Letters (Sept. 29, 2022)

• Why Isn't Murray Here?
• Favorite Books
• Journalist Slain
• Sign Farmworker Bill
• Yes To Both
• Be Prepared
• Clean Energy Plans
• Immigration
• Help Al Get A TV

WHY ISN'T MURRAY HERE?

Editor,

Wow! I will try to be articulate and respectful, but I have had a really hard time keeping my thoughts to myself about Mr. Rapist with a Badge. The double standards in the judicial system in beautiful Mendocino County are showing once again.

My name is Walter Kristopher ‘Ludicrous’ Miller. I am a career criminal. I am doing 183 years to life for firing a weapon out of a moving vehicle at a pursuing deputy sheriff. I still think God Mr. Brewster was not injured. I am not writing this to complain or whine. I am right here where I'm supposed to be.

What confuses me is why isn't Mr. Murray my neighbor? Why isn't his rapist having to register as a sex offender? How in the hell under the right circumstances can he be a cop again?

In none of my three strikes was anyone physically injured. I did murder a Crown Victoria that Mr. Brewster was driving. But this man Murray who had chevrons on his sleeves, using his position, his power and if I had read right his pistol, raped and abused for women that we know about. Who knows how many never came forward? And he basically gets a slap on the wrist? District Attorney Eyster, where is the justice? Do those poor women and what was done to them even matter? What about what they went through and what they still probably go through at night when they are scared to death unable to sleep? 

I am a violent criminal, but every woman I've ever been with told me how safe they felt with me. They knew that nothing or nobody would hurt them when I was around. I was the one they call before they called 911. It just makes me sick that because Murray was an officer he is shown leniency and, Oh well, those ladies will get over it.

I hope this comes back to bite you in the ass the next election year, District Attorney Eyster. It's no wonder you didn't show your face at his last court date. 

And Mr. Murray, I hope your luck runs out. You are disgusting and a bad person. You took advantage of those you swore to protect. There are so many willing females and your limp dick had to really hurt those ladies? How does it feel to be lower than the man who was found guilty of trying to shoot a sheriff? You really make us all sick.

District Attorney Eyster: you should be ashamed.

Sincerely,

Walter Kris Miller

Salinas Valley State Prison

Soledad

FAVORITE BOOKS

Editor,

None of my favorite books weren't on anyone's lists last week, but these have impacted my life.

The Fearless Spectator - Charles McCabe; For One More Day, the Five People You Meet In Heaven; and The Magic Strings Of Frankie Presto - Mitch Albom; Any of Jeffrey Deaver's books featuring Lincoln Rymes; The Hundred-Year Marathon - Michael Pillsbury; China Road - Rob Gifford; Dave Barry's Complete Guide To Guys; Bossy Pants - Tina Fey (the only book that I've ever read three times). I have read about 250 books the last three years since retirement and thanks for suggesting so many more that I can explore. An avid AVA reader.

Don Fosse 

Mendocino

JOURNALIST SLAIN

Editor: 

The Israeli government whitewashed an investigation into the death of a Palestinian journalist and American/Palestinian citizen, Shireen Abu Akleh. While agreeing now (unlike earlier) that a member of its military shot and killed her, the Israeli government refused to accept responsibility for Akleh’s death. The government claimed that she was shot in a crossfire with Palestinians, but an earlier investigation by the New York Times showed that no armed Palestinian were close to her at the time of the shooting.

According to USA Facts, since 2000 over 70% of American aid to Israel has gone to its military. USA Facts says that annual U.S. assistance supports 20% of Israel’s military budget. The U.S. is largely silent on the uses of these funds by Israelis. Yet, according to UNESCO, 21 journalists have died in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories since 2002.

My question is: why should American taxpayers sponsor the continuation of an Israeli occupation that supports the killing of journalists? Isn’t it time to consider ending all American taxpayer subsidies to Israel, unless it agrees to treat Palestinians with dignity, including putting an end to killing Palestinian journalists?

Steven M. Delue

Petaluma

SIGN FARMWORKER BILL

Editor: 

Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted, “Hey (DeSantis) clearly you are … busy playing politics with people’s lives.” Newsom is also playing politics with people’s lives and refusing (so far) to sign Assembly Bill 2183, the Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act. This proposed law would allow farmworkers to vote in union elections away from supervisors’ interference.

Current law permits growers to manipulate the union organizing process and intimidate farmworkers by requiring that elections be held at the workplace, rather than by mail in ballot. Please contact Newsom and insist that he sign AB 2183.

Then, after he signs AB 2183 into law, when he debates Gov. Ron DeSantis, he will be able to say he did the right thing for California’s farmworkers.

