Letters to the Editor for the week of 3/4/20
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]
Thank you to Andrew
It’s looking like spring on Jackson Street, here in Quincy. The lawns, especially at the Manor, are getting greener by the day and soon the folks that walk past here, will be able to stop and rest again, on the coolness of the well-mowed grass, along the sidewalks and under the shade trees that line the complex.
This street, reminds me of Kinder Street, in Greenville, where I grew up; my father, Pop Wattenburg, added a couple of picnic tables to the side lawn areas of our driveway, so that the passersby could sit and rest along their way.
I guess now, as the few fruit trees here show their blossoms, it might cause folks to think of Andrew Elkins, who worked as the maintenance person here at the Manor for over 20 years, and who passed away this year; bless his heart; this complex was his pride and joy, he planted these trees, most of the flowers, and much of the lawn area, and maintained it all, beautifully. Please do give that some thought as you go along your way and think about the love and care that went into this haven for the elderly and the handicapped and then whisper a little “thank you” to Andrew.
Nansi Wattenburg Bohne
Quincy
Search & Rescue Grant Article
A big “Thank You” to the Feather River Bulletin for highlighting the Plumas County Search & Rescue Team’s efforts to secure a grant from the State Department of Parks and Recreation OHMVR Division. We are trying to get an off-road, all-weather vehicle that the team can use to increase our efficiency in reaching lost and injured persons in Plumas County’s back country. A few updates to the article: The original thought on this grant application was to try to acquire two such vehicles, with tracks and trailers, because we don’t like sending out one vehicle on a mission – something might happen. We have since been notified that, because we are a non-profit and not a Federal, State or County Agency, there is a cap for expenditures for equipment such as this and that will reduce our request to one vehicle and the grant amount by about half of what was quoted in the article. Also, a typo that slipped by me — the vehicle type is not a “UHV” but a “UTV,” which stands for Utility Task Vehicle. Again, thanks to the paper for your excellent coverage.
John Kolb, PCSAR
Quincy
Senior mental health
I’m glad to hear Plumas Health will be adding senior mental health services. My folks lived in Portola, one with Alzheimer’s and one with dementia. I think they might have really benefited from experts to talk to (and to listen to them), instead of just me and my siblings trying to deal with their collapsing mental health along with their declining physical abilities.
Jim Inscore
San Francisco
Congress hears our climate concerns
Climate skeptics beware: the number of U.S. citizens concerned about climate change is steadily rising. A poll last spring revealed that 75 percent of Republicans under the age of 40 supported some sort of carbon tax and a poll just last week showed that 51 percent of Americans agree that putting a price on pollution is a good idea. In early February, conservative voters from 30 states were in D.C. to gain support for a price on carbon. Known as Conservative Climate Lobby Day, those attending lobbied 70 Republican congressional offices asking for endorsement of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA). This bill places a price on carbon with all fees collected returned to all U.S. households in equal monthly payments. This puts money in the pockets of Americans that will ease the financial impacts as we wean off fossil fuels.
And congress has been listening to us. There are now 80 members in the House who endorse the EICDA. Last November, a bipartisan climate Solution Solutions Caucus was established in the Senate. As of this week there are 14 members, seven Republicans and seven Democrats. Their task: to work together in addressing climate change so as to provide solutions that will work for all Americans.
Robbin Anderson
Clio
Restocked the swamp
Trump spends on the average one-third of his presidency at one or the other of his properties with the Secret Service paying as much as $650 per night for rooms at his properties. At the Trump National Goti Club the agency was billed for $17,000 per month to use a three-bedroom cottage. The cost per month for travel, and lodging comes to about $13.8 million a month. When Trump addressed the Republican National Committee at his Doral resort in Florida it spent an estimated $500,000 on the event. The rate for the least expensive room surged from $254 to $539. Six of his aides or advisors are convicted felons. Trump didn’t drain the swamp he restocked it. Most Trumpists now get their information from Fox News and Facebook, not the “Fake News Media.” They are unaware of unflattering stories, or immune to them because they’ve deeply internalized Trump talking points — “witch hunt,” “hoax,” “bias,” etc. They will say thanks to Trump “leeches and layabouts are no longer stealing from us.” Tell them that Trump is bilking taxpayers, that his trade wars have badly hurt farmers and manufacturing or that he has run up $1 trillion deficits, arid they say “Fake News!” To believe in Trump is to believe in anything you wish.
Duane Vander Veen
Graeagle
Species extinction
Most of the thousands of species that are lost each year are small. In former centuries the natural extinction rate would have been closer to a dozen. Insects account for much of the number. But, we are on the verge of losing more of earth’s larger species as well. Elephants, rhinos, tigers, orangutans and many ocean dwelling species are in increasing danger. A vast number of sharks are being stripped of their fins and left to die. Whales and porpoises are in diminishing numbers.
For many of those on the endangered list, the death knoll is growing louder. Bison were almost eliminated. Passenger pigeons, dodos and moas were. America’s bird numbers have been seriously reduced. The wonderful bird life of Hawaii and New Zealand was largely decimated following the introduction of goats, rats and other carnivores. Our seas are being rapidly decimated as a last gap attempt to satisfy the hunger of our own overpopulated, irresponsible species. Tropical forests, with their potential for developing medicines, are down to fragments. The depletion of tropical forests has already altered the weather in South America. Dams have blocked many spawning grounds. Chemical pollution has left thousands of miles of our seas uninhabitable. Discarded plastic bottle caps and sandwich bags are killing albatrosses and sea turtles.
And it is our own intentionally ignorant, self-centered species that has been the culpable cause. It is ironic that a species that is unable, or unwilling, to regulate its own numbers has been the cause of so much devastation to others. These words are not intended to be an environmental sob story. They are simply a statement condemning Mankind’s ignorance, irresponsibility, and inhumanity.
Wallace B. Eshleman
Quincy
