Regardless of designation, slow down near schools

In response to Harold McChesney’s April 9 letter, “Difference between school zones and school crossings,” he is right. He will get tons of email for having such a view toward an important safety issue.

First, if you are near a school, is that not a school zone? Is it not possible that a child could appear from behind the so-called safety of a fenced-in, non-school zone and run into the street in front of you as you fly down Northcrest at 40–50 mph on your way to that all-important cup of Starbucks?

It does not matter if the light is flashing or not, you are in an area where children might be present.

 I have a problem with people who do not slow down for yellow caution lights. They probably find it unnecessary to slow down for police, Caltrans or anything else that blinks yellow and says slow down, which is what being cautious entails. They are likely the ones who speed up for the blinking yellow lights that are a warning to slow down as red lights are coming on my school bus.

I think if they hit and kill a child in a “school crossing area,” that prima facie law is going to find them at fault and I hope they throw the book at them. I think they will have a difficult time explaining they were not in a school zone.

As a school bus driver for over a decade, I never exceed 25 mph from the time I encounter a sign until I pass the one directing the oncoming traffic on the other side of the street. 

That goes for passing Orick School at 1 a.m. That is your school zone and you better just slow down for our kids.

Kim Charette, Crescent City

One reason Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30 tax increases passed so handily last fall was that many voters became convinced that if they didn’t say yes to the new levies, the sky would fall.

Schools would suffer, services for the elderly — already devastated by previous budget cuts — might disappear. Police and fire personnel levels could be decimated. And much more.

 Those fears were enough to overcome the revelation of only a few months earlier that the state Parks and Recreation Department secretly squirreled away more than $53 million over 12 years by underreporting the amounts it held in special funds.

Private donors who put up millions of dollars to stave off budget-crunch closings of many park units were infuriated; some demanded their money back but didn’t get it.

 Brown’s office investigated and heads rolled. The state parks director was forced out, along with her second-in-command. But one finding of the investigation was that the Parks and Recreation malfeasance was an isolated case, even though department managers often hustle to spend every available dollar before the end of a budget cycle so those funds don’t automatically revert to the state’s general fund, the fate of unspent dollars not sitting in special funds like the parks department’s Off Highway Vehicle Trust Fund, where $33.5 million was stashed.

Annette Funicello when she was a Mouseketeer. Wire Services

In our time she was a superstar. In fact, her star shone so bright that she was known only by her first name like Cher, Madonna or Beyoncé. Yet when she passed away last week there was barely a mention in this newspaper.

I suspect that was the case with most media. Unless you grew up with her, you wouldn’t know what an icon she was. She’s been out of the limelight now for over 25 years. And, she passed on the same day as Margaret Thatcher. Predictably the loss of the Iron Lady would generate more news than a former Mouseketeer.

My folks started a chicken ranch in 1955. My father continued to work full time to bring home a steady income as my mother managed what would become a 10,000-laying-hen egg business. I stayed out of Mom’s hair, playing with my collie, Lassie, riding the big red tricycle handed down from my cousin Joe and living in my “Annie Oakley” fantasy world.

In those days my silver cap gun hit the bull’s eye of every target I aimed at as I rode my mighty steed “Trike.”

But in the fall of 1955, when kids my age were heading to kindergarten, Mom designed a one-room schoolhouse at home. Before I could go outside and play I had to print the alphabet, practice writing my name and phone number and do various other “assignments” my mother dreamed up.

What Alexander’s reaction to disbarment sounded like

I just read Jon Alexander’s April 6 response to the State Bar decision to recommend disbarring him. All I heard was “waaa.”

Jack Brown, Crescent City 

Haters brought down voters' choice for district attorney

Well well well. Job well done by the Jon Alexander-haters (“Judge wants DA disbarred,” April 6). You proved your case.

In fact all you have really done is bring down a man that “we the people” voted to protect us and to  put the bad guys away.

How much victory is there in that?

“We the people” wrote, shouted, voted who we wanted to rid Del Norte County of crime and drugs.

“We the people” said we know about his past, yet want him as our DA.

“We the people” of Del Norte County know the power of our votes.

“We the people” will not forget at our next election.

Why is it that no one is asking the question, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”

It could be that no one is asking because we all know the answer. The answer is no one is better off. Not the rich.Not the poor, and certainly not the middle class. In the last four years, the rich have been forced to pay more than its fair share. According to the US News and World Report, the rich, who make up 1 percent of all taxpayers, paid 37 percent of all federal taxes. 

As hard as the rich have had it, the middle class, the class that the president claims to protect, has been hit harder. Workers have seen it in their paychecks where 2 percent is being deducted. This means that a person earning $35,000 a year has a monthly paycheck that is reduced by $54.

Now the president is proposing a new formula to figure annual increases in Social Security, which will hit the middle classes the hardest.  We need the government to realize that this is not some give-away program from the federal government, it’s money that is forcibly taken from the worker’s paycheck every month as part of a forced savings program to be paid back to those very seniors when they retire.

Seniors who have been conned into investing in “safe” investments such as CDs have seen interest that they receive fall to less than one percent. This means they are losing more than 2 perent of their investment every year because it’s been eaten away by inflation. 

Next year Obamacare will hit with a vengeance. With 30 million more Americans to be covered, Del Norte families who are lucky enough to find a doctor will find that they will be forced to buy very expensive health insurance. How expensive? The IRS estimates that it will cost $20,000 for a family of four by the year 2016. Those who fail to sign up will be subject to paying a penalty of 2.5 percent of their taxable income.

