Sutter Health motivated by money, nothing more

Just when my friends and I were starting to breathe a sigh of relief, Sutter Health is back in the picture. It is not only back in the picture but it is still pushing to regionalize the hospital and turn it into “Critical Access.” It reminds me of the schoolyard bully who just won’t go away. It is very clear that Sutter Health is not thinking of our community and many of our doctors. The compelling reason for its persistence and determination is very simply the money involved and nothing more. It is certainly not concerned for us.

The community and most of our doctors do not want our hospital to be regionalized. Why, then, are our voices not being heard? We had heard that Asante Health System was very interested in our hospital and that sounded like very good news. We would not lose our hospital beds but gain the likelihood of more doctors and more equipment. Asante also has a very good reputation.

Rick and I in Lahaina, Maui, in November. Del Norte Triplicate

Sometimes we find ourselves in comfortable situations, reluctant to make a move or rock the boat. How many times have you heard someone say, “Why mess with a good thing?”

I first met Rick in the summer of 1998. He came calling at the newspaper in Grants Pass where I was marketing director. I was summoned to the lobby to “speak to a gentleman in a suit who is requesting free advertising.”

Seeking practical solutions for homeless

This time of year, every year, we hear a lot about homelessness, both pros and cons. Both sides make some good arguments, but neither side has made any headway in solving this issue.

Perhaps the focus on homelessness needs to be narrowed just a bit. While it’s true that there are hard-core homeless folks out there that have absolutely no interest in becoming employed and housed, there is a segment that would jump at the chance.

There are those in our community that, through no fault of their own have found themselves homeless. Loss of jobs due to the economy, illness or simply being under-employed may have contributed to their situation.

With basketball season under way at Del Norte, I can’t help but remember how excited I was as the season approached in my freshman year as a Warrior in 1947.

Back in those days there were no freshman or JV teams. There were lightweights and heavyweights, or varsity. Eligibility to play lightweights was based on height, weight and age.

A certain amount of points were given for each of these and the total determined whether you were a lightweight or heavyweight. You could play heavyweight by choice if you were talented enough.

House Calls runs every other Saturday. Today’s column is written by Doron Andrews, a respiratory therapist at Sutter Coast Hospital.

Now that winter has come upon us and the rain has finally stormed its way in, many of us are considering staying inside to avoid the weather.

While most of us stock up for the cold season with hand sanitizer and vitamin C, there are other things we should stay aware of.  This time of the year is also known as flu and pneumonia season.

Influenza (flu) is a highly contagious viral infection that is one of the most severe illnesses of the winter season. Most people are ill with the flu for only a few days, but some get much sicker and require hospitalization. Imagine all off a sudden you start to feel exhausted, dehydrated, and unable to take in a full breath of air without feeling pain. If this sounds somewhat familiar, it’s no longer the flu or cold you’re fighting against, you have pneumonia.  Today I’ll remind you of the signs, symptoms and some preventative measures you can take for both the flu and pneumonia.     

Father Adam Kotas

 Christmas season brings reminder that there is always a place to find hope 

The following was written by Father Adam Kotas of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Crescent City.

Right before Christmas for the past few years a group of atheists puts up billboards in many states that read in part, “why are you celebrating Christmas, don’t you know it is all just a myth?”

My response to these self-proclaimed atheists is, “try living without the Christmas message of hope in times of trouble, in times of trial, in times of sickness, in times of death, in times of suffering!”

I feel sadness for the people behind these billboards for I know firsthand the results of atheism in the life of a person, a country, and the destruction it causes in the life of a family. I know this because I grew up under an atheistic system in my native Poland that strove to remove God from people’s lives.

From the pages of the Crescent City American, December 1931.

Harry S. Prescott came forth this week with his bit for the relief of the needy when he contributed $2 to the fund started by the Crescent City American. 

What a fine spirit this shows on the part of those who have already contributed. If everyone who could afford it would do just as much as the others, Del Norte’s needy would be well taken care of. And what a happy feeling it would give you in your own heart to know that you had been unselfish enough to contribute to the relief of those poor people. 

We know that there are those getting relief that are unworthy. We know that some of them never would work when they had a chance to work, but their poor little kiddies, who have no choice or say in the matter, must be taken care of, they must not go hungry.

If you have a sack of potatoes, onions, turnips, some cabbage, or anything that is good food, it will be just as good as the money. If you can’t give cash, give food.

Were you ever hungry or out of work and had no money? Well we hope you never are. 

Chief’s heart softens

Chief of Police Glenn D. Robinson had a hard heart, and when travelers would come to town without funds to carry them along, he took them to the city limits. But his heart mellowed when he saw poor devils coming in with bleeding feet and at the point of starvation. 

