In the Jan. 12 Editor’s Note column, “Newtown: There are myriad ways to fight back,” you discussed a number of valid proposals. And I do agree with some of your suggestions.

Arming designated people with self-defense training capable of firing back is a good idea, though they need not be marshals or even law enforcement. How about expanding the base of civilians with concealed weapons permits? They have the training needed and the extensive background checks.

As for violence in entertainment and graphic TV news, exposing our young people to the violent entertainment, movies, video games and much of what is called music these days does have an effect. But all of that can be reduced with parental censorship. Also the parents as role models make a lot of difference.

The mentally ill is a bit of a stickier subject. It has been my experience that most professional psychologists are extremely left-leaning (i.e., anti-gun). Allowing them to make the decision on which of their patients should be allowed to own firearms is biased at best.

Strictly speaking, if one is a danger to himself or others, they shouldn’t be allowed on the streets. I also know that isn’t practical or right. But neither is punishing law-abiding citizens for the crimes of a few.

The Newtown shooter was mentally disturbed by all accounts I have seen, as was the shooter in Aurora. Both were on anti-psychotic drugs, as were almost all of the shooters involved in the recent shootings. Most broke several state and federal laws in the commission of their crimes.

Gitlin's debut was a study in group dynamics

1st District Supervisor Roger Gitlin’s debut as a sitting board member Jan. 8 was a study in group dynamics from my perspective.

I was disappointed in his delayed welcome to the board as a new member in several aspects; the first being that he was not acknowledged as welcome by Chairman Mike Sullivan until after introduction of new employees and committee reports 10 minutes after the opening of the meeting. One would expect that a new board member would be be acknowledged as welcome to the board and to the public in his/her official capacity as the first order of business.

His eventual welcome came in a somewhat incidental manner, as if to say “oh! by the way, glad to have you aboard” or something similar 10 minutes after the opening.

The disappointment was furthered by Supervisor Gerry Hemmingsen with his remark of hoping Mr. Gitlin would do as well as departing Supervisor McNamer had.Not exactly a vote of confidence nor a note of welcome.

Although subtle, there was a noticeable seating distance between the positioning of Supervisor Gitlin’s chair/microphone setup from that of the other members’. I wondered if this was a sort of rite for incoming members.

Supervisor McClure’s placing of a bottle of water at Supervisor Gitlin’s space as she entered was a nice touch and might be considered a non-verbal welcome.

As the meeting went forward and people were invited to speak per the agenda, the most notable aspect was Supervisor Gitlin’s engagement with the presenters, largely consisting of questions.

One of the first bits of advice Vice President Joe Biden received after becoming the point person for shaping new federal gun control and mental health proposals in the wake of December’s mass shootings in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school was to follow the California example.

Copy this state’s strategy for funding mental health programs, suggested Darrell Steinberg, Democratic leader of the state Senate. That’s one way, he said, to lessen the chance of deranged individuals blasting dozens of children and teachers with assault rifles or machine pistols.

There was more than a little irony in Steinberg’s suggestion. Only last August, he formally requested a formal audit of billions of dollars in mental health funds raised by the 2004 Proposition 63, which imposes a 1 percent supplemental tax for mental health care on incomes over $1 million.

So far, this levy has taken more than $8 billion from high-income Californians.

 But last summer, the Associated Press reported that tens of millions of Prop. 63 dollars have gone to programs aiding state residents not diagnosed as mentally ill, including yoga, art and drama classes, horseback riding and gardening.

The audit results are not yet in, and there are explanations for some of the expenditures the AP noted. Gardening, for example, was to attract Cambodian immigrants who might otherwise avoid mental health services for cultural reasons. Yoga and art therapy can help stave off some forms of mental illness.

 There’s no doubt the Proposition 63 money has been helpful in keeping government-funded mental health care alive while other programs like in-home care for frail or disabled senior citizens were severely truncated during half a decade of severe state budget crises.

In 2011, Patricia Ryan, executive director of the California Mental Health Directors Assn., reported that “The programs made possible…are as varied as California is diverse.”

She cited the highly-individualized Vietnamese Full Service Partnership in Santa Clara County, aiming to help Vietnamese adults with serious mental illnesses like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Within a year after that program started in 2006, participants were using emergency psychiatric services 28 percent less than before and were hospitalized 65 percent less, while using long-term care facilities 82 percent less than before.

