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Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter Wednesday, March 30, 2011 11B
COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE
Children are our future, joy, responsibility
WHERE I STAND
ELLEN VlEIRA
CHAIRWOMAN
PLUMAS CHILDREN'S COUNCIL
The children are our fu-
ture. We have all heard that
so often. They are that, but
they are also our joy and our
responsibility. Plumas Coun-
ty is fortunate to have so
many people who are willing
to give their time and their
in the life of a child."
On Tuesday, April 5, the
Plumas Children's Council
will ask the Plumas County
Board of Supervisors to sign
a proclamation declaring
April as Child Abuse Preven-
tion Awareness Month in'
Plumas County. Locally, the
Plumas Children's Council is
a coalition of government and
nonprofit agencies along with
local parents who promote
money to help our children in . and coordinate programs to
these challenging times.
April is national Child Abuse
Prevention Awareness
Month. Throughout Califor-
nia, and the nation, events
and activities are being
• planned. The Plumas Chil-
dren's Council wants to re:
mind everyone: "It only takes
a minute to make a difference
ensure that all families and
children in our county are
healthy and safe.
Property owners in Plumas
County can also help the
Plumas Children's Council in
its efforts to strengthen the
lives of children and families.
April's property tax bill gives
everyone the opportunity to
contribute to local child
abuse prevention programs.
This is a good time to thank
those who took a moment last
year to send a check for the
Children's Trust Fund along
with your tax payment. You
made a $12,000 difference in
2010. Please, help support this
work by sending in the dona-
tion requested on the blue
form in your April property
tax bill.
The council will extend our
observance of Child Abuse
Prevention Awareness Month
to May 14 with our 24th Chil-
dren's Fair. Local organiza-
tions and businesses will
come together for a celebra-
tion of families at the fair-
grounds from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Events, games, food and en-
tertainment are free or low
cost. It's not only a day of fun,
but the Children's Fair is a
chance to learn more about
the wide variety of services
available for children and
families in Plumas County.
Parents are children's first
teachers, but not their only
teachers. Childcare
providers, teachers, doctors,
neighbors, coaches, pastors
and grandparents all influ-
ence children as well. The
quality and stability of young
children's relationships af-
fect virtually all aspects of
their development. Children
learn a lot in their early
years -- respect for them-
selves and others, right from
wrong, and how to get along
with each other. All the peo-
ple they come in contact with
have a chance to help rein-
force this learning and to in-
fluence their long-term devel-
opment.
When children are sur-
rounded by secure relation-
ships and joyful experiences,
they incorporate these expe-
riences to become confident,
caring adults who are con-
tributing members of society.
But if they are surrounded by
violence and don't feel safe,
or are given little intellectual
or emotional support, it is
much more difficult for them
to grow up healthy. As mem-
bers of the community, we
should each ask ourselves if
we are providing the type of
environment that allows our
children to grow into citizens
who can give back to their
communities.
Throughout Plumas County
there are programs and ser-
vices available to help adults
become supportive, healthy
parents. Plumas County's re-
source centers, located in
each community, help refer
families to home visiting pro-
grams, parenting classes and
parent support groups, along
with other useful programs
and information. Individuals,
as well as agencies, are mak-
ing a difference in the lives of
our children. Communities
are working together to pre-
vent problems before they
start by developing neighbor-
hood ties that bring people to-
gether.
If you would like more in-
formation about the Chil-
dren's Fair, or about prevent-
ing child abuse in Plumas
County, call 283-5333.
AB 192: Putting law enforcement first in funding, line
WHERE I ,STAND
DAN LOGUE
ASSEMBLYMAN
When times are hard, it
becomes more important
than ever that government
prioritize its spending, and
shift the funds to where they
are needed most. One of
California's biggest prob-
lems has been our state gov-
ernment's inability to cut
wasteful spending and pro-
tect our highest budget pri-
orities. In my opinion, and
many of yours, there can be
no higher priority than our
public safety -- protecting
the public is the main rea-
son government exists,
Taxpayers already pay
enough for these services,
and we should not have to
raise taxes to keep the pub-
lic safe. LaW enforcement
should be one of the first ,
things funded in the state
budget. But law enforcement
officials have spent the last
few years being forced to do
more with less, and it's get-
ting hard to teep up. Life
gets more dangerous for
them as their funding de-
clines. It gets more danger-
ous for our families as well.