Embezzling officer should not be working

Del Norte County ought not to have a probation officer working who has been accused of stealing from the officers’ fund.

The April 11 article, “Crowell reaches a plea bargain,” said he is only getting a misdemeanor  and a fine for the crime of theft. Balderdash.

What kind of respect can he expect from the people he is working with? He has lost the right to any respect from those people. This is a joke. Remove him from the office of probation now.

This is another slap in the people’s face. Please, give every subject in this county the same treatment. When they are giving some a slap on the wrist and some more severe punishments for the same infractions, it causes anger problems among the people. We feel like peasants in the land, kind of less than the ones who rule over us.

Stop it, we are all the same here and want the treatment to be equal for all. This is not equal, he got to keep his job ruling over other people accused of a crime, and he is no better then they.

Get him out of the probation office today.

Theft by embezzlement of property worth less than $1,000 is a misdemeanor, subjecting a defendant to a possible jail sentence of six months or less, and a fine of up to $1,000.

Lenda Beck, Crescent City

Proposed amendments for better government

In response to Bob Berkowitz’s April 11 Coastal Voices piece, times are hard, as is his math. That 1 percent, the wealthiest among us, controls over 75 percent of all wealth, and so should be paying over 75 percent of all taxes. As Bob points out, they are not, as they pay only 37 percent.

I am writing as a parent and a teacher to express my concerns about the school closure being considered.

I believe that it is a bad idea for many reasons. First, I’d like you to ask how the district came to be in the position of deficit spending. Rodney Jahn has kept our district in excellent fiscal shape for many years, despite a struggling economy and many cuts to school funding.

Prior to his accident he was warning the board and administration that they needed to stop spending. They did not heed his warnings and now they must find a way to balance their budget.

Well, I say, balance it at the top where the dilemma was created. What other options besides closing a school are being considered? Could District office personnel days or hours be reduced to part-time or cut during summer months? Could secretaries be shared? Could positions be cut?

Downsizing administration makes sense in a struggling economy and shrinking school population. Could district-owned vehicles be sold?

I believe we need to look at every possibility before taking such a drastic measure as closing a school. If my family were experiencing a shortage of income, we wouldn’t first consider selling the house that we own free and clear (drastic), we would look to eliminate unnecessary expenses and reduce necessary expenses. The School Board should take the same logical approach to this situation.

It is hard for me to believe that it was 66 years ago that I entered Del Norte High School as a freshman and got to meet senior Dick Moen and eventually became a teammate of his when baseball season came that spring.

While I was at Crescent Elk I watched Dick as he performed for the Warriors in whatever sport was in season. I remember how impressed I was with his speed.

It is interesting that back in those days, with the way league schedules were made, a boy could participate in football, basketball, baseball and track in the same year. Dick Moen did all of these.

It is also interesting that when the high school hired a coach he was expected to coach all four sports.

Even more interesting, Dick played for different coaches.

In Dick’s freshman year, Ed Fraser was finishing a 20-year career as the Warriors head coach. In Dick’s sophomore year Clarence Kruger took over for one year, then left. He was followed by Phil Crawford for one year, then by Talmud Kramer for one year. Kramer was my first Warrior coach.

As usual, things slow down after Easter, the height of the year for church activities.

Special activities and programs aside, simply going to church on Sunday or Bible study midweek can be just as special. I know, I’m really missing it right now, having been hit by a bout of arthritis that makes it very difficult to even walk — not fun.

Many of you have been telling me that you particularly enjoy the stories behind our hymns, and I find it fascinating to go through my book, learning about them. Today’s is another of my personal favorites.

“Oh, Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder ...” The words and melody of “How Great Thou Art” always inspire me. I want to sing it out as loud as I can when I hear it. (Interesting for me was to note its Swedish origins — my maternal grandfather came from Sweden.)

The writer, Carl Boberg, was a young Swedish minister. The song, just a poem when first published  around 1885, seemed forgotten for a time.

But a few years later, he was surprised to hear it being sung to the tune of an old Swedish melody.

As more time passed, Dr. J. Edwin Orr heard it being sung in Assam, in India — and brought it to America. It was introduced here by George Beverly Shea, who was part of Billy Graham’s evangelistic team. Perhaps you remember the man with the beautiful deep, deep voice who sang at those events. It was at one of those ’50s crusades many years ago in Syracuse, N.Y., that I became a Christian.

Just a few things this week.

Fitch

Have you ever had belly pain? Did you wonder why?

There are multiple conditions that can cause belly pain. It occurs between the chest and lower belly or abdomen. It can be cramp-like, achy or sharp. It can be constant or intermittent.

The organs in the abdomen are intestines, kidneys, appendix, spleen, stomach, gallbladder, liver and pancreas. Inflammation or diseases can cause pain in the abdomen.  Viral or bacterial infections that affect the stomach and intestines can cause significant pain in the belly. This abdominal pain is sometimes referred to as a stomachache. 

The intestines have multiple bulges that balloon out of their walls. These bulges, called diverticula, absorb water and nutrients for our body to use as energy.

Diverticulosis is a condition where the diverticula become swollen and tender, making them easily inflamed by seeds. The complications of diverticulosis include infection (diverticulitis) and bleeding.

When the diverticula are infected they become sore and thin and can slit open and bleed into the bowel. The inflammation is what causes the pain and loose, foul stools.