THANK YOU
Editor,
Our family would like to thank everyone who came out to support our family during our loss.
A special thanks to Dave Kooyers for a beautiful church service. To all the pallbearers with their compassion and kindness that they always had for Bernice. To Julia Bloyd for all her help and love; you are truly a special person. To Amy Bloyd for always being there for Jim and Bernice and lending a hand to our family. A thanks to Renee Lee for helping us with Grandma’s obituary. To Charles and Wayne for always being there for our family no matter what. And to Toni and Ernie Pardini for being so helpful to Jim and Bernice. And an extra special thanks to Mickey Marcum for his unconditional love and compassion for Bernice; you have always been there to help. To Jane Cupples, we will always love you, and so did Jim and Bernice.
Our family is thankful and proud to have friends and family in this community and we appreciate everything that everyone has ever done for Bernice during her struggle with Alzheimer’s.
Thank you.
The Clow family
Boonville
READER ALERT!
Editor,
Winter is fast upon us. There is a lot to be said about reading while the rain splatters on your windows and roof.
The Unity Club Annual Book Sale takes place this Saturday, December 9 at the Holiday Bazaar. Come to the fairgrounds (10am-4pm) and find a great selection of novels, cookbooks, mysteries and children’s books — all gently used. There is something for everyone. Make good choices for yourself and find gifts for family or frirends. Prices are right. $1 for hardbacks or trade paperbacks. 50¢ for paperbacks. Some particularly new or valuable items are priced a dollar or two higher.
We invite you to come to the bookstall and share the bounty.
Beverly Dutra, for the Unity Club
Philo
BAILEY BRIDGES
Editor:
The hoops that firestorm victims requiring bridge access to their properties are being forced to endure is appalling. If Bailey bridges are safe enough for cleanup crews with heavy equipment, then surely they should be safe for homeowners who drive regular vehicles.
Plus it’s probably a whole lot less expensive to leave the Bailey bridges, giving firestorm victims prompt access to their properties in their lifetimes rather than whiling away their days trying to obtain permits from a clueless Permit and Resource Management Department.
Gail Culverwell
Guerneville
FIRE VICTIM WATER-GOUGED
To the Editor:
Saturday, Nov. 18, I received a water bill from Redwood Valley County Water District for the period of 10/4 to 10/31/2017. It was for the usage of 3,475 gallons of water. The house burned to the ground in the early morning hours on 10/9, as did all my neighbors on Fisher Lake Drive in the Redwood Valley, from the Redwood/Potter complex fire.
I contacted the Water District office to inquire regarding the usage and let them know I found it unsettling. I couldn’t have used that amount of water in only 6 days. I asked why they were gouging an already devastated fire victim. She advised the firemen wouldn’t let them in to turn off the water. I asked, “and why was that my responsibility?” and the answer was, don’t you have insurance to cover loss? She then advised one gentlemen customer is having his insurance cover his bill and that I should check with my insurance company. I then stated, “Nice, now you are trying to gouge my insurance company.” I replied that their loss was not my responsibility and if your insurance won’t cover, then apply to FEMA.
Also on the billing statement was a notification, “On/After 12-20-17 add $15.00 penalty and pay $48.03”. The bill is $33.03, that’s almost a 50 percent late fee. There has never been a late fee listed on any of the water bills I’ve received in the past, why now? It feels threatening and I question the legality of it.
I spoke with a lady who lives on the beginning of Tomki, who also lost her home, she advised they were told they shut off everyone’s water, so the fire department could use the wells. That is a contradiction to what I was told, I asked which was the truth, no reply.
How can the water agency consciously do this to the fire victims of Redwood Valley and how legal it is??
Sandra J. Cooper
Redwood Valley
THE LIT-PHILBRICK DIALOGUE
Editor,
In his Letters to the Editor of 29 November, Mr. Philbrick asks many, 9, questions. I would like to try and answer one of them: "What has happened to this country?" It is hard to know where to start.
One could argue that, unlike as Lincoln stated in the Gettysburg Address, there has never been a government "of the people, by the people and for the people", but putting that (considered radical by many) idea aside, it seems clear that both Democrats and Republicans in the D.C. swamp are creating and manifesting a government that is of (big) business, by (big) business and for (big) business and have totally abdicated their responsibility to the citizenry. Failure to protect and inform us about one of the most addictive and deadly drugs known, tobacco, and failure to meaningfully punish those businesses that perpetrated the fraud which only benefited some (big) businesses, is but one example.
Conspiracy theories abound. One of few that resonates with me is that there has been a seemingly successful attempt to divide and dumb down the American electorate; that all the facebook/twittersnapchat/instagram/television to which most are exposed, reprograms our brains (I trust not yours, nor mine, Mr. Philbrick) so that we become addicted to distraction, allergic to contemplation and therefore incapable of the reasoning required to distinguish truth from bullpoop. I cannot remember the source of the quote (was it J. Schumpeter?) to the effect that it was capitalism that destroyed communism and it will be capitalism that destroys democracy.
Peter Lit
Elk
PS. Although we radically disagree about President Trump's motives and methods, one of us believing that he is a malignant narcissist and the other believing that he has the welfare of the citizens of these blessed United States at heart, we both should show respect for the office and use his title when referring to our president.
PPS. It'll Cost Ya To Argue
We bought some property in 2016, paid the supplemental tax bill. On 1 December, we received the 2017-2018 tax bill appraising the property at 2% above what we had paid; this included a notice that, if we disagreed with the assessment, we could protest during the period between July 2, 2017 and November 30, 2017. When I phoned to ask about the 2% increase and the time line, I was informed by the helpful person who answered the phone, but could not answer my questions, that, should I wish to "disagree" with the assessment, a $55 fee was required. When asked whether the fee applied if the county was in error, the response was "yes."
My road, Greenwood Road, is a disgrace, there is no county fire department, sheriff response time is quite long, the schools are distant; it was my choice to live in a rural setting, but, golly gee, any contact with the county government costs a ludicrous amount of money for the services (not) provided.
“In the Soviet Union, capitalism triumphed over communism. In this country, capitalism triumphed over democracy.” – Fran Lebowitz
Mr. Lit, in his mention of capitalism, might be referring to the above quote. Note the observation is couched in the present tense, not as a warning, but an accomplished fact. And as our national government has largely been taken over from the top down by corporate money and interests, they now together operate as one. Even at the local level, county and city government (now the de facto employer of last resort) seems to be unable to act coherently.