Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/793833
ChipThompson, Editor 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: Daily News 728Main St., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS First of all, I hope books and newspapers — hard copies — never disappear. In my spare time over the last couple of years I put many of my thoughts together detailing some of my experiences while I was in government. Oneofmyfondestmemo- ries was a victory I enjoyed when I convinced the Califor- nia Assembly in the early 1990s to begin the pro- cess to divide and restructure America's golden state into three smaller states. I am happy to tell you that I have finally written a book on that effort. It has just been published and is now listed on amazon.com. Simply Google my name if you go there and are interested. The book is titled "Reclaim California." I enjoyed sharing some of my behind the doors political experiences. Also, my publisher, Fulton Books in New York, will soon be assist- ing me with some book sign- ing events, many of which I plan to locate in what I call the Great North State — i.e., Red Bluff, Chico and Redding. I especially enjoyed writing about many of my personal po- litical conversations. My first legislative attempt to divide California within its border was thought of by many as being preposterous or maybe just a joke. However, that was mostly by members of the press. I had to always point out to even the press that four states in our country had already divided in Amer- ica's history. Maine used to be part of Massachusetts, Ver- mont was part of New York and two other states did start inside Virginia. Once I shared that informa- tion I began getting some seri- ous attention. I detailed most of that attention in my "Re- claim California" book. I also wrote that when Gov- ernor Jerry Brown ran one of his earlier races for that office it was in 1978 when his campaign slogan was "Small is Beautiful." I think that a smaller restruc- turing is still an accurate direc- tion that would help solve many of California's challenges today. I even detailed the actual de- bate that occurred on my pro- posal before the vote of ap- proval was taken. I am now a "Googling fool." Years ago, when I had a job reading radio news in an ear- lier profession, my attention- getting intro then was a deep- throated announcer saying; "Information is the cornerstone of Democracy." People often ask me how I got into politics and what could they do to accomplish the same. I tell them, very seriously, that they must be adults and have no felony convictions. One the benefits before I actually en- tered into the political arena was the two decades spent on radio and finally anchoring television news at KHSL-TV in Chico. That experience gave me some knowledge and immense name identification. A good deal of my book is the justification of the process for the division of California. In fact, I point out that division is not negative. I am reminded all the time of the 73-year struggle that the good citizens in South- ern Oregon and Northern Cal- ifornia are having again right now as they try to create the State of Jefferson. Please let me know what you think of "hard copies" and this most recent attempt to create the State of Jefferson. Mytakeonthemovies "Hidden Figures" is about America's race to put astro- naut John Glenn into orbit in 1962. Primarily it is a docudrama about three African-Amer- icans who then worked for NASA as mathematicians. It has a great cast that includes Octavia Spencer and Kevin Costner. Please don't miss this film. 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. StanStatham Mytakeon hard copies People often ask me how I got into politics and what could they do to accomplish the same. I tell them, very seriously, that they must be adults and have no felony convictions. Where are the jobs we're paying for? Editor: What I find interesting about Strategic Alliances Principal Job Developer Caylyn Brown's con- tract with the county is it took four days to receive the first one. Then talking to Bill Good- win at the town hall meeting I asked him a few questions about the contract he answered saying things that weren't on the con- tract. When I asked him about the discrepancies, he said he would make sure I received the right contract. Really? This is what I've received so far in the order I received them, January 2015-16, $5,600 per month, $89,539 for the first year. Agreement between Caylyn and the County February 2015 not to exceed $75,339 at $7,100 per month dated January 8, 2015. The last contract I received states, March 1, 2016 Caylyn will receive $5,600 per month not to exceed $67,200. So far we've paid her $232,078.00, it doesn't make sense does it? Supervisor Steve Chamblin said as a private contractor you don't need a license, you need ex- pertise. My question is where did Caylyn get all this exper- tise while she was still in college, from the branding reports? Supervisor Candy Carlson said the work described in the contract appeared to have been completed in 2009. She also asked to postpone this item to give them time to review the ma- terial she just distributed. Supervisor Bob Williams said the materials distributed are sections of the Chapin report. Goodwin said the Chapin report was previously approved by the board as part of the Branding ef- fort. After reading all these reports my understanding is the super- visors used the report drawn up by the branding effort, which we paid thousands of dollars for, and allowed Caylyn to use as her pre-presentation for her qualifi- cations for this job. Carlson said other organiza- tions could offer the same ser- vices at no cost to the county and she sees nothing in the re- port that ties performance to outcomes and since this is a good paying job, others should have the opportunity to apply. She added that the SBCD offered to help Tehama County as did the Chamber of Commerce, the county needs to investigate these other avenues. Supervisor Dennis Garton said he disagrees and it's time to move forward. Garton ques- tioned who would have the time to do the research that Carlson was requesting? Carlson said the SBDC. Chairman Burt Bundy said he recognizes those agencies that do offer economic development locally but the county is lack- ing specific business recruitment and job creation and this posi- tion will accomplish that. My question is how many job creations