Letters to the Editor for the week of 1/29/20
Guidelines for letters
All letters must contain an address and phone number. Only one letter per week per person will be published; only one letter per person per month regarding the same topic will be published. Feather Publishing does not print third-party, anonymous or open letters. Letters must not exceed 300 words. Writers responding to previously published letters may not mention the author by name. The deadline is Friday at noon; deadlines may change due to holidays. Letters may be submitted at any of Feather Publishing’s offices, sent via fax to 283-3952 or emailed to [email protected]
No cannabis
In response to Ken Donnell’s “Where I Stand” opinion piece in the January 15 issue, I must respectfully disagree with his suggestion that Plumas County “revisit” the moratorium on commercial cannabis.
I, like many of my friends who voted no on Measure B and then urged the Board of Supervisors to make the moratorium permanent, did so because we wanted this issue settled once and for all.
Mr. Donnell says that we in Plumas County “would be wise to accept [the] reality” that marijuana is legal in California. Guess what? We do. We also embrace the provision in Prop. 64 that gave cities and counties the power to regulate it within their jurisdictions, including the power to say “yea” or “nay” to it altogether. Since 65 percent of us voted “nay,” it might be time for those who don’t agree to revisit the notion of democratic majority rule.
He also discusses at length the federal legalization of hemp and very subtly conflates the nascent hemp industry with cannabis. The two are very different crops in terms of their respective uses. To my mind, it isn’t a problem to have one be legal in the county, the other not, but Mr. Donnell apparently thinks that’s a nonsensical position.
His hope that Plumas County will again address legalizing commercial cannabis (and, by extension, related activities, such as pot shops) in a “calm and rational manner” suggests that those of us not in favor of it are neither calm nor rational in arguing this issue.
Not so. Personally, I looked at every aspect of commercial growing before I made my decision to oppose it — the environmental and societal ramifications, as well as the experience of other counties. It didn’t add up. For me, it still doesn’t.
Susan Christensen
Quincy
Mr. Kevin Goss and cannabis
I read with interest Mr. Goss’s candidate’s statement published in the Feather River Bulletin (1-16-2020). My attention particularly focused when I read his assessment of “challenges that lay ahead” for the County Board of Supervisors. It was therefore with hilarity that I noted among “controversial issues” one being the “legalization of cannabis in a community much divided in its stance.”
Much divided? In November of 2018 the voters of Plumas rejected Commercial Cannabis activity (Measure B) by a no vote of 64.29 percent to the 35.71 percent voting yes. Perhaps Mr. Goss was referring to District 2 that he represents? Are the people in his district much divided on the issue of commercial cannabis? Not so. Every single precinct in District 2 voted no. It was this vox populi (voice of the people) that lead the Board of Supervisors by a vote of 4-0 in 2019 to place a permanent moratorium on commercial cannabis activity in our county. Mr. Goss concurred in that unanimous vote.
Joseph Muñoz
Quincy
Chair, Cannabis
Citizens Group
No thank you, Mary Jane
Can commercial marijuana make Plumas great again? Some who think so have brought up the old arguments again, smoke-screeningcommercial recreational marijuana cannabis behind beneficial industrial hemp cannabis; one is legal in Plumas County. but the local jobs and prosperity that commercial recreational marijuana dangles in front of us could be only a BOS vote away. What could be better for our community than a potential thriving economy?Â
Healthy families, for starters. Cast your mind among your own family and your acquaintances. Whose family connections got stronger through commercial marijuana? What families are better supported by more employable marijuana using parents? Instead, commercial marijuana grenades families wherever it lands.Â
“Ah, but it’s legal — state and soon federal.” Is purported prosperity so precious that it is to be bought at the price of thriving families? If so, why not regulate local brothels, like industrial gambling? If our communities can do no better, watch the underbrush for incoming rounds.Â
Let those who love Plumas for its families keep standing up for them. Good job, you voters who defeated the Measure B initiative! Good job, you Supervisors who enacted the moratorium! We’re better off without commercial marijuana, even if it did mean living with less cash. But it doesn’t. Our community and our families are happier and more productive — even more prosperous — without it. No thank you, Mary Jane.
David Covington
American ValleyÂ
Help with meth
How can locals help? I have never been a drug user, but I apparently look like one due to other medical abnormalities. I see so much of this happening right next door, and would like to participate in anyway I can. I am an older woman in my 50s and see a lot because people do not consider me a threat. I get along with most everyone and mind my own business. I would happily go undercover in effort to hinder this insane drug from prevailing in our community. I know you’re laughing, and possibly thinking I’m just a crazy old woman. You might be right, but you have nothing to lose and nor do I. All I am saying is I do not want my grandchildren to grow up in a community that is unhealthy and we do not enlist everyone (including elderly) to fight against it.
Tami Simard
Quincy
Good piece on the candidates
Voters have to ask themselves after decades of bureaucrats, elites, outsiders and academics running things are we better off or not? Are we better off giving more control and influence to those outside the county or keeping ourselves more free to choose? Do we want other counties or Sacramento wielding influence over us or are we better off making our own decisions? Do we want career bureaucrats or “those with ties to the county” and who knows where else or with those who have been out there on the front lines of reality, living and working amongst us? Do we just want to “feel good” or do we actually need the roads to get fixed and the sewers to operate?
