Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/716418
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, 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS HowmuchmoneyshouldSanFrancisco spend to prevent suicides? Two bids have been made to construct a suicide prevention net on the Golden Gate bridge there. Onebidtobuildandinstalla net was for $142 million and the other for $174 million. Statistics re- veal that 1,600 persons bodies have been discov- ered since that beautiful bridge was built. Last year 33 people ended their lives by jumping there. The Golden Gate Bridge was opened to traffic in 1937. It allows everyone to travel back and forth across the bay from San Francisco to Sau- salito. It has been called a modern engineering wonder. On a very personal note, I spent five years of my life in the late 1980s fighting what was diagnosed then as clini- cal depression. As a result, I think I do understand more of the psychological misery that goes with the tragic process of thinking about, attempting or actually committing suicide. Fortunately, I spent a lim- ited amount of time reflect- ing on that most negative act. Obviously, I did not fol- low through on that bad so- lution to what I thought were my challenges. I finally con- cluded I would just be end- ing my own life, while pun- ishing others who might be fond of me. The famous Eiffel Tower in Paris also has a number of sui- cides each year. Eiffel Tower spokespersons refuse to give us the exact figures. They simply say there are always too many. At this writing, I do not think I would vote to spend so many millions to construct yet an- other net to stop people from making such a tragic decision. Would you vote in favor of this or would you be opposed? I think the power of our minds is often tenuous. I have learned however that telling yourself how to feel and act is actually possible with prac- tice. A small reminder to myself just to "count my own bless- ings" from time to time helps me a lot. Even a brief review of the events of my life allow me to see how lucky I have been. I have met movie stars, Presi- dents and Governors. Over a long time I decided that people are just people. However, I do think people's lives are pretty much what they themselves make them to be. I even question the current popu- lar bipolar diagnoses. After all, don't we all have mood swings. I believe we should all realize life gets worse and then better again. It always does. The tough questions that need to be answered and the votes that must be cast to make this a reality are many. Exam- ples of questions could be: What is the value of a human life? How much responsibility does our government have to protect all of us from ourselves? In the Golden Gate Bridge's case, $142 million divided by 33 lives lost last year puts the value of a life at $4.3 million. What do you think and how would you vote on installing an- other net? I am having some difficulty just writing my take on this proposal without not caring about those poor souls who bring themselves to this life- ending position. Please give me your thoughts. Mytakeonthemovies This week's movie review: When I saw Matt Damon was coming back as Jason Bourne I knew I would be in store for a quality film. I was not wrong. I highly recommend you see "Bourne Supremacy." It will knock your socks off. 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. Stan Statham Mytakeon Golden Gate suicide netting I think the power of our minds is often tenuous. I have learned however that telling yourself how to feel and act is actually possible with practice. A small reminder to myself just to 'count my own blessings' from time to time helps me a lot. Flight XX to Fantasyland Editor: The State of Jefferson move- ment claims to have succeeded in 21 counties. In fact, they were defeated in 15 counties. There is a really old say- ing — so old and faded and threadbare — but, dag nabbit, it sure applies here, "Do you know how to tell when the Jef- ferson spokesperson is lying? His lips are moving." Jefferson movement spokes- man Mark Baird's Flight XX to Fantasyland has been enter- taining as H E double hockey sticks for over two years now. All this free entertainment, starring a blueprint for a Ba- nana Republic called Jefferson and co-starring a Lassen-sized mountain of mendacity erupt- ing on a semi-regular basis, it all sort of makes me wish I had invested in popcorn and soda pop futures. Oh, well, you snooze, you lose. Speaking of losing, now that the Jeffersonian scam machine is into not just dup- ing people but also lighten- ing their wallets to fund a junk lawsuit that is destined to wind up in the Never Never Land where all junk lawsuits in this country end up — well, there's going to be some real losers, cash-wise. Court actions can often take years — as in lose, appeal, lose again — but that simple re- ality only means that a grift- ing operation whose aim it is to con one million dollars out of some sadly misled folks can actually have a long and pros- perous run. Every time Mark Baird beats his chest and proclaims, "Can't lose .. can't lose .. can't lose," he isn't talking about the outcome of his proposed legal action. No. He is actually talking about the status of the recipients of that one million dollars. They are the ones who can't lose. — Janice Stout, Los Molinos New courthouse has issues already Editor: The new Tehama County Courthouse seems to have a problem before it opens. That would be transporta- tion of the accused from the jail to the new courthouse and back again. Walking them from the jail to the court house doesn't seem to be an option anymore. Distance being the reason. My question is, where are the funds for their transportation coming from? It looks like we the people are going to eat it again. Thanks to the short-sightedness of our board of supervisors, planning department, city council and lo- cal law enforcement. It will be interesting to see what scam transpires to solve this problem, don't you think? — Joseph Ostrowski, Red Bluff Concerned over Solano Street project Editor: I am writing to express con- cerns about the newly completed streetscape project on Solano Street in downtown Corning. The project