Keola Beamer performed Friday in Crescent City. Del Norte Triplicate / Michele Postal

Some fans wore aloha shirts under their parkas and heavy jackets. A couple of women in the front row came with flowers in their hair. For the occasion I chose a sleeveless Hawaiian print dress layered with a sweater and wool coat, and around my neck the rainbow-colored ribbon lei my friend Pat made for me when I visited her in Honolulu a couple of years ago.

I eavesdropped to pass the time while we waited for the concert to begin and overheard folks talking about their personal experiences of Hawaii. A woman sitting behind us lived there as a child; a couple across the aisle gushed about their recent — and first — trip there. Others recalled how many times they’ve been, and inevitably had to choose what island they liked the best. Everyone had their favorite and their own reason why.

On a cold January night, music fans were ready for some Hawaiian. Del Norte Triplicate / Michele Postal

I get a little sentimental when I hear Hawaiian music. I landed in Honolulu the first time on a January evening exactly 39 years ago. I didn’t know a soul there, but had made arrangements to move in with some University of Hawaii students who needed a roommate. My mother, in her infinite wisdom, insisted I make reservations at a Waikiki hotel for my first night, worried that I might arrive late and not find my new digs in the dark.

 Eighteen months after I graduated from USF with a degree in English, I decided to start graduate school. I chose Hawaii because I was interested in learning more about Japanese culture and language in hopes of eventually teaching English in Japan. And, to be honest, after five years in San Francisco, I wanted a change of climate.

My modest motel on the west end of Waikiki was next door to a busy restaurant and bar called Pieces of Eight. They had live music and all-you-can-eat fish ’n’ chips for $2.99. I had my first meal in Hawaii there and my first taste of local music.

I’ve written before about the need for passionate moderates: People who energetically seek compromise while taking stands based on the issue at hand without regard to labels such as conservative or progressive, Tea Partier or liberal.

Nowhere is the need greater than in formulating America’s response to the string of massacres culminating — at least for now — in Newtown, Conn.

There are partial solutions a’plenty and none involve rocket science. In fact, they’ve already been mentioned by local voices in the pages of the Triplicate. The non-compromisers will tell you that only some of these proposals are valid. But the fact is, they all are.

• Violence as entertainment: Killing people is obscene, and yet we limit access to pornography much more than we limit access to video games where players choose their weapons and go on murderous sprees. Sometimes the victims are unsympathetic, but oftentimes players can kill anyone they choose, including bystanders — the special effects are the same.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board already advises parents and retailers alike about the appropriateness of certain games for certain age levels. But let’s face it: plenty of these games are inappropriate for all ages. We should treat them the same way we treat the vilest forms of legal pornography — stores that opt to provide them should put them behind their counters. And if the public starts to view these establishments as the equivalent of adult bookstores, all the better.

Again, killing people is obscene. Movies that contain an inordinate amount of violence should be rated X. The movie industry is self-policing. While submitting films to the ratings of the Motion Picture Association of America is voluntary, many theater chains won’t show them if they are unrated.

Giving films that are full of gratuitous violence an X rating would prevent children from seeing them in theaters. What gets shown in homes is up to parents, but the message would be delivered to people of all ages: watching this stuff in movies or TV shows is as socially acceptable as watching porn.

• TV news media and voyeurism: Each massacre becomes a 24/7 mini-series on CNN, FOX and MSNBC, as every detail is told and retold over the course of several days. Unless they have the good sense to turn it off, viewers are force-fed far beyond the nutritional value of understanding what happened.

Obama a bad choice

Those who voted for President Obama’s re-election should have done your homework, and here are some of the reasons:

He buys votes by giving our money to various groups such as unions, money bundlers,or increasing time on unemployment. According to the Wall Street Journal of April 19, 2012, food stamps were used by 45 million people; a 70 percent increase from 2007, and this will continue to grow through 2014. He is buying votes.

According to The Foundry dated Oct. 18 2012, 18 of 33 companies that have been offered or received our money have gone bankrupt and the others have filed for bankruptcy. Many of the CEO’s have been bundlers for Obama.

The Institute for Energy on Nov. 6, 2009, stated that “Obama’s stimulus plan of $1.05 billion went to overseas companies, not to our companies.

The New York Times reported on Aug. 23, 2012, the income of those between 55 and 64 years of age declined from $53,508 to $50,064 during the period since the recovery officially started in 2009.