or business re- cruitments has Caylyn created in two full years and the start of the third year at the price of $164,878? Arthur Wylene, county attor- ney, and Goodwin agree there is no set minimum number of hours an independent contrac- tor has to work per month nor do they have to have any kind of business license with the city or county. However, I do support Amanda Jenkins in this matter, and she lives here. Stick with it, Candy Carlson, we need you to fight for us. This was taken from the Feb. 13, 2015 Board of Supervisors Meeting. — Kathy Nelson, Red Bluff Writer confused about scripture Editor: Pat Johnston seems to get her tongue tangled around bib- lical scripture a lot lately. Much like the Deacon of a Hard Shell Baptist Church, I say that mean- ing no disrespect to any Baptist Church, the only problem is she seems to be comparing her bibli- cal rants to the wrong president. In one rant she refers to "The Devil Trump" then used bibli- cal scripture about the good fruit tree that bears nothing but good fruit and the bad fruit tree that bears nothing but bad fruit and Trump's fruit is foul. I believe Pat got the wrong tree or maybe she meant the Obama tree is the bearer of foul fruit. It was Obama that said, "If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor. If you like your insurance plan you can keep your insurance plan." "It will cut the cost of a typical family's health insurance premium by up to $2,500 a year," all the time knowing that it was a lie. Just an example of the promises he re- neged on and lies that he told. The campaign promises Trump made, that got him elected, he is keeping. Who was the last president that has come even close to what Trump has done? His cabinet is full of expe- rienced people that know what they're doing. The military gen- erals and admirals are com- bat veterans not political hacks. Many senior officers with com- bat experience were forced to re- sign under Obama. Unlike the Clinton and Obama administra- tions the Trump cabinet is made up of people that want to serve their country, not exploit it. When Trump tossed his hat in the ring to run for president, he was laughed at and was the joke of all the liberal media and Hollywood. When it was obvious he was actually a contender the jokes tapered down and hate and character-assignation spread like a virus in the liberal media, the Hollywood crowd and a good number of Republicans. Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan weren't exactly campaign- ing for Trump and didn't say anything good about him until it was obvious he was going to be the President. Most of the obsti- nate Republicans have boarded the Trump train. My advice to President Trump is "watch your back," only your friends can stab you in the back because you won't let your enemies get that close. — Les Wolfe, Red Bluff Your opinions Cartoonist's take The Academy Awards were this past week. I didn't watch them. I guess they just no lon- ger interest me. But they used to, back when I knew the actors and ac- tresses, or maybe I was a fan of the host. But that's no longer the case. I don't seem to know anybody. Besides, there are just too many movies and I hardly go anyway. My last flick was the most re- cent Star Wars movie, and I took my grand-nephew. I had a gift card that I'd had for a couple of years, and didn't want it to go to waste. When my kids were young, we went to the movies. We only went to matinees on Sunday mornings. The theater was of- ten next-to-deserted. I loved it! I consider myself polite. I don't talk during the movie, put my feet on top of the seat in front, or bang the back if there is a person in front of me. So, I don't expect anyone else to do those things either. Of course, now that everyone has phones, and texting, some folks seem com- pelled to check their messages. And it's not the Mom and Dad whose kids are home with a sit- ter. A bright phone screen glar- ing in the corner of your eye does not add to the movie expe- rience. I embarrassed my daugh- ter once when I asked a young girl in my Marine voice, "Are you almost through?" The seats are certainly more comfortable today, and it's vir- tually impossible to have some- one block your view with the se- vere pitch of the rows. And the sound is usually loud enough to drown out all but the clos- est of loud talkers. But it can cost quite a bit to go to the mov- ies, especially as a family. I've al- ways been thrifty, and even with matinee ticket prices, I would rush my kids past the conces- sion stand. Isn't this about the flick? It's not an eating experi- ence. As the kids got older, it be- came harder to intimidate them from buying popcorn, or some candy. I remember reading that some dying theaters had added dinner and cocktails to the ex- perience. I can't imagine how that went. In some countries, you can get big, leather reserved seats for a little more money. But it's still cheap. And with mul- tiplexes, you can choose to see that new American release ei- ther in English, or the local lan- guage with English subtitles. Some 40-plus years ago, I went to the movies in a small town in Yugoslavia. I recall that they had the projector in an au- ditorium, as they didn't appear to have a permanent movie the- ater. I was relieved when I saw that the movie was in English, but my relief was short-lived. The audio came from a small, tinny speaker — and everyone was talking, since they only un- derstood the subtitles. That was definitely a unique cinematic ex- perience. With the coming of big- screen, high definition TVs, cou- pled with home stereos, there's not as much of a reason to go to movie theaters. Most folks now have Netflix or some other service, and there is no short- age of content. You can have all the snacks you want, and even stop the movie to replenish your chips or take a quick potty break without missing a thing. You can even choose subtitles for your hard-of-hearing grandma, or any non-native English speak- ers present. But I'm not averse to an oc- casional trip to the big screen. And I still have a couple of passes stashed away. My grand- nephew is coming to visit again this summer. But no hot dogs, okay? 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. Corky Pickering Relationship with movies has changed over time Stan Statham Corky Pickering OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, March 2, 2017 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A4