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6A Daily News – Friday, July 13, 2012 Opinion Worst response ever 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 This doesn't happen in a lot of places bigger than our town, but that's another story. I said I needed to pick up an order and the clerk asked my name. The courteous customer, hearing my name, immediately asked me a question about the newspaper. These things happen from time to time. We went on to have a pleasant Copy Center the other day to pick up an order, and the gentle- man in line in front of me had something of a complex trans- action so he suggested the clerk see whether I needed something more brief. I was waiting in line at The bothered me the rest of the day. While I do like having a job and being able to pay my bills, my response was well short of what the job means to me. A better response might have been that I like having a job I enjoy and through which I'm able to make a small difference in my community. conversation about the paper while the clerk rang me up. As I got ready to leave, the customer reached out to shake my hand and said, "Thank you for all you do to keep our newspaper going." That's when I offered the knew I was half joking and chuckled appropriately, but it ativity and is different each and every day and always challeng- ing. I never know what to expect when I walk in the newsroom. My coworkers are smart, informed and often funny. I'm a social person and my job affords me plenty of contact with members of the communi- ty. That's a short list, but you get the idea. The job itself requires cre- worst response ever. "I like having a job." Fortunately, the customer But my job exists in hun- dreds of communities around the country, and I sometimes get calls from recruiters asking me to apply for those jobs. That's where making a difference in my community come in to the mix. I've been in Red Bluff for more than four years now and can honestly say I consider it home. I've become involved in a number of volun- teer activities, joined a couple of clubs and made some great friends. I like the area for the same reason many of you relocated here — and some of you never left. Any of these would Chip two years ago, it never really took. I have nine followers, for have been a better answer than "I like having a job." *** Twitter twaddle We had a visitor from corporate in the newsroom Wednesday to discuss our ven- ture — as a newspaper and a company — into expanded Web presence and social media. The popular forms of the latter being Facebook and Twitter. While I joined Twitter about Thompson 545 Diamond Ave. some reason, and have tweeted four times. Facebook I get, Twitter not so much. But I think I'm ready after Wednes- day's meeting. Our visitor and a couple of my coworkers who already use Twitter convinced me to take the leap into the twit- tersphere. the weekend I'll set up a Twitter account for use at the newspa- per and we'll see where it takes us. More on that next week. Chip Thompson can be reached at 527-2151, Ext. 112 or by email at editor@redbluffdailynews.com. 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. The Airlift of '64 Commentary There was a line in Jean Barton's Sat- urday column about the coast town of Arcata. It read, "The 1964 flood was bad, with lots of cattle drowning…. 20,000 acres were flooded, and over 5,000 head of cattle were lost, with 2,500 of them swept out to sea." Torrential rains hit the coast that year and the towns to which we weekly sup- plied meat were cut off from all traffic. Bridges were washed out and residents in the area were running low on food. My father died that year, I had just taken over as president of Minch's Wholesale Meats, and was wondering how to get supplies to the isolated folks along the ocean. Our salesman for the area was Homer Angelich, and he told me that there was a rumor that Swift and Compa- ny in San Francisco was planning an air- lift to the beleaguered towns. New at the controls, but knowing we did not want to let a competitor get all the headlines, I replied, "Well, hell, if they can do it, so can we. Let's find out who has an airline we can rent." We located a two-engine DC3 in Ard- more, Okla. and it was flown to Redding. As there was not time to remove the pas- senger seats, we wrapped hind and front quarters of beef as we did for army orders, and our crew packed the beef into the seats. The flight arrived ahead of Swift's and we made the papers. Alter- nate highways opened later and we were able to go up to Oregon and down the coast highway with our trucks. It costs us a few bucks to rent the plane, but the pub- licity was worth it…or at least I thought so at the time. *** this business of having a prayer being said at the beginning of each session. Yes sir, in this year of enlightenment, they passed a resolution that only members of the council could deliver said prayers. That will teach interlopers from trying to wrestle away the microphone to deliver their own personal prayer. But the ques- tion still remains: Who started this bit of silliness…and why does it continue? I understand the pledge to the flag to keep The Corning City Council dealt with the Commies out of the meetings…but a prayer to give the councilmen guidance? Balderdash! The Red Bluff City Council does not participate in this ritu- al. And come to think of it, in view of their record for obstructing efforts to find a site for the home- less, they would not dare offer a prayer prior to their meetings for fear of being struck by lightning. *** I found John Irving's most recent book an uncomfortable read regarding the narrator's graphic bi-sexual life style. However, Irving is an acknowledged great writer and so who am I to criticize. But moving on, Robert Minch I Say An interesting adjective in the DN Fri- day Police Notes: "Someone flagged down a Police officer at Taco Bell to report they had been jumped by two peo- ple. The victim declined medical treat- ment." DN reporters assigned to the police beat are probably young, and I am wondering how they came up with such an archaic expression as a person being "jumped." In my day it might have been common for the euphemism "jumped" to be used instead of "beat up." Even "beat up" belongs to a different generation. Say, do you suppose the editor was filling in for the police beat and used this ver- nacular? I will have to ask him if he can be pried away from his research at the library. *** the author has unfortunately used the dreaded phrase "hot water heater." As we in the real estate trade know, it is a mere- ly a "water heater." Hot is redundant. It is a common enough phrase suggesting there is also a cold water heater, but, as such, it is a waste of word. We could dis- cuss "cement" versus "concrete" floors, but leave that for another day. *** Last week's quiz was answered first by J. Yingling, former head of the C of C. News? *** You may have noted the photo on the front page of the Daily News last Satur- day, which showed the long vacant for- mer Ford building at 455 South Main as the new home of the CVS Pharmacy cur- rently in Belle Mill Landing. The build- ing is currently owned by Clinton Hall of Seattle. His father, Oliver Hall, pur- chased it from my father's business group, on April 3, 1953. Father formed the group and named it Associated Enter- prises. It included various managers at the meat plant, such as John Hoy, Morris Savercool, Carmen Rutala Sr., Art Ger- ring, father's brother and sister A. Stan- ley and Grace Minch and his brother-in- law Ray Kelsey. The building was built for a Case Implement Store and a Gener- al Electric Appliance Store shortly after World War II. He knew the names of the four seas as Red, Yellow and Black, but came up with Coral when I was thinking White. So, we have five seas. In addition he knew that a sponge has holes in it but can hold water (a more clever reader suggested a golf course as doing same) and that poet Joyce Kilmer was a man. This week's quiz: The most northerly point of the United States is Point Barrow, Alaska. What is the most Westerly, most Southerly and the most Easterly? Also, in the old days, the movies were usually preceded by the newsreels. What was the "motto" of Paramount the association would be a winner....but it wasn't. All participants thought 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. The ability to instantly deliver important news and updates to large groups of people appeals to my jour- nalistic instincts, so I'll give it a try. Over