The Examiner reported on July 24, 2012, that Obamacare will cost us $4 billion more in taxes. This president often uses the term “the rich should pay their fair share,” but he never states what that amount should be, instead he uses that as a means to divide groups of people.

Also, if you listen to him he never mentions the 48 percent of people who do not pay any federal income taxes. Why? He knows they will vote for him and he, as a Chicago politician, buys votes.

No one has responded to my question about what the difference is between President Obama’s desire to share the wealth and the communists' statement “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

I don’t know why liberals are unable or unwilling to see who this person is; i.e., someone who has a deep aversion for our Constitution and is destroying our freedoms and the greatness of America. I hate to see what he is doing, and liberals either have no clue or are willing to keep their heads in the sand.

Marlowe Thompson, Crescent City

To thief of my tools ...

This letter is to the “tweaker” who stole my carpet tools on Sunday night.

Twenty years ago I’d have hunted you down like a dog and made you pay a serious price for your transgression against me.

Instead, I’ve decided to forgive you because I also was a “speed freak” in my early life. And I did some things I truly regret because of my addiction to meth.

But one day at the end of my miserable life, I reached out to Jesus Christ and he forgave me and asked me to do the same and he would make things right.

Well, I’ve been clean over 20 years now and even though the old me cries out for your blood, I forsake my anger and revenge and offer to you the same forgiveness that he offered me.

Make no mistake, brothers and sisters, as you sow, so shall you reap.

Edmund Sinicrope, Crescent City

Warrior fans from the past who can remember attending events in the old high school gym, which is now the recreational department gym, may remember the red and white blanket that hung on the wall at its west end.

Each year, teams would vote on the most inspirational player in the four sports that were played at Del Norte High School at the time: football, basketball, baseball and track. There were no interscholastic sports for girls at that time.

In 1938 they started entering names of Warrior athletes. With sports greatly reduced during World War II, no name appeared during those years. When the colors changed from red and white to blue and gold and the new high school was opened, the blanket was taken down and seemed to disappear.

In 1980 when I came back to Del Norte, Al Peyton, who was the principal at the time, told me about a storage room over the cafeteria that had a lot of old red and white stuff that needed to be cleaned out.

When I went into that  room, wadded up in the corner, was the blanket. Mr. Peyton declared it to be a piece of history and had it cleaned and placed it in the Thunen Gym. After a period of time it again disappeared only to show up again about three years ago.

Since the school did not want it, it was given to Al Young, whose name is on it for track in 1951. Al contacted the Del Norte Historical Society Museum and officials there indicated they would like to have it.

A short time ago while I was at the museum I was taken into a room and there on the wall, this piece of Warrior sports history was again on display.

Thank you, Al Young and the Del Norte Historical Society; it is where any interested Warrior fan can look at this part of history.

Dick Trone writes on his reflections and the history of Del Norte High Warrior sports. Trone, who played football for the Warriors and graduated in 1951, had an illustrious career on the gridiron at Humboldt State University. Trone was football head coach at Del Norte High for a number of years before retiring.

Sea salt. Special to the Triplicate / Anne Boulley

It’s sort of fun experimenting with making things even when they’re cheap and readily available at the store. It helps you understand how they are made and gives you a sense of satisfaction in knowing the process.

One thing I have made that does that for me is making my own sea salt. The first time I made it, it was very strong and had a metallic flavor to it. I have since made it with a better technique and it comes out flakier and cleaner tasting.

If you’d like to give it a try it’s easy and just requires a bit of patience.

The best place to get salt water is deep in the ocean. If you know a fisherman who can gather some for you or if you have a boat, gather up several gallons when you’re out fishing. Otherwise, you’ll have to scope out an area that has less traffic from boats and people, but look out for potential farm runoff areas.

You won’t be ingesting a lot of the salt, and salt, by its very nature, does not harbor much in the way of bacteria, but you still want the cleanest available. 

I gather salt water in clean gallon milk jugs. Then I take it home and carefully strain it twice through coffee filters. You could use a fine cheesecloth or muslin if you have it.

Then pour salt water into a glass or Pyrex baking dish to the brim and put it into the oven for 3–4 hours at 350 degrees. Keep an eye on it every so often as it gets toward the end.

