.Letters to the Editor: January 9, 2013

Letters to the Editor: January 9, 2013

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Basically, I’m writing in response to letters by Stephen M. Weiss and Mark Groah (“Rhapsodies and Rants,” Jan. 2). But specifically, I am writing about the proliferation of weapons worldwide.

Many right-wingers use the Israeli or Swiss example of an armed population when trying to justify arming citizens in the United States. The problem with that is that the Swiss and Israelis are relatively small, homogeneous populations who engage in universal military training before arming their citizens. So the analogy is false. We are a diverse country with a history of gun violence, race hatred and domestic violence, and kill each other more often than we kill armed criminals.

As a retired law enforcement officer, I know that untrained civilians, and even trained off-duty police officers, are killed frequently when they attempt to take action against armed assailants. It is better to run and call 911 when faced with an armed opponent.

So where better to start disarmament than here at home in the U.S.A.? What better example can we set for the world about getting rid of assault weapons, as the plague they are in a civilized society, than by banning them here at home?

Rohnert Park

Beauty Treatment

The Beauty and the Beast cast did an amazing job (“Top Torn Tix 2012,” Dec. 26)! Not only is the music difficult to live up to, it has held an amazing record on Broadway. Maybe I am biased from being an SRJC student, but I also saw the original Broadway cast of Beauty and the Beast. I know this show very well, and I must remark I have never seen a performance of this musical by a nonprofessional production that put more energy and enjoyment into the play. Normally, I am bored with school productions of Beauty and the Beast, but thankfully this production team, as well as the cast, created something fresh without simply making a copycat of the original.

This production has been nominated for the American Conservatory Theatre Festival as well as being one of only 10 plays or musicals nominated to perform a scene there. It’s about time the Bohemian recognizes a musical and an SRJC production.

Via online

Grange Traditions

I just ran across this article (“Estranged Grange,” Nov. 28). I want to thank you for such wonderful testimonies. I’ve been a member of Ripon Grange for almost 60 years. I grew up in it, as my parents were beekeepers here, and my husband and family carry on the tradition. The members all are longtime friends, and the traditions and support for families, small town and farm interests are still on going in this area. Our membership slips a little each year, but we hope to come through in a strong position to build support. The Proposition 37 aspect is one I hadn’t thought of, though. Very interesting!

Via online

Hacking Trees

Had PG&E been doing a proper job of caring for the trees in the shared utility easement corridor, when the extra high voltage transmission line (EHVTL) was first installed, they would not be in the position of reclaiming the right of way by removing 90 percent of the trees today. Deferring the annual routine maintenance of vegetation under and around an EHVTL is an act of neglect on the part of the company who is responsible for the safe and reliable operation of those lines in our urban community.

Shame on PG&E for allowing areas to get overgrown, since they did not perform their annual routine work to adequately maintain the necessary clearance. The trees, it seems, are the sacrificial lamb in this reclamation project, adopted by PG&E to resolve its oversight in essential planning for the proper care of the trees in the rural and residential landscape. In moving forward, it will require the concerted effort of both the local power company and individual property owners who share the utility easement corridor to reach a compromise in the best management practice for their trees.

Santa Rosa

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