What has become clear over
the last few years and
should be of serious concern
to all of us is that law en-
forcement is not considered
a priority by the majority of
our state Legislature.
Public safety is often paid
for after everything else. Ed-
ucati6n, MediCall even wel-
fare and other public assis-
tance comes first. Our own
Gov. Jerry Brown wants to
extend keeping law enforce-
ment funded through vehi-
cle license fees (VLFs) for
five more years: That means
less money when VLF rev-
enues go down -- a concern
expressed by law enforce-
ment agencies across the
state.
That's not right, and it's
time for a change.
I have authored a bill,
AB 192, that would make
law enforcement funding a
top priority without raising
taxes. AB 192 is co-authored
by 22 other legislators, and
would shift $500 million from
theGeneral Fund to the Local
Safety and Protection Ac-
count. This account helps
fund local law enforcement in
their fight against
illegal drugs, gang activities,
sexual assaults and technolo-
gy theft. It helps county sher-
iffs, juvenile justice and pro-
bation programs as well. It
is crucial spending for our
rural communities that
should be a top priority.
Police officers shouldn't
have to beg for funding.
They also shouldn't be pitted
against the taxpayers with
"either/or" scenarios like
heavy VLFs. The taxpayers
deserve to have their lives
and property protected out
of the taxes they already
pay. Our officers deserve to
have their basic duties paid
for off the top, not the bot-
tom, of the state budget.
Let's at least put law en-
forcement funding ahead of
welfare, and show our offi-
cers that we truly honor and
appreciate their service.
AB 192 is a start in the
right direction toward better
funding priorities in our
state government. Please
join me in this fight. Pick up
your phone and call your
legislators today. Tell them
you support law enforce-
ment, andtell them to vote
"yes" on AB 192.
Assemblyman Dan Logue,
R.Linda, represents the 3rd
Assembly District in the
Calbrornia Legislature. He is
vice-chair of the Assembly
Committee on Health, and
chairman of the Assembly
Republican Task Force on
Jobs and the Economy.
LETTERS to EDITOR
Guidelines for Letters
All letters must contain an
address and a phone num-
ber. We' publish only one
letter per week, per 'person
and only one letter per per-
son, per month regarding
the same subject. We do not
publish third-party, anony-
mous, or open letters. Let-
ters must be limited to a
maximum of 300 words. The
editor will cut any letter in
excess of 300 words. The
deadline is Friday at 3 p.m.
(Deadlines may change due
to holidays.) Letters may be
taken to any of Feather Pub-
lishing's offices, sent via fax
to 283-3952, or e-mailed to
mail@plumasnews.com.
Don't forget
I looked at this periodic re-
port I receive and thought
back to the news of Feb. 27,
2011, and the passing of the
last male American World
War I veteran, Frank Buck-
les. He bore the distinction as
the last vet from that war, but
looking at the report on my
desk, his passing had greater
significance to me.
I thought of the nation's in-
volvement, conflicts and
wars, and I knew how easily
veterans could be forgotten if
they weren't in the media
headlines. I thought about
their commitment, duties, tri-
umphs and tragedies, and the
personal sacrifice and that of
the families, friends and com-
munities when the service-
men and -women left home.
As I walked home last
night, I met one of our World
War II veterans who served
in the Army Air Corps before
it became the Air Force. Each
year we lose several of that
generation to time's passing,
and I wondered how many
appreciated their service and
those who followed in Korea,
• 'Nam and the Persian Gulf
and times in between.
As I looked at the integra-
tion and casualty report with
the numbers of those return-
ing, those injured and those
who perished, I took a mo-
ment to appreciate their
work and feel some pride.
So, when the headlines an-
nounced the passing of the
last vet from WWI, it meant
more to me than just that --
highlighted by the details on
the document on my desk.
