me at 527-2151, ext. 109. You can email me at rgreene@redbluffdai- lynews.com and now you can simply drop me a story idea on Facebook. All you have to do is go to facebook.com/rich- greenenews and send me a message or post directly on my wall. Even if you don't have a story idea right now, feel free to drop by and "Like" the page. ticular subject I'm writing about. Gathering as much information as possi- ble is key to good reporting and the peo- ple of Tehama County are more often than not the best resource. Together we can produce a better newspaper and com- munity. Rich Greene From time to time you may see me send out a message ask- ing whether anyone on my friends list knows about a par- you'll know who I am, so we can avoid that whole shoot on sight experience. And even better, Rich Greene can be reached at 527-2151, Ext. 109 or by email at rgreene@redbluffdailynews.c om. 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. A better branding Commentary The ideas expressed by Joe Harrop in his Saturday column, if expressed earlier and enacted, could have saved money expended regarding this "branding" business paid out to outside consultants. Joe cites chapter and verse how our little town can garner recog- nition and visitors who will pay for the priv- ilege of spending time in our unique climate and location. Joe said we should spruce up our city, especially the entrances, we should erect more freeway signs extolling the scenic assets of Tehama County as the Daily News has done recently in their slick supplement titled "Red Bluff 2012 Main Street Ameri- ca." At the same time, Joe bemoans the con- dition of our off ramps and dividers with special mention of the mud flats where 99W joins South Main "which has fallen into unsightly use as a venue for used vehicle sales, junk sellers and weeds." tions, fire up the DN on line and read all his great ideas for yourself. Of course, it is one thing to read them but quite another to act upon them. But rather than repeat his recommenda- Thus, having faith works as a twofer: fight obesity and log in for a place in heaven. However, I suspect the rev- erend will find that weight shed is often not a perma- nent shedding. That people will, well, backslide. It is unlikely he will place a scale inside the front door and record the weight of each individual who passes the threshold. He may ask for a show of hands to indi- cate how many have lost weight and kept it off. But if he did, then he would have to rely on their veraci- ty, thus becoming another example of "faith based" response. *** And speaking of opinions, P. Johnston weighed in, via a letter to the editor, with rational thoughts for once, and recommend- ed that the great rock pile, south of the bridge and directly in front of the Riverside Bar and Grill, be tended to in a variety of ways. I agree that dredging might be a pos- sibility, or forming a small lake stocked with fish might convert the blight to a delight. Of course environmentalist would weigh in as to how this would jeopardize the fish or the Tehama County Jumping Frog habitat…but truly something needs to be done to restore the lake, all or in part. On this, Ms. Johnston and I agree and we thank her for castigating the "downtown good ole' boys" only once. With maturity eventually comes wisdom. *** To illustrate how the great TIME maga- zine has fallen into near tabloid proportions, I opened this week's issue and read the fol- lowing statistic: 1 in 5 American adults admit to peeing in pools. Tsk, tsk. *** don't hear this expression much anymore. It usually referred to the failure of the mem- bers of a congregation to attend church and revert to their old heathen ways. However, when mega church pastor Rick Warren urged his followers to shed weight as he had done, they lost 260,000 pounds of blubber. "Backslide: To regress in morals." You Engineer Tom Wulfert, he being in his mid-60s, avows he is not about to retire and succumb to making jig saw puzzles and weather vanes, which I thought was a great decision and observation. *** asked which baseball managers were also listed as players. That would be Pete Rose and Frank Robinson, and the Chicago Cubs had a winning streak going for 26 games or so as did the New York Giants. This week's quiz: This week's jazz quiz: Match the follow- ing popular song chord changes in column A which use the same changes in column B: A) Isn't It Romantic, How high the Moon, Take The A train and Satin Doll with B) Girl From Ipanema, There Will Never be Another You, Cheek to Cheek and Chero- kee. If stuck, you might give pianist J. Gon- salves a call. *** Last week's quiz: No winners when we Grandfather Benjamin Franklin Minch (1869-1936) was a farmer turned poet and wrote a pretty fair rhyme. Here is one of his creations titled "Youth." What wouldn't I give to be young like you? blue! When flowers are blooming and skies are past; At break of day birds wake us with song, And life is joyous the whole day long. Schooldays are happy, but cannot last, How you will miss them when they are Long since I felt they were all too few, you! What wouldn't I give to be young like *** Robert Minch I Say I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn't notice that the light had changed. It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he had- n't honked, I'd never have noticed. I found that lots of people love Jesus. While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy. Dear Granddaughter, The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a "Honk if you love Jesus" bumper sticker. I was feeling partic- ularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir per- formance. So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper. Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting expe- rience that followed. Grandma is 88 years old and still drives her own car. She writes: What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus. Everyone started honking. I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving peo- ple. I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love. There must have been a man from Flori- da back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach. A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed. So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection. I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared." Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the "The Knocking Pen." He can be reached at rminchandmurray@hotmail.com.