About to sail & dragging anchor

About to sail: It's great to see another mural go up in Crescent City. On Sunday, the Redwoods Mural Society will dedicate the Jed Smith Mural, located on a side of the Crescent Ace Hardware building. Murals do much more than beautify urban areas. They generate community pride and create interest in our rich history. Perhaps most importantly, they demonstrate what a group of volunteers, donors and private organizations can accomplish when they work together with passion toward a worthy end.

Dragging anchor: We're most disturbed to read the allegations that Vice President Dick Cheney may have pressured various officials at the U.S. Department of the Interior and the National Academy of Sciences to review Klamath River and salmon issues in 2001 and 2002, as stated in a The Washington Post story on Wednesday. More than 60,000 salmon washed up dead months after farmers and ranchers obtained the water they needed – despite scientists' warnings that lower water levels would harm fish. Last year, the Northcoast ocean commercial salmon fishing shut down due to low numbers of salmon that return to the Klamath River to spawn. We'd think the vice president would have had more important issues to address in 2001-02, like finding Osama bin Laden.

About to sail: Del Norte Community Health Center opened in its new Washington Boulevard digs this week, and the community certainly will benefit from it. Among the health issues our community faces is space to provide services. The new center helps rectify that problem by increasing the number of exam rooms and dental suites.

About to sail: Congrats to Jeff Bomke, Redwoods National and State Parks maintenance chief, for receiving the Newton Drury Award for Integrity. At Jedediah Smith State Park, Bomke successfully balanced the needs of tourists and American Indian heritage and preserving the area's natural beauty during recent reconstruction. The park serves many different people and interests, so finding the delicate balance between them is difficult at best.

About to sail: A belated happy birthday to LaVerne Eidson. The Addie Meedom House resident turned 102 on Friday. Earlier this week, The Daily Triplicate was fortunate enough to have LaVerne share her experiences with us and readers. Here's to many, many more years, LaVerne!

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