Those servicemen and -
women of the past and pre-
sent, including Frank Buck-
les, share a unique title to be
proud of-- they are veterans.
I hope we remember our
vets and appreciate their ef-
forts. Don't forget, remember
a vet!
As the editor allows, I look
forward to bringing news and
announcements to our veter-
an community that might
have an effect on lives, bene-
fits and resources.
Mike McLeod
Plumas County Veterans
Service Officer
Rate protest
It is very important for all
Portola property owners to
write a letter against the pro-
posed adjustments in the fees
for the water service to have
on file at City Hall, P.O. Box
1225, Portola, CA 96122, or it
can also be dropped off at
City Hall.
By doing so-prior to the
hearing May 11 if the city re-
ceives the written protests by
a majority of the property
owners, the City Council will
not approve the rate increas-
es.
Please take a couple min-
utes to write your protest.
Joani Duncan
Portola
Fine print
Those of us following poli-
tics find instances of the pub-
lic being deceived. In the city
of Portola we are finding a
government not by the people
or for the people. Its govern.
ment is working to prevent
layoffs or other measures to
reduce the cost of govern.
ment services. Our elected Of.
ficials are placing heavy bur-
dens on the community as a
result. They are increasing
our expenses and stretching
the intent of laws to suit their
desires.
One measure to increase
their revenue was to revise
the requirements for busi-
ness licenses. They led the
country in requiring real es-
tate agents to get business li-
censes. Another was to create
a solicitation license and fee.
They also increased TOT tax.
es above county levels with.
out the consent of the public,
i.e. ho ballot measure. They
created a position for a com-
munity services officer.
Recently, property owners
received notification of a rate
increase proposed by the city
staff and approved by the city
council. It claims to be a
Proposition 218 notification
but it does not contain a bal-
lot for approval or rejection
of their proposal. It states in
the fine print: "If written
protests against the proposed
adjustments in the fees for
water service are filed at or
prior to the hearing by a ma-
jority of the property owners,
the city council will not ap-
prove the rate adjustments."
The staff did not present the
council with other options as
requested.
It is time for property own-
ers to send an ultimatum to
our elected officials to stop
wasting our money and give
us our government back! It is
time to say "No more fees or
taxes!" It will require an all.
out effort of protests to the
City Hall before May 11. Read
the fine print for the require-
ments.
Larry F. Douglas
Portola
Excellent work
We can well be proud of the
county road crew. They have
done excellent work, under
the circumstances. When
there is a berm across my dri-
veway I just think of the
cleared street on the other
side.
I wish we had the funds to
have the operators follow up
by opening the driveways,
like they used to do, but fully
understand the impacts of the
current economic situation.
We are very fortunate to get
the service that we have.
Please pass my thanks along
to each of them.
Keith Crumrner
Lake Almanor West
General welfare
Socialism is a "buzz" word
the Republicans have recent-
ly resurrected to scare the
people.
Rush Limbaugh used it
immediately following Oba-
ma's election. Apparently it
has met with some success
because it appears on the
book jackets of recent Repub-
lican mercenary political
writers as well as the jacket
of Gingrich's latest book.
Out of hand, the Republi -
cans decided to get as much
mileage out of their "buzz"
word as they could.
The Webster's New Colle-
giate Dictionary defines so-
cialism as "any of various
economic and political theo-
ries advocating collective or
government ownership and
administration of the means
of production and the distrib-
ution of goods."
There is absolutely no hint
of such a system in any of
Obama's policies. His policies
are designed simply to help
America out of a disastrous
quagmire of Republican ne-
glect of the people's needs.
It has been the practice of
the Republican Party to make
sure that its rich campaign
contributors continue to get
richer, even if it means re-
ducing the average American
to the poverty level.
Although the preamble to
the Constitution is not part of
our body of laws, every exist-
ing colony at the founding of
the nation and every territo-
ry that has joined our union
since, has had to accept it and
the Constitution in order to
be part of the United States of
America.