The world is no longer about Democrat vs. Republican, conservative or liberal — this is what those that would have you do their bidding have been feeding you all along. The new reality is about local versus global, bureaucrat and deep state versus citizen. Do you want people in far away places telling you what to do? Which do you want to win? Free your mind and see with your eyes then vote with your ballot.
Phil Sih
Beckwourth
First Amendment
Available on: “Constitutioncenter.org,” is the text of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. It states: “Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791. The first 10 amendments form the Bill of Rights.”
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
  The “founding fathers” remained neutral regarding a preference of one religion over another and adamant that the Government should not show, nor attempt to enforce a preference for one religion over another.
Gene Nielsen
Crescent MillsÂ
Women’s March
This year’s Plumas County Women’s March was supported by over 130 participants. 2020 marks the fourth year that Plumas County citizens have marched in support of this movement.
The original Women’s March protested the inauguration of our current president. It now promotes eight unity principles which include ending violence; fighting for environmental justice; preserving reproductive freedom; protecting worker’s rights, and protecting the civil rights of all minorities including LGBTQIA individuals, people with disabilities and immigrants.
This year, the organizers of the D.C. march focused on three unity principles which are affecting not just U.S. citizens, but hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, of people worldwide: the devastation of climate changes, reproductive justice including the #MeToo movement and immigrant’s rights. These concerns need action now.
Rachel O’leary Carmona, a Women’s March Officer, stated, “Now more than ever, women need to band together across social movements and show up for one another.” She further stated, “This march is the last march before the 2020 presidential election and literally everything that we love is on the line.”
I cannot mince words. For too many of us, our worst fears of the current administration have been realized. We face a Constitutional crisis which may alter our form of government irrevocably. We must take our country back!
To move forward on the unifying principles of the Women’s March, supporters must unite our efforts with those of our allies and elect officials who champion the same things we do. Your support of such a candidate helps all of us.
The California Primary is March 3. Audrey Denney (CD1 candidate), Elizabeth Betancourt (AD1 candidate), and Pamela Swartz (SD1 candidate) all support the principles of the Women’s March and need your vote. It is time to bring new voices to our District.
Faith Strailey
Quincy
Fake news
According to some, our major news networks are spewing out fake news. The allusion has left me somewhat bewildered. If that is fake news, what is that on twitter and facebook then. If you thought the 2016 election was awash in disinformation and lies, a disinformation tsunami is coming. Already the candidates are pictured totally not fit for office. Videos are edited to make them look like they are drunk and their statements are taken out of context so they are saying something they didn’t say. Much more fakery is coming. The Russians are likely to flood social media with more disinformation in 2020. We may also see “deepfakes” — realistic computer-generated videos depicting candidates saying or doing things they’ve never said or done. Let the viewer beware.
Duane Vander Veen
Graeagle
Didn’t know
Boy! I wish I hadn’t read this week’s letters to the editor; a writer from Portola really broke my bubble.
Here I am, an 83-year-old baptized Christian Korean War vet from a family who served in WWII and in the Civil War and we were all Socialists. We never knew we had to be greedy capitalists in order to be real American Christians.
I would ask the writer to read the four Gospels describing Jesus’s life, he sounds like a non-conformist Socialist to me, one might even use the term hippie today.
Frank Kortangian
Blairsden
“A World Turned Upside Down”*
America is not the only nation in which ignorance and insecurity are leading into mindless self-destruction. As in the days of the crusades, the world seems to have forsaken rational thought for the less demanding alternative of accepting ignorance, insecurity, fixed belief, emotion based decisions and ultimately, international chaos. Britain’s politically driven Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has found a usable contrivance in ‘brexit,’ much as Joe McCarthy found one in ‘communism.’ Northern Ireland could well be the first major victim. President Bolsonaro, in Brazil, is deliberately destroying the rainforests of the Amazon. Australia’s P.M. has placed fossil fuel dollars ahead of healthy air, forest fires and climate warming. In Japan, the current regime is attempting to erase all evidence of the 1937 massacre of 250,000 civilians in Nanking. Millions of Muslims in India are being relentlessly persecuted by India’s fanatical Hindu regime. Russia is still sending false propaganda over the Internet and interfering in the electoral processes of America, England, France and other nations. Terrorist groups are spreading their fanatical murderous activities throughout the world.
So, Reagan had his Grenada. Bush and Cheney their deceitful and falsely proclaimed, but extremely lucrative, invasion of Iraq — an act that led to the deaths of over 100,000 innocent civilians, the rising of the ISIS and Al-Queda, and the devastation of one of the world’s greatest centers of ancient culture. Corrupt or incompetent leadership in Mexico, Pakistan, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Venezuela and many other nations seems to be endemic. Overpopulation, intentional ignorance, greed, religious intolerance, the Internet and insecurity are each playing a part in the disintegration of our semi-civilized world. If Trump escalates his baseless conflict with Iran, that might well be the final act of insanity.
*A popular song in England during WWI.
Wallace B. Eshleman
Quincy