required reducing the old four lanes to two lanes with a center passing lane, but at least the good news is that it has been repaved along with new sidewalks. The city received a gov- ernment grant to build the streetscape project — so it was built using our tax money com- ing from an out-of-town source. However, even with plenty of money available the city engi- neer and contractor still built a project that is not to grade and will end up being a holding pond when winter rains hit. The roadway noticeably falls off to each side of the crown — i.e., center of the street — to the curbs. Now when winter rains come the failure to build the project to grade along with the decorative intersection islands acting as dams the water will be unable to drain off. If you've ever had to wade through water to get into City Hall or the post office then this is what you can now expect to experience on our downtown streets. To make things even worse the eastern most section of the proj- ect slants down until it bumps up against the higher intersec- tion at 3rd street. The resultant dam created by the intersection will virtually ensure that the wa- ter will flow around 3rd Street to mix with the water that already pools up in front of City Hall. Heads should roll for the egre- gious mistakes made on this project. Unfortunately we will probably only hear excuses and denials from City Hall. — Dean Cofer, Corning Library project is overly ambitious Editor: It's so nice to find out that Tehama County is the richest county in the state. The costs for refitting the old Daily News building into a li- brary are astonishing. They bought the building and the lot it sits on for $500,000 dollars and they need $6 million turn it into a library? How about this? Clean the weeds off the property and sweep the parking lot. Throw a coat of wax on the floor and haul the books, shelves and tables over from the old supermarket build- ing and start letting people read. And $150,000 for a screen out- side the front door to show pic- tures of Tehama County. Some- body is having visions of gran- deur and they're spending our money on this Taj Mahal of learning. Get the learning down and then talk about decor. I haven't been past the lobby, but with the warehouse there must be at least twice as much space inside as where they're moving from. Fire the architect, rent a U- Haul, and get moving. — Fred Boest, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take Our editor thought I should tell you a bit about myself. At the peril of imminent identity theft, here goes. I grew up in southern Ohio and Florida. My parents couldn't make up their minds so we went back and forth several times. With fam- ily changes and such I attended six different schools before start- ing high school — and then went to three. I have always envied those who still have their close childhood friends. While most kids were wrapped up in high school events, I became a rock musi- cian in those heady days when the Beatles first came to Amer- ica. I started a band called The Heywoods that later became Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. They had a big hit, "Billy Don't Be a Hero." Unfortunately, that happened after I had retired from my music career at 21. But during high school I spent my time touring with some well-known bands and playing proms, college homecomings and local events. After retiring from mu- sic came college and then law school. I hated law school, so I joined the Marines as a back- up. They had a legal program and I figured if I wanted to say to heck with law school, then I would have a career waiting as a tanker. Tanks always fascinated me. This was before the M1 Abrams and there were only the old M60 tanks back then. My summer job after my first year of law school was attending Offi- cer Candidate School. A tougher summer job one could not imag- ine. I was commissioned a sec- ond lieutenant and went back to finish my degree. I passed the Ohio Bar and went on active duty. After fin- ishing The Basic School in Quantico, followed by Naval Justice School in Newport, I headed to San Diego as a brand new JAG lawyer. I had a great experience at the recruit depot, where West Coast Marines are made — as opposed to the infa- mous Parris Island. After serv- ing an extra year, I decided it was time to move on with my legal career. After a short time with the US Customs Service I was lured to law firm life. I de- cided that wasn't for me, and was lucky to eventually land a job as an in-house attorney with a corporation in the Bay Area. A decade later the com- pany was bought by a big Swiss corporation and I made a ca- reer change — embarking on a real estate career, which was something I had always wanted to do. A few years later I was lured back to the law, and soon ended up on the little island of Saipan in the Pacific. I returned to federal service upon my return to California. I was an immigration lawyer, and we were soon merged into the newly formed Department of Homeland Security. I fin- ished my career advising fed- eral law enforcement and have just retired. I was attracted to the Red- ding area when I conducted some training here in 2004. I never forgot seeing the moun- tains and valley laid out below as I started my descent on the way back from a drive to Shin- gletown. Our ring of moun- tains has never lost its fascina- tion for me, especially the view coming down the grade past the CHP truck scales. So my wife and I began our quest to escape the Bay area. We had been looking up here for about six months when one day, when home looking after my wife who was recuperat- ing from a motorcycle accident, I saw the log cabin that would eventually become our home. That was four years ago and here we are. Corky Pickering and his wife relocated from the Bay Area to Cottonwood in 2014. He recently retired from the federal government as an attorney advising law enforcement. He has been a rock and roll bass player and a Marine JAG. He can be reached at thecork6@gmail.com. Corkey Pikering Please allow me to tell you a little bit about myself By Corkey Pikering Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, August 18, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4