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8B Wednesday, May 18, 2011
EDITORIAL
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Bulletin, Progr ssive, Record, Reporter
EDITORIAL
Media files
in support of
Brown Act
You have heard us defend the Brown Act
on more than one occasion in these pages.
That's because it is among the most pow-
erful tools the public has to hold govern-
ment officials accountable.
That is why Feather Publishing has
joined more than 90 other newspapers, led
by the First Amendment Coalition (FAC),
in filing an amicus brief last week in an
appeal of a Brown Act lawsuit involving
the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.
The suit challenges the supervisors' prac-
tice of holding lunchtime meetings -- reg-
ularly and often that were nonpublic
and held without notification to the public
or media.
The plaintiffs the late Rich McKee,
the .California Newspaper Publishers As-
sociation (CNPA) and the Visalia Times-
Delta argued that the lunches, which
were charged to the county government
and attended by a county lawyer, were
"meetings" regulated by the Brown Act,
which generally requires that meetings be
publicly held and conducted according to
an agenda that is made public in advance.
The Superior Court disagreed and dis-
missed the suit. The appeal is from that
dismissal.
It is highly unusual for so many amici
curiae literally, "friends of the court" --
to sign an amicus brief. The FAC brief was
signed by newspapers ranging from the
state's biggest dailies (Los Angeles Times,
San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee)
to its smallest weekly newspapers (like
Feather Publishing), as well as news
wires, out-of-state media associations and
national media/First Amendment organi-
zations.
Amici were attracted by concern about
enforcing the Brown Act as well as the op-
portunity to honor open-government advo-
cate Rich McKee, who passed away last
_Reek. "_TheFirst AmendmentCoalition-i ....
prpu .to be !ead amicus on this .excellent
brief," FAC Executive Director Peter
Scheer said last Thursday.
Jim Ewert, general counsel for CNPA,
said, "It is rare that CNPA is a party to a
lawsuit but when Rich and Amy Pack at
the Visalia Times-Delta decided to pursue
litigation to challenge the supervisors'
brazen lunch meetings it was immediately
evident that the outcome would have sig-
nificant impact statewide."
He continued, "I would like to leave you
with one thought. If the trial court's deci-
sion is allowed to stand, it will eviscerate
the hallmark tenet of the Brown Act: That
public officials must take their actions
openly and that their deliberations must
be conducted openly."
We will keep you informed as this im-
portant lawsuit progresses.
A •
Feat00ng
sPaPer
Breaking News ....
l go to plumasnews.com
Michael C. Taborski ............. Publisher
Keri B. Taborski ...Legal Advertising Dept.
Delaine Fragnoli ........ Managing Editor
Alicia Knadler ........ Indian Valley Editor
M, Kate West ............. Chester Editor
Shannon Morrow .......... Sports Editor
Ingrid Burke ................ Copy Editor
Staff writers:
Michael Condon
Ruth Ellis
Will Farris
Barbara France
Mona Hill
Susan Cort Johnson
Diana Jorgenson
Dan McDonald
Pat Shillito
Brian Taylor
Kayleen Taylor
Trish Welsh Taylor
Sam Williams
Feather River Westwood
Bulletin PinePress
(530) 283-0800 (530) 256-2277
Lassen County
Times
(530) 257-53211
Portola Reporter
(530) 832-4646
Chester Progressive
(530) 258-3115
Indian Valley
Record
(530) 284-7800
AND OPINION
How do you exercise your rights?
1
in the last two years, which seem to fly di-
rectly in the face of the 10th Amendment,
which expressly limits the powers of feder-
al government to those delegated to it by
the Constitution.
Wlether you are talking about access to
the forest or national health care, some
congressional decisions are seemingly be-
MY TURN ing based on the "we're doing what's best
................................................................................................................. for you whether you like it or not"
M. KATE WEST
Chester Editor
chesternews@plumasnews.com
The past seven days in my personal and
professional world have certainly been a
refresher course in American history• I
have encountered at least three meetings
or situations where a number of constitu-
tional amendments have come into play.
