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lOB Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter
E D I T O R I A L .A. N D (- P I N i O N
EDITORIAL
We need to
save our
state park
Over the last year or two, we have slowly but
surely moved into a new era, an era of dimin-
ished funding and reduced services. If folks
want a particular service, they increasingly
have to "pay" for it, either with money or by
volunteering.
Want an assistant museum director? Help
pay for part of his salary. The Plumas County
Museum Association has done just that. Want
to keep libraries open and stocked with current
titles? The Friends of the Library has done just
that. Numerous civic groups continue to do-
nate to our schools to keep sports, music and
art programs alive.
The latest group to step up to the plate in a
big way is the Plumas-Eureka State Park Asso-
ciation (PESPA). This is not a large group. It is
not a particularly well-funded group; it relies
on memberships, donations and museum sales.
But its members are dedicated and passionate
about our county's only state park. With the
park set to close next year, they haye come up
with a proposal to take over its operations.
The group is uniquely qualified to do so.
Members already serve as docents, organize
the annual Gold Discovery Days and lead
restoration efforts. Now they are proposing to
run the campground. Hugely popular, it books
up every summer and is an important tourist
draw in Eastern Plumas County.
District ranger Scott Elliott is in Sacramento
this week to meet with state parks about the
plan. "PESPA already does so much," he told
us. "This is a natural extension." He envisions
a continued partnership in which the state
does make some commitment to the site.
"There are a lot of details to be worked out," he
said. "We've never done anything like this be-
fore."
His task now is to convince the decision-
makers in Sacramento that this is a good idea.
We call on our state senator, Ted Gaines, and
our assemblyman, Dan Logue, to use whatever
influence they have to urge the state parkg de-
partment to move quickly on the proposal.
PESPA and Elliott hope they can close the deal
by the end of the year.
But we need to help those who help us, as
well. If you are a business that benefits from
tourism at the state park, we encourage you to
become a member of the park association or to
make a donation. Individuals who value the
park or use its trails and facilities, we call on
you, too, to become members, to make a dona-
tion or to volunteer your time.
It's come to this: If we want a state park, we
will have to care-take it until the state can re-
sume its duties. LePs help the hardworking
volunteers of Plumas-Eureka State Park Asso-
ciation as they take on this task. Learn more
about PESPA at plumas-eureka.org.
Fea00ng
per
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
Brian Taylor
Kayleen Taylor
Trish Welsh Taylor
Sam Williams
Feather River
Bulletin
(530) 283-0800
Lassen County
Times
(530) 257-53211
Portola Reporter
(530) 832-4646
Westwood
PinePress
(530) 256-2277
Chester Progressive
(530) 258-3115
Indian Valley
Record
(530) 284-7800
Fo 1,low do, :'s orders o r else
• '
MY TURN
MIKE TABORSKI
Publisher,
mtaborski@plumasnews,com
Humbling as it was, I consider myself
very fortunate to have had the experience
of spending nine days in Plumas District
Hospital in late August and early Septem-
ber, preceded by three consecutive visits to
PDH's emergency room.
Now, before you write me off as a com-
plete whacko, wondering who in their
right mind would consider it special to
spend any amount of time in a hospital, I
can explain. Oh, I'm also a newly ordained
poster-child for following the doctor's or-
ders, but we'll get to that.
Although I felt my initial problem devel-
oping during the day on a Sunday, the se-
ries of events I am about to share began
bright and early on a Monday morning
with a gnawing lower back ache causing
excruciating pain down my left leg from an
inflamed sciatic nerve.
By Tuesday morning it became obvious
to my wife, Keri, that I needed to visit the
emergency room for relief. It wasn't until
after rny third time back in as many days
-- which included an MRI on my lower
back -- that we agreed on a new course of
action, which meant admitting me to the
hospital. Actually, truth be known, I was
simply in too much pain to argue and
wanted some sustaining relief and the hos-
pital stay sounded just like the ticket to re-
covery.
While I was in PDH's exceptional care,
and I do mean exceptional in every respect,
our family physician began his extensive
evaluation of my condition that included
ordering a series of tests, a blood panel and
a blood culture. I had developed a slight
fever so he explained that the culture
would help eliminate (or confirm, as it
were) any other possibilities or infections
as the possible soUrce of my back prob-
lems.
Three days later, my back pain was final-
ly under control, thanks, in part, to some
strong pain pills and muscle relaxant's.
However, a day after being released from
the hospital I got a call from my doctor
with some rather alarming news.
The blood culture came back positive
indicating I had contracted an alpha-strep
(mouth-borne) bacteria that rapidly
spreads to various parts of your body
through your bloodstream. This
widespread infection, known as bacterial
sepsis, could potentially have developed in-
to yet anothermalady called endocarditis,
a serious infection that aggressively at-
tacks the inner lining of your heart, com-
promising the heart valves.
