There is a small article on the front page today about City Councilwoman Donna Westfall launching yet another initiative to throw her colleagues out of office.

A small article, because Westfall has been doing this with regularity since she was elected in November 2008.

We’ll keep this editorial small as well. Just big enough to note that in having her colleagues served with recall paperwork for the third time in less than two years, Westfall is clearly engaging in the politics of harassment.

It’s budget-cutting time again, state-wide and in Del Norte schools, and there’s no $2.9 million federal stimulus rescue for us this year. We all knew that would be the case even while gratefully gathering up those one-time funds a short year ago.

The School Board approved spending all allowable stimulus funds to employ staff this year.  That’s what the funds were for. However, the message was clear: “This is one-time money, and we’ll have to cut by this much next year.” Everyone grimaced imagining the pain ahead. Now we are all living it: 22,000 teachers were pink-slipped state wide by the March 15 deadline.

Today and Thursday, there are local meetings of the Regional Stakeholder Group (RSG) at the Elk Valley Rancheria conference room.

Today the meeting starts at 9:30 a.m.; on Thursday it continues at 8 a.m.

This is a meeting of the local people who have been selected to give input for the northern area’s process of sighting marine protected areas. This group is not responsible for the process; its members are dedicated locals who are trying to reduce the negative impacts these closures will cause.

My wife Laura and I have logged a lot of miles on North Coast hiking trails, and we like to think we go prepared. We wear good hiking shoes, carry roll-up raincoats even on sunny days and put in supplies of seldom-used sunscreen and bug repellent along with a little extra food and water.

We also pick our spots. We were too savvy to be lured into the redwoods last Saturday, even though it dawned unexpectedly clear. Hard rains had fallen in previous days, and we knew the trails would be mushy.

Any day now, you will receive information about the U.S. Census in your mailbox. Please don’t throw this information away. It may look like junk mail, but completing the census form is one of the most important ways you can help our community this month.

The census is an important part of our democracy. Every 10 years it takes a snapshot of our population. This is not an optional exercise, but something that is mandated by our Constitution. It’s really based on the principle of fairness: In order to determine how we allocate federal representation and federal funding, we need to know how our population is changing. And by ensuring that everyone is counted, it ensures that everyone can participate in our democracy in a fair and equitable way.