Letters (Sep. 19, 2018)

• Creeping Slob-Ism
• Pinches!
• Fireproof Homes
• Center Court
• Life Before The Dinner Table
• You Won’t Get Away With It, Libs

CREEPING SLOB-ISM

Editor,

When I moved to California from the East Coast almost 30 years ago, one of the first things I noticed was how trash-free the roads were. Now, I can’t drive a few yards without seeing trash along the side of the road. The Highway 101 exit to Highway 12 is an appalling local example.

For a while, I thought the increase in roadside trash was due to the fires and assumed that public agencies had more urgent matters to deal with. But I’ve noticed that the problem extends east past Sacramento and south to Marin County.

Whether it’s Highway 101, Interstate 80 or small county roads, the amount of trash is inexcusable. I’ve been embarrassed showing out-of-state guest our otherwise beautiful area with bottles, cans, cups, cardboard boxes and all sorts of objects littered on the side of the roads.

Whatever happened to “adopt a highway” or roadside clean-up crews? It’s time for Caltrans and the other responsible authorities to step up and do their jobs. Clean the roads.

Blair Pleasant

Santa Rosa

PINCHES!

Greetings Editor,

A few thoughts on the current Third District supervisor race from a long-time Laytonville resident.

We had an outstanding amount of candidates this spring. It was no surprise that John Pinches was one of the front runners. He is well liked and well respected over here. I was very surprised that one of our strong women candidates wasn’t the other contender this fall. We have a lot of fierce women over here and I thought both Shawna and Susie were worthy of support. I have met John and Janice Haschak a number of times and spoken at length with them. They are both sweet lovely folks. But Mr. Haschak just isn’t the candidate we need currently. John Pinches is our clear choice. Good, intelligent, common sense. A real rural upbringing and lifestyle. He knows the ropes at Low Gap. The Third District has been without representation for so long, we need someone who can hit the bricks running. 

I encourage Third District voters to elect John Pinches for Supervisor this November.

Sincerely, 

Rose Brown

Laytonville

FIREPROOF HOMES

Editor,

I’m an architect and have practiced in the North Bay for more than 30 years. Some of my house designs burned in Fountaingrove. It was a joy for me to design homes with redwood and cedar exterior woods, as the building harmonized with nature. Now I look upon them as future bonfires. 

The head of Cal Fire says the answer to these fires is fireproof homes. I recently met a UC Berkeley structural engineering professor who has designed a wall that answers that need. It’s called the Energy Mass Wall, and depending on its thickness is a four-hour firewall with up to an R-100 insulation rating. It is as strong as an I-beam, can go four stories and is a mechanical wall as well, meaning it will heat and cool your house at a fraction of your current energy bill. It’s also cheaper to build with than wood. 

When the first villages of Europe were built 1,000 years ago, they were made of wood, as it was plentiful. But a single fire would destroy a whole community, so villagers switched to stone. Stone is problematic in earthquake country, and this new technology is the direction we need to go if we wish to avoid more catastrophic fires, which have become our new normal. 

Allan Nichol

San Rafael

CENTER COURT

Editor,

Yes, there is now equal pay for the genders in tennis. There is, however a disparity in some of the pay rates in the center court. The umpire, Carlos Ramos, received $633 for the whole game, Serena Williams received $548 per second on the court and lost $24,000 off the court (“Standards on coaching, umpiring needed,” Monday). The grand message is that workers don’t get paid enough, and sports people get paid too much.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Melbourne, Australia

LIFE BEFORE THE DINNER TABLE

Editor,

I want to know that the animals that are part of my diet have been able to enjoy a quality of life. I just bought free-range chicken thighs, but what does that mean? Proposition 2, passed in 2008, didn’t spell out how much space animals were to be given in cages; it was left vague. There also was no oversight agency put in place to make sure that there were enforceable fines to ensure compliance. Proposition 12 addresses the vagueness of Proposition 2 and adds protection for both animals and consumers.

Kathleen Bottarini

Penngrove

YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH IT, LIBS

Editor,

There's a lot of lousy rotten liberal anti-Americanism going around — Interference with justice. The Constitution. Elections. Immigration. Medicine. Drugs. Criminal activities. Sanctuary cities. Corruption. All of which, along with the Trump policies, will expose the Liberals or the corruption, and anti-Americanism and all the crooked stuff they have done for 24 years.  

The Clinton administration, the Bush administration, the Obama administration which was the worst ever. Hillary Clinton was the second worst ever, crooked Hillary. Pelosi. Waters. Jerry Brown. Chuck Schumer, and hundreds of others rotten liberal Democrat politicians. It's just sickening. Chicago is the most corrupt city in the United States except for California, the most corrupt state where they are forming a task force to equalize basic income. It would govern basic income.  

What a joke! Why not form a task force to fight the crime in our cities where there are 10 people killed a week? Crime. Corruption. Criminal liberals in New York and all those rotten corrupt people need to be in prison. Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, or so-called mayor, is rotten and corrupt. He is stepping down because he can't step up anymore. Jerry Brown of course is the worst of all of them.  

Law enforcement is in our county is very good. Tom Allman and Greg Stefani are doing a good job. I knew Greg Stefani's father years ago when he was a policeman in Ukiah. A good man. People take them for granted until they need them. All the deputies do a great job putting in long hours chasing down criminals. The same criminals Jerry Moonbeam Brown lets into California. 

Jerry Philbrick 

Comptche 

PS. Stand up for your rights Republicans and beat these rotten liberals into the ground politically and physically. God bless Donald Trump for trying to get our country back to a decent republic like it used to be. 

PPS. To Mr. Rob Mahon in Covelo, you are not even worth a reply. Go stick your liberal head in the toilet and flush it. 

PPPS. Thanks to all the first responders who are helping people who need help around the area. I don't know what we would do without them.