The preamble clearly
shows the intent of the Con-
stitution, which, among other
things, states that the Consti-
tution is being established
"to ... promote the general
welfare." That means the wel-
fare of everyone.
ff it actually were socialism
to "promote the general wel-
fare," then may I say, without
condemnation, that many re-
ligious sects have been prac-
ticing socialism with great
success for many years.
Salvatore Catalano
Northridge
Taylorsville
After dinner
Thank you for publishing
Bill Martin's "Where I Stand"
article. He provides a needed
correction to all the talk we
hear these days about the al.
leged dangers of unions and
the need to reduce taxes on
the wearthy.
I am not now and I have
never been a member of a
union. The private schools
where I taught history for 39
years discouraged unions.
And yet I have benefited from
the union movement. After
all, private sctols compete
with public schools for good
teachers. Improvements in
salary, benefits and working
environments in public
schools spilled over into pri-
vate schools.
My reading of U.S. history
is that similar things hap-
pened throughout the econo-
my. Rare indeed were far-
sighted business leaders like
Henry Ford who, on his own
initiative, paid his workers
well enough that they could
afford to buy the cars they
made. For most American
workers improvements in
pay, working conditions and
benefits were the direct re-
sult of labor unions.
The current effort to blame
workers and unions for prob-
lems in government budgets
is over the top. To be sure, re-
forms are needed. But our
current problems are chiefly
due to tax rates that are far
too generous to the wealthy
and regulation that is far too
tolerant of business abuses.
One hundred seventy years
ago in his essay "Self Re-'
liance" Ralph Waldo Emer-
son explained the attitude of
the well-to-do then, the same
attitude that prevails among
them now. "Men are conserv-
ative when they are well fed,"
wrote Emerson, "and they
are especially conservative
after dinner."
Andy Johnston
Clio
Greed
Our hearts go out to the
good people of Japan. The
devastation caused by the 9.0
earthquake and ensuing
tsunami was extensive. Tens
of thousands of people were
killed and/or missing. The
economic impact will be
enormous (minimum $309 bil-
lion). But, it turns out that
MotherNature's fury pales in
comparison to a more horren-
dous catastrophe that oc-
curred.
Six nuclear reactors were
severely damaged. Their
nuclear waste depositories
are in jeopardy. Lethal radia-
tion particles are now found
in the air, on the ground, in
the ocean, in food and in tap
water. Radiation has come
to California and, just like
Chernobyl, will circle the
planet. Cancers and death
from this radiahon will occur.
The "ring of fire" took on a
whole new meaning March 11.
It goes beyond stupidity for
man to simply boil water uti-
lizing the most destructive
force known to humankind.
One mistake, one accident
can cause massive death and
destruction that lasts for
decades. Lasting thousands of
years, nuclear waste is the ra-
dioactive landmine we sabo-
tage our future generations
"with.
It is time for America to
phase out the madness that is
nuclear and coal energy. In
2000, Germany passed a law
subsidizing solar energy pro-
duction. Half the world's so-.
lar energy is now produced
there. They are abandoning
nuclear power. And they ac-
count for 15 percent of solar
energy equipment exports.
Perhaps the most destruc-
tive force in America is
man's greed. Greed prevents
the handful of power compa-
ny executives and most politi-
cians from embracing clean
renewable energy sources.
They don't care if you die or
if they contaminate our nest.
They just want their money.
If our world is to survive,
the profit motive must be re-
moved from essential human
requirements that include
• transportation, health care,
food, water and power. Greed
has no business in basic hu-
man needs.
Mark Mihevc
Graeagle
Grow algae
Oil production worldwide
has been on the decline since
2006 and our government is-
n't willing to fix this.
India and China together
have half the world popula-
tion and are now consuming
more oil. Then there's global
warming caused by burning
oil and you hear we're all ad-
dicted. Is there no answer?
Well, from our government
there's no answer. They don't
want to drill here at home
and our current energy poli-
cy only talks about light
bulbs. As of 2014 we will only
be able to buy CFL bulbs
which are made in China.
See Letters, page 12B