So back to the hospital I went for another
rive days to treat the bacterial sepsis, re-
quiring heavy doses of penicillin dispensed
intravenously around the clock. The 24/7
IVs continued at home for another 10 days
via a portable IV machine followed by four
penicillin capsules daily for yet another 14
days. Just as expected, the penicillin killed
the bacteria.
Fortunate, you bet!
Let me start with kudos to the folks
working PDH's emergency room. A tough
job by anyone's standards, but in my opin-
ion these professional and caring individu-
als have it down.
And, thinking back, how fortunate was I
to have a local doctor who looked beyond
the MRI-exposed bulging disc problem to
find a very serious blood infection that
could have been easily- arm understand-
ably- initially overlooked?
Consider just how fortunate we are to
live in Plumas County where we ha.ve
three outstanding local hospitals with their
related clinics, each staffed with exception-
See Learns, page 12B
Where in the rld?
Chris Knox, of Portola, learns about United States history with her grandkids, Kailey and Parker Hester, in Old Williamsburg, Va.,
where they spent some "good times" in the stocks. 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. Include your name, contact information and
brief details about your photo. We may publish it as space permits.
REMEMBER WHEN
KERI TABORSKI
Historian
75 YEARS AGO .......... 1930
Miss Alice Marble, 23, of San Francisco
reigns queen of the United States women's
singles tennis championship, dethroning
the four-time champion Helen Jacobs. Miss
Marble was born in Beckwourth on Septem-
ber 28, 1913 and lived on a ranch there with
her parents before moving to San Francisco.
50 YEARS AGO ....... 1961
Advertisement: Dine out at Feather River
Hot Springs. Fish Fry every Friday. All you
can eat $2.00
Advertisement: Special. chuck wagon sup-
per including Virginia ham, stuffed Swedish
cabbage, barbequed chicken at Keddie Re-
sort Restaurant.
Advertisement: Smoorgasbord at River
Pines Lodge in Blairsden featuring spaghet-
ti, Texas chili con carne, veal and pork cut-
lets, $2.25.
25 YEARS AGO ........ 1986
Plumas County will join the Northern
Sierra Air Quality Management District
that encompasses Nevada and Sierra
Counties. The agency will afford Plumas
County many increased services.
10 YEARS AGO ....... 2001
'Portola Fire Chief Curtis Marshall re-
ceived the keys to the City's new 2001 fire-
fighter fire engine this Week. The new en-
gine can reach 75 miles per hour and has an
800 gallon water tank and is capable of
pumping 3,350 gallons of water per minute.
An anthrax scare occurred at the Chester
post office after receiving a suspicious
looking letter bearing no return address
with an illegible address and appeared to
have some sort of powder residue on it.
The letter has been forwarded to the FBI.
She's fumin3
MY TURN
ALICIA KNADLER
Indian Valley Editor
aknadler@plumasnews,com
So here I am again, flailing desperately
in my struggle to understand why I must
suffer from the effects of diesel exhaust in
a state well known for having the strictest
air quality regulations of them all.
I've asked California Highway Patrol of-
ricers in the past couple years if they ever
check local vehicles to see if they are filled
with regular diesel or the off-road variety.
I'm curious because I never really no-
ticed a troubling condition I seem to have
until there were options between regular
and off-road diesel.
There's always been the occasional
black-smoke-belching diesel truck or bus,
: over diesel fumes
but there weren't really that many.
I'd just grimace, try not to breathe much
of it in and go on about my day.
But almost as soon as there were op-
tions, I noticed some trucks that reeked
like j ust-lit barbecue someohe squirted
too much lighter fluid on.
These days I really dread being out on
the highways, because they are becoming
more numerous, and I'm frequently stuck
behind one praying for a passing lane and
no cops.
Recently, it was three times in one day I
was trapped in the fumes.
This was when the highway was down to
one lane at the Spanish Creek Bridge after
a slide and a downed power pole.
That noxious day triggered a cluster of
migraine-like headaches that lasted almost
a full week.
I posted a blurb about my condition on
Facebook after day two or three, wonder-
ing ifI was the only one so affected.
Maybe I was, because one of my friends
said I should think about investing in a
gas mask.
Thank you very much.
One local law enforcement officer 'said
the only difference in the diesel was a
color dye, or so she thought.
Another local law enforcement officer
asked for me to leave it alone.
"We need those guys," he said of a
Plumas County company with a flatbed on
the highway that day.
Black smoke was belching out from un-
der it, which leads me to believe it possi-
bly needed mechanical work as well as a
tune-up or diesel change ... it was torture
being stuck behind that thing with
nowhere to escape.
The economy is bad and diesel is too ex-
pensive, the law enforcement officer
added.
OK, while that is true, it still doesn't
seem right for them to subject us to those
awful fumes.
Diesel exhaust is toxic, according to the
National Library of Medicine.
It contains carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur com-
pounds, formaldehyde, benzene, volatile
organic compounds and other gases.
It is also deemed a likely human carcino-
gen, and long-term exposure can cause
See Fumes, page 12B