From the pages of the Del Norte Triplicate, February 1950.

March may well be the turning point month for Del Norte County. On March 18 the community and its neighbors will celebrate the completion of Citizens Dock. The celebration, pointedly in celebration of a task undertaken, actually is not the commemoration of a task completed, but a celebration heralding the promise of the greatest opportunity to develop this area ever faced.

Please pray for cancer-stricken Karen Alexander and her family

I wanted to take a moment to thank our community for your prayers for Pastor Steve Alexander and his dear wife Karen and the family.
For those of you who may not know Pastor Alexander, he has been the preacher of Smith River Baptist Church since 1997. His son, Scott Alexander, is the church youth pastor and coach of the high school varsity basketball team.

One of the really great things about Del Norte High School is the outstanding support the Warriors receive from the community and their alumni. None of these great supporters do I appreciate and respect more than 1990 Warrior graduate Kim Hill.

When you attend a Del Norte High athletic event you will almost always see this young lady wheel her wheelchair into a position where she can support her teams.

The California Building Standards Commission plans to adopt a new green building code effective Jan. 1, 2011. Being personally interested in building codes that directly impact my profession, I prudently perused the residential portion.

While most of us enjoy the local greenery, clean air and ocean, the proposed “green” code will do little to improve our environment, and much to drive low-income people from the area who would otherwise buy locally. A simple exercise will demonstrate why this is likely to happen.

Local leaders lacked foresight on sewer rate increase proposal

Regarding the Feb. 5 Triplicate editorial “Rate rollback ignores reality,” back when the sewer rate increase was proposed, some of us from the Citizens Against $42.5M Debt pleaded with city officials to come up with another way to pay for the new sewer.

Since it’s about expansion, the money should come from new users, developers. We warned about the hardship on lower income residents, which abound in Crescent City, and were pretty much ignored or excused as hysterical. When we cited concerns about the coming economic downturn, which we are in as predicted, our own city attorney, Bob Black, scoffed at the notion that we would be affected by it.

Goodbye, KPOD: New far right format has led me to turn the dial

Goodbye, KPOD. For over 20 years I’ve enjoyed getting my daily fix of country music at 97.9 FM, but I’m about to go cold turkey.

I am commenting in regard to Triplicate Editor Richard Wiens’ Feb. 3 column titled “Remember when news was news?”

A person can indeed find an abundance of information at their fingertips with the advent of the Internet age. Apparently newspapers are reluctant to change and adapt to meet the demands of this new age. The Internet has been an undeniable medium for the exchange of ideas for nearly two decades now.

Ididn’t think it would bother me much, but it did. Old habits die hard, so it wasn’t easy facing Super Bowl weekend without a family gathering to look forward to. 

I don’t recall the first time my sons and I watched a Super Bowl together, but it must have been in the mid 80s. Together we cheered the 49ers to back-to-back wins in 1989 and 1990.  My youngest son, who was only 8 in 1990, got a 49ers uniform for Christmas and wore it on game days and also every day after school.

We were big Niner fans so I took the boys to Seattle twice to watch them play the Seahawks. From Grants Pass we drove to Portland’s Union Station and rode the train to Seattle. It was a package that included tickets for the train and the game at the Kingdome.

It’s no secret that I’ve been cleaning house all winter. For years I ignored layers of dirt and drawers full of clothes never worn and food processors I’d never use. Every flat surface was covered with junk mail and dusty tchotchkes because the drawers were full. I dressed directly from the drier to avoid opening a closet and did dishes only when there was nothing left to eat out of. I was developing that helpless feeling elders get when everything is too heavy to move and we don’t know where to start.

Then last spring I threw out the killer recliners and bought attractive lounges intended for outdoor use and light enough that I could move them. It was hugely empowering! Suddenly I wasn’t helpless anymore. I began exercising, riding a bike and attacking the clutter like a beagle in the bacon.