Mark Mills-Thysen

Sebastopol

YES TO BOTH

Editor: 

I wonder how many people have actually read Propositions 26 and 27. I have. Proposition 26 is straightforward. It legalizes sports betting in California at tribal casinos and four horse tracks. It further legalizes craps and roulette at tribal casinos. This benefits gamblers, because craps can offer better player odds than slots or other games.

Proposition 27 says that companies that meet criteria established by the government of California can offer online betting if they make a deal with a tribe. The proposition creates a new government agency to regulate online sports wagering.

The state would collect taxes (in unknown amounts). Most of that money (after government expenses) would be used to address homelessness, while 15% would go to tribes that are not involved with sports betting.

The TV ads are misleading. Although online sports betting is illegal in California, the truth is that anyone with an IQ over 3 can set up a presence in any one of the states that allow online sports betting. The internet has no boundaries. I’m voting for both propositions.

Michael Burwen

Petaluma

BE PREPARED

Editor: 

I’m certain that Terry Yoas’s proposal to have a ready fleet of firefighting aircraft touched the nerves of many who, like me, are living each day fearing another devastating wildfire. I picture an airfield with dozens of tankers and choppers ready for takeoff, with corresponding air traffic control prepared to suspend regular traffic and immediately launch the squadron to surround and suppress a fire. It’s better to be prepared and immediately bombard a fire before it grows out of control. I will advocate for such a program — as will countless others. It will save lives and homes.

Carol Curry

Healdsburg

CLEAN ENERGY PLANS

Editor:

It is true that California needs a well-articulated plan to transition from fossil fuels to the clean energy economy of the future (“Heat wave exposes California’s green energy shortage,” editorial, Sept. 7). Elements of the plan must include more than just a call for “more green energy.”

Flex alerts are over 20 years old and are actually a vestige of a 20th-century approach to managing the grid. Opportunities exist today to automate grid flexibility and compensate businesses and residents who agree in advance to have their consumption curtailed during peak demand episodes.

Electric vehicles are not just more electricity demand on the grid. They are batteries on wheels, and when they are not being driven they can be used to supply power to the grid during peak episodes. With well over a million of them in California and more every year, the available capacity is already at the gigawatt (very large) scale.

The notion that the only option is to figure out how to get supply to meet demand is obsolete. We now have opportunities to have demand respond to available supply. This will be an indispensable part of any well-articulated plan for the grid of the future.

Woody Hastings

Fossil fuel phaseout manager, the Climate Center

IMMIGRATION

Editor,

This letter is responding to today’s Press Democrat article, “U.S. border arrests on track to break record,” Dianne Solis, the *Dallas Morning News*. As noted in this fine article, recent “illegal” (or not?) immigrants originating from countries which have broken diplomatic relations with the U.S.-Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

Cooperating governors, Abbott, R,TX and DeSantis, R, FL used their state taxpayer funds to load busloads of families and migrant individuals to dispatch, without warnings or preparations, to Chicago,IL, Washington, DC and Martha’s Vineyard, the island near the Massachusetts coast.

This most egregious, cruel stunt, engineered by DeSantis, brought Venezeulan families to Martha’s Vineyard, a refuge for affluent American vacationers. These Venezuelans, fleeing death and oppression, only sought new lives and jobs together with safe places to rest. In contrast to the two afore-mentioned power-hungry politicians, Martha’s Vineyard’s residents did whatever was needed, giving these new prospective citizens shelter and respite, often using own money to help these strangers to our land.

Once was, whomever attained a high office like state governor was a persons of highest character who would not stoop so low. Unfortunately, such is no longer the case.

Frank Baumgardner

Santa Rosa

HELP AL GET A TV

Dear Readers,

My name is Alan Crow and I have stage 4, end stage, liver disease. A terminal illness. I am without family to speak of and my friends are non-existent. I am alone in a California prison where soon I will be transferred to a medical prison where I will spend most of 24 hour days in a cell. I ask for your forgiveness for asking for your assistance and compassion in helping me purchase a small television to help me pass the time and keep me distracted from focusing on my pending demise. I know that most of you folks work hard for your money and this type of request from an inmate does not sit well with you. I understand and again apologize for my manners. If by chance you find it in your heart to make a contribution please know that from the deepest part of my heart I thank you!

Simply call 1-800-546-6283 and tell the package vendor you would like to make a deposit in the inmate pre-paid package account for Alan Crow, CDCR # BS-9754. My goal is $200.

You can confirm my stage 4 end-stage liver disease with my investigator, Justin Cozad at the public defender's office in Ukiah, 707-234-6952.

I send my love and prayers to each and every one of you.

Sincerely,

Alan Crow BS-9754

North Kern State Prison, D-206

P.O. Box 5005

Delano, CA 93216