Chief Robinson has now established a “soup kitchen” at the city jail and will feed those that come, at no expense to the city. M. E. Morris has donated a stove, and Chief Robinson has collected plates, cups and all that is necessary to eat from, together with the necessary pots and pans for preparing Mulligan stew.

N.F. McNamara has agreed to supply the necessary soup bones and Chief Robinson will supply the potatoes, carrots and onions. He has acquired the services of an itinerant who will do the cooking for a time. 

Calls for change by the Republican Party — especially its California branch — came from all sides in the days immediately following President Obama’s re-election.

But don’t expect that to go anywhere fast. For this is a party that values its core principles and predilections more than it does victory.

As early as 1993, when California was just one year into its shift from being a Republican mainstay to becoming reliably Democratic in presidential elections, the GOP was warned that it needed to change its stances on immigration amnesty, gun control, birth control and abortion, equal pay for women and many others.

The GOP is now generally supportive of equal pay for women. But it has not changed much on anything else. Nor is that likely, despite the fact that some of the change-oriented advice it has lately received comes from its most conservative members.

Take Ted Cruz, the newly-elected Tea Party-sponsored Republican U.S. senator from the GOP bastion of Texas, where no Democrat has won statewide office since the 1990s.

“If Republicans do not do better in the Hispanic community, in a few short years Republicans will no longer be the majority in our state,” Cruz told a reporter. “If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House. New York and California are for the foreseeable future unalterably Democrat. If Texas turns bright blue, the Electoral College math is simple…the Republican Party would cease to exist. We would become like the Whig Party.”

So Cruz implies he might compromise on some things. But many other conservative Republicans remain defiant of the need to change. Here’s what newly-reelected GOP Congressman John Campbell of Orange County wrote just days after the election:

 “I’ll be damned if this member of Congress is going…to go along with a slow move towards socialism rather than a fast one. This game is not over!”

Some of us like to hear what Alexander has to say

I’d like to respond to Karen Olson’s Dec. 1 letter (“Spare us DA’s ramblings”) about DA Jon Alexander’s pieces in the paper.

In it, it seems she complains about the DA writing anything at all. Obviously, she has a problem with him, which would be the case whether he wrote anything or not. She prefers he be censored, evidently. That would not sit well with me or a great many members of this community who voted for him and still stand by him.

Hundreds have voiced support for Jon, many more than the 50 “koolaid” drinkers she refers to (and I prefer Tetley British Blend, thanks). We are not blinded by the rhetoric and understand better than you give us credit for.

The DA is a man who is not always easy to understand and who is not perfect. Who among us is? But he loves and respects the law and has shown an unrelenting sense of purpose, drive and dedication to our small community.

And he loves to write and wax poetic or quote a lyric or two. So? Is that forbidden now? I don’t think the majority of us have a problem with multifaceted individuals. He writes about life experiences, people worth knowing, and problems we all face.

I personally like to hear these things and, though I may not always agree, I can appreciate the viewpoint and humanity with which it was written or uttered. I don’t feel put upon or threatened if Mr. Alexander wishes to speak. He is a passionate person and not one to sit there and say nothing or mutter under his breath.

 Why did this happen?  What was the motive? Do we need to increase gun control?  What will stop this insanity?  

All are valid questions, but the media exposure by news anchors, consultants, on-site reporters — who all get paid to keep an audience watching their 24-hour news shows — focus on tragedies such as these for ratings. Aren’t they also somewhat responsible?

Motive does not matter, as we have seen from so many of these massacres. All the perpetrators are mentally unstable. But why did this happen?

Look at the violent video games, the popularity of the violent crime dramas on TV, the violence in movies — these all desensitize people to violence. Kids grow up playing these violent games.  Killing on video is not permanent — they just win and go to the next game. Killing on TV and in the movies appears to be commonplace — and the show ends with the perpetrator dead or going to prison.

Will gun control stop this?  Sure, all the good guys won’t have guns and the bad guys will find a way to get them.  That does not make sense.

What will stop this insanity? Our society is filled with rage because it does not believe it has any control over the current economy, battles raging all over the world, even improving local problems. The past elections were filled with ugly, angry slurs, not positive purpose on how to make a difference.

More laws will not stop this. They can pass all the laws in the world but the unlawful will still do whatever they want. I, personally, do not want more government control over my life. I want humanity to wake up.

This will only stop when we stop it. Stop the violent video games, the violent movies, the violent TV shows. Stop settling disagreements with rage, anger and violence. Stop political back-stabbing.

Stop the 24-hour media focus on violent, horrible, tragic news. Has anyone else noticed how difficult it is to find good news on TV, in the newspaper, or enjoyable television or movies to watch?