You will see the salt collecting on the sides and bottom of the dish. If you see flakes on the top of the salt water when you check on it, you can use a strainer to collect the crystals and lay them on a cookie sheet to finish air drying. These, when they occur, are the flakiest pieces and great for topping truffles or using at the table to use as a finishing salt.

How long it takes depends on the temperature of your oven, the amount of water you’re trying to evaporate and the salinity of the water. With the amount of rain we get in this area it can take longer sometimes.

“Take away their guns.”

“It’s time to put the mentally ill back in the institutions.”

“Just what’s wrong with this country that all this shooting is going on?”

More and more we hear these things. Everyone seems to think these ideas are what we need to “fix things.”

Politics and religion are two of the topics most likely to cause disagreement — and when you combine the two, watch out!

I have a granddaughter who was in Baghdad when the war was going on there. Not military, she was employed by a private security company. In an email one day, she complained bitterly that “religion is the cause of all the trouble in the world.”  I hated that she had come to feel that way, but I knew that what she was being exposed to in Iraq could certainly have given her that impression.

As a senior citizen, I have watched for many years as things have changed, and I can come to only one conclusion: The further we distance ourselves from God as a country, the worse things have become.

How can we expect our kids to act honorably if we fail to be good role models?

Perhaps it’s time that we all put more stock in our faith — start going back to church, and living more by those principles that bring out love rather than hate.

Crescent City is rich in houses of worship, both Christian and Jewish. Churches of nearly every denomination, and fellowship with some really great people. Give it a try — on this page is a directory. If you don’t “fit” in one church, try another. Whatever your choice of style, charismatic, traditional, contemporary, it’s here, as is Temple Beth Shalom if you are Jewish. Some churches provide both traditional and contemporary services, and some both English and Spanish.

For special activities coming up, we have these:

From the pages of the Crescent City American, January 1928.

Redwood trees will continue to shade the new section of the Redwood Highway north of Crescent City through the efforts of B.B. Meeks, director of the State Department of Public Works, and Ralph W. Buli, chairman of the California State Highway Commission.

The Save the Redwoods League raised funds for the purchase of a 20-acre tract of the redwoods along the highway. Del Norte County supervisors cooperated in raising enough money to buy the tract from lumbering interests who were logging off the land. 

Car lost on beach

The Ford coupe driven by Wm. Crosley into the surf opposite Van’s Auto Camp last Wednesday evening was lost in the sand and was a total wreck.

Bill, it seems, was down on the beach looking for clams when his car settled in the sand and before he could get help the tide came in and sucked it into the sand so deep that the wrecker car could not pull it out.

The accident occurred about 10 o’clock at night and due to the darkness, the driver could not see the surf and drove into it. 

The Ravioli Shack

Last week, Mrs. Silvia Berri and Mrs. Harry Webber, proprietors of the Ravioli Shack on Radio Road, dissolved partnership and the Shack is now under the management of Mrs. Berri alone. 

Mrs. Berri states that she will be glad to receive appointment orders from the public and will keep the Shack open on Saturdays and Sundays as before. 

Meat market sold

Ray Chafey, who built and has operated a meat market at new Klamath for the past year, Tuesday sold his place of business to Ed Chapman, also of Klamath. 

Mr. Chafey has sold his range land also to Mrs. Bernice Peini, which clears him of all his holdings in the county and in a few days he will move to Arcata with his family and will make his home there. 

Crescent City Garage ad

1927 Ford Coupe, new tires, guaranteed in good condition. Price $275. Cash or terms if desired. 

Slide holds up traffic

One-way traffic will be in force on the slide on the Redwood Highway near Patrick’s Creek for some time, it is stated by J. G. Bromley, resident engineer, who Monday examined the extent of the slide. Mr. Bromley expected the road to be open Tuesday afternoon.

The slide is four miles past the Patrick’s Creek Tavern and is estimated to contain about 100,000 yards of rock and dirt. The road was pushed well out into Smith River. It is the worst slide in the history of the road. The slide was about 300 feet in length. 

Buys registered cattle

L.E. Cadra, one of the progressive ranchers and dairy men of the Lake Earl District, returned home the first of the month with three head of registered Ayershire dairy cows, which he purchased in Shasta County. 

These have been added to his herd of dairy cattle, which makes six head of registered stock and a fine bull to head the herd. Mr. Cadra is now milking 28 head of cattle. 

Reach Nita Phillips at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it