In the instance of the May 4 Almanor
Tea Party meeting about the proposed
United States Forest Service Travel Man-
agement.Plan, a tremendous amount of di-
alogue took place about the balance of
power between the government and the
people. Sheriff Hagwood talked about what
he considered an imbalance of power and
offered his opinion as to how it could have
come about and what actions are neces-
sary to correct the current situation.
His cautionary comments about letting
government get too big lent emphasis to
many of the congressional decisions made
premise•
I can't remember a time, at any age,
when having the statement, "like it or
lump it" thrown at me didn't rile me up.
Wten I go to the polls to vote for a specif-
ic government official I am not simultane-
ously abdicating my right to think for my-
self.
I vqte for a candidate (and usually not
the party ticket) because I believe in many
instances we do, as individuals, have some
commonality of values on a variety of top-
ics. I vote because I hope that same elected
official would then work to improve, or at
least maintain, the status quo in the cam-
paign platform areas that are important to
me.
As for what I'm doing here, that would
be exercising my First Amendment right
to free speech, or in the case of my employ-
ment, the right of the press.
That same First Amendment gave the
Almanor Tea Party meeting attendees the
l, Vhere in the world?
Lynn Rickman and Shirley Fried.richs, of Prattville, sail on Waitemata Harbor in
Auckland, New Zealand, while on a tour of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. The Sky
Tower is in the background. Next time you travel, share where you went by taking
your local newspaper along and including it in a photo. Then email the photo to
smorrow@plumasnews.com.
REMEMBER WHEN
right to lawfully asse]
ing about the rights o
Ninth Amendment as
the unenumerated ri
people.
Moving forward int
again brought me a C
course through an iss
High School. The issu
gious organization pa
Bibles to passing stud
the school day.
While this organiza
its First Amendment
nble. And when talk-
"those citizens, the
serts the existence of
hts retained by the
o the next week
restitution refresher
Lie raised at Chester
e arose when a reli-
ssed out Gideon's
ents at the close of
tion was exercising
:ight of religion,
there is discourse thai it allegedly tram-
pled on the school dis[rict's property.
rights to not allow such activity to occur.
Later that same evening, I was given a
number of Second Amendment examples
by a television program entitled "Best De-
fense" on the Outdoor Channel.
Initially the program began with a Histo-
ry Channel sort of theme of using a mirror
to make impossible shots with a bow and
arrow in the style of William Tell and An-
nie Oakley.
Then as I continued to watch, the pro-
gram evolved into material that I would
call provocative or unacceptable.
Under the guise of the Second Amend-
ment, which protects the rights of Ameri-
can citizens to keep and bear arms, this
program was actually providing instruc-
tion on how to inflict great bodily harm
and even to fatally wound another person.
Now ... before I hear the hue and cry
from the National Rifle Association, un-
derstand I support the Second Amend-
ment. I am ex-military, I do not oppose the
death penalty and I have no problem with
self-defenge.
What I did have a problem with was
viewing an ink pen made from a steeMike
composite that doubled as a sharp spike
and the accompanying hand-to-hand dis-
play that showed precisely how to block a
movement by your opponent and then
come behind it to make that killing strike.
I have zero issue-with combat training
but to put potentially lethal civilian train-
ing on television for persons of all ages to
see and learn is not acceptable to me.
My reaction to this program takes me
back to the starting point of this piece: bal-
ance•
That this program began with a benign
archery challenge, progressed to how you
can shoot someone from a restricted pose
and concluded with stabbing a person mul-
tiple times in the neck just goes beyond the
pale•
There was little balance to this program
and no discernible boundaries.
While I respect those rights afforded to
all under the Constitution, I have to say I
do not always respect the way in which
they are represented.
I think if one wants their right to be re-
sPected, they should be thoughtful in the
way in which they exercise that right.
KERI TABORSKI
Historian
75 YEARS AGO ............. 1936
Advertisement: Blairsden Restaurant
features chicken and ravioli dinners for 75
cents. Private booths available. Phone
Blairsden 20.
A large contingent of the Storrie popula-
tion turned out Tuesday to greet a Plumas
County Chamber of Commerce caravan
which traveled the new section of the
Feather River Highway connecting the
highway with Storrie and Rock Creek.
