One of the really great things about coaching is the number of really special young people you get to work with.

When you are on the practice field day after day you really get to see the best of what our youth are made of and have the chance to watch a young athlete develop from his freshman year on.

Mike Sullivan, a 1988 Warrior graduate, is one of those former players I had the privilege of working with. Warrior fans have seen the Sullivan name associated with Del Norte sports going back to the ’50s when Mike’s grandmother Dee Sullivan came to Del Norte as a teacher and coach.

I have been doing mammography since 1999.  I learned from the master of mammography in Del Norte County, Susan.

That same year I was sitting with a close family member and we were discussing my work. I asked her if she had a mammogram yet.  She answered “No,” and I was kind of surprised.  Here was a smart woman in her 50s and she had yet to go in for her first baseline mammogram?

Her father was a doctor and she was well versed in medical issues. It didn’t make sense to me. I asked her, “Are you afraid of the test?” She said, “No, I am afraid of the results.” I convinced her that she needed to make an appointment with her doctor and discuss getting a mammogram.

Jerry Brown has failed Del Norte County in its time of need — twice.

First the governor didn’t bother to pay a visit to our harbor after it was devastated by March 11 tsunami surges. Our congressman, state senator and assemblyman were all here the next day.

The next day — come to think of it, that’s when Brown’s father, Gov. Edmund G. Brown, made it up to Crescent City after the catastrophic tsunami of 1964. Back then, apparently, the maps in Sacramento still showed Del Norte as being part of the Golden State.

Maybe it skips a generation.

I began to read Dale Bohling’s Coastal Voices piece of Sept. 29 with the expectation of a cogent argument from the ultra-conservative sector of the Republican party.

His response to a previous correspondent’s opinion began reasonably. Unfortunately, it descended into the usual argument to which we have become accustomed, namely that the current president is responsible for all the problems of the modern world, including immigration, narcotics and foreign policy. Mr. Bohling attempts once again to resurrect the “birther” argument against President Obama.

He fails to realize that he is beating a bare patch of ground where only three years ago there lay a dead horse. There’s just no evidence whatever that will satisfy the uncompromising and authoritarian conservative. The social conservative would have us return to the 1950s, when conformity and “togetherness” were expected of everyone, the all-but-official state religion was Christianity, and we knew exactly who our enemies were.

May voters not forget failure to enforce law in Dillard case

I for one want to question the judgment of our District Attorney Jon Alexander on his action of not filing criminal charges against Paul Dillard (“No charges to be filed in Dillard case,” Sept. 30).

There is an old saying around here, “There is no God north of Eel River and no law north of Klamath.” Has Mr. Alexander forgotten this old saying? What I do not understand is the clear pass Jon gave Paul Dillard, who is well known for his law enforcement background with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and at Pelican Bay.

People also forget that his son, Bronson Dillard, was also a sworn officer with Humboldt County who is charged with a crime against a child and a warrant from a judge was signed against him, something that Mr. Dillard, was accused of setting aside to protect his son. To me, that shows poor judgment on Mr. Dillard’s part.

From the pages of the Del Norte Triplicate, October 1941.

United support for the “Save the Klamath” association in its fight to halt pollution of the Klamath and Smith rivers and tributaries was urged by delegates attending a session of the Redwood Council, Humboldt county fish and game clubs, at the Hotel Mowatoc, Scotia, last Monday evening.

Present at the session were John A. Juza, chairman of the “Save the Klamath” association and O. Barker of Crescent City.

I realize that I’m at risk of sounding like a broken record during some times of the year. Like now.

The experts say we can expect to have about 75 years of enjoyable life, give or take a few. That translates to 75 autumns, about 60 of which might be publicly active, and I've spent a third of them with you.

So forgive me if you’ve heard it all before, but the simple truth is I’m just goofy about spiders, and this time of year my life is full of them. The other day I saw, in Grocery Outlet, a hairy spider with legs 3 feet long and a body the size of a cocker spaniel. I instantly felt superior, since there were bigger spiders at home, but this one has flashing red eyes and I may go back and get him just for fun.

Shame on DA for not letting a jury decide on punishing Dillard

In response to the Sept. 30 article, “No charges to be filed in Dillard case,” this is a true breakdown of our justice system. District Attorney Jon Alexander states that Paul Dillard “did what most parents would have done.”

Right, every parent would go to great lengths, as Mr. Dillard was accused of doing, to help their adult child who is accused of having sexual relations with minors hide from the police.

Mr. Dillard, being a former law enforcement officer, should have turned his son in from the start. He shouldn’t have hidden him in a corner and talked him into turning himself in, like Mr. Alexander states.

It’s strange how sometimes people who are striving for the same result can end up at loggerheads.

Look at downtown Crescent City, where lately business owners and operators have been embroiled in a debate over whether to dissolve the Business Improvement District. No doubt every party involved wants the city’s core area to thrive, but sometimes that objective has been overshadowed by the debate over BID.

Twenty miles to the south is another example. It’s hard to imagine an enterprise more likely to receive widespread community support than the Klamath Fire Protection District. After all, in a remote area such as this, the district is likely to provide the first response to almost any emergency, from a fire to a heart attack.