50 YEARS AGO ........... 1961
Greenhaven Unit #1, a new subdivision
just outside Greenville has been approved
by the Plumas County Planning Depart-
ment. The subdivision is to consist of 80 to
100 lots and is located just north of the pub-
lic picnic grounds.
25 YEARS AGO ....... 1986
Highway 70 in the Feather River
Canyon, closed since the February storms,
will be closed until July according to Cal
Trans. The Plumas County Board of Super-
visors had hoped and advocated that the
route, washed out in nine places, would be
open for Memorial Day to accommodate
tourists.
10 YEARS AGO ..... 2001
Longtime Plumas and Lassen County
newspaper publisher Everett E. Bey, 83,
died May 17 at his home in Arizona. The
longtime newspaperman was publisher of
Feather Publishing Company from 1968
until his retirement in 1982.
Connections are changing the world
MY TURN
SUSAN CORT JOHNSON
Staff Writer
wp@lassennews.com
It was reported on one major news net-
work that chatter about unusual activity
in Abbottabad, Pakistan, began via Twitter
long before the White House made the an-
nouncement that Osama bin Laden had
been killed. A tweet went out from some-
one in the neighborhood about helicopters
at the compound•
Texting, tweeting, smartphones and
handheld computers are changing the way
we gather information about the world in
which we live. In the past, living in a small
mountain town like Westwood would make
it more difficult to stay up to date with cur-
rent events. That is no longer true.
Whether in the rural mountains or down-
town New York, you can stay connected.
.Think back over the news in the last few
weeks. I was not invited to the royal wedding
of Wit
most
Altt
borho
tore tl
viewe
street
throu
peel b
ing pi
techn
ter sc
ingof
winds
to the
ment¢
caugh
In tt
starri
fact th
iam and Kate, yet I was there. Unlike
uests, I saw the ceremony in detail.
:ough I had never been in the neigh-
ds the tornadoes destroyed as they
wough the South and Midwest, I
J photos of the homes and quiet
before the storm and watched,
;h the aid of technology, the image
ck like the top of a sardine can leav-
.es of boards and tumbled cars. This
que for revealing the before and af-
nes provided a greater understand-
the extent of the destruction. The
were so strong people can't go back
site of their homes to search for me-
es because most likely they were
up and carried elsewhere.
e most recent Robin Hood movie
tg Russell Crowe, I was struck by the
royal family did not know the fate
f
C
w
a
C
of Kinl; Richard until they were handed his
crown well after his death. The message
was delivered by knights returning from
war abroad. Was it days/weeks before they t
received the news? Now we receive ames- m
sage in the amount of time it takes to r(
tweet, which can be as quickly as events tc
are unfolding, c
How many people are prompted to pack a n
suitcase and volunteer during times of dis- y{
aster qr at least send money because they C
are connected, through the aid of technolo-
gy, to those who were impacted? Children w
in the church I attend found a way to en-
courage the Japanese children because
they were able to see and hear personal sto-
ries from Japan following the earthquake
a9d tsunami.
_How many times is our point of view
al?out an event changed because we are
able to be an eyewitness? i recorded the
r( yal wedding, not really wanting to get up
a| 4 a.m. to watch. I was surprised bythe
G }d-honoring ceremony that took place
m d was glad I didn't dismiss it as some
p{,mpous ceremony not worthy of my time.
Whether we are camping, driving to the
airport, waiting to be called in to see the
d{ ntist or sitting in our living room at
h, }me, we can be connected.
The applications that are being created
r smartphones and handheld Computers
n be quite useful and helpful 8s well. I
s talking with the marketing lirector at
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liII,]l[ll00]l I Ull IliiHlM00l00I;iiliII IIII,IIlIIIIII00HllIN[IIII0000IIIH Illfllll00
aospital in Portland, Ore., abo
lled iTriage that allows people
eir illness or injury in order t{
ine if they should head for the
,om, an urgent care center, ma
r's appointment or self-treat.
re is required, directions are
;arest site for medical assistan
,u are having a heart attack or
]eck the iTriage app.
Information at your fingertip.
ry beneficial.
t an app
to assess
deter-
emergency
e a doc.
• urgent
iven to the
:e. Think
stroke?
can be