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Ukiah Daily Journal from Ukiah, California • Page 2

Location:
Ukiah, California
Issue Date:
Page:
2
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

MONDAY, DEC. 13, 1993 EDITORIAL The Issue: Statewide water wars. Our Position: State needs a comprehensive water-distribution plan. Water delivery plan needed As we begin to start receiving our first real rains in Mendocino County it's easy to forget about those long hot summers without water. However, the real numbers are a bit more unsettling, but the message is the same in the latest update of the California Water Plan: Without careful conservation plus technical and legal innovation, we'll be in a perpetual crisis that will make the 1987-1992 drought look like a rainy day.

That's not hysteria, but hard numbers projecting a population growth from 31 million to 49 million Califomians by the year 2020. Without reallocation of water supplies, radical reform in usage and development of "new" sources, that population growth could create a shortfall in normal water years of 2.2 million acre-feet to 4.2 million acre-feet annually, according to Douglas Wheeler, the state resources secretary. Fort Bragg hasn't forgot about the dangers of the drought and problems imposed by increasing population. The state enacted a moratorium against new development until a stable source of year-round water could be found which would not damage local rivers and streams for fish. In effect, Fort Bragg represents in microcosm what is being faced by the entire state.

We in the Ukiah Valley are also affected because much of the water emerging from Lake Mendocino is earmarked for Sonoma County. At some point, if water becomes too precious we could find our own growth severely restricted. California needs to come up with 21st century methods of producing and distributing water, unfettered by political infighting that began in the 19th century and continues to this day. That will require unprecedented cooperation among bitterly competing water intergst? and" visionary leadership from a governor who to date has been a stick in the mud on water issues. Nothing less will be acceptable if California is to avoid a permanent drought.

Reader advisory members sought The Ukiah Daily Journal is looking for two members to add to its Reader's Advisory Group. The Journal's advisory group is an opportunity for readers to help keep the paper in touch with what is happening in the community as well as act as go- betweens between the public and Daily Journal staffers. Members of the advisory group hi the past have made numerous recommendations on how to better cover as well as present the news in the Ukiah Valley area. One group was instrumental in forming the Daily Digest section of the paper, which encapsulates local law enforcement, fire news, obituaries and more. Another group recommended changes to the editorial page and a variety of minor alterations which help readers quickly reach those in charge of the paper.

People interested in serving on the croup are asked to telephone the editor, Jim Smith, at 468-3500. LOCALLY OPERATED MEMBER DONREY MEDIA GROUP Donald W. Reynolds. Founder Ukiah Daily vurnal (USPS 648-820) Dennis Wilson, Publisher Jim Smith Editor Vic Martinez Production Manager Eddie Sequeira- Retail Manager. Elaine Grothe Circulation Manager Yvonne Bell- Office Manager Member Audit Bureau Of Circulations 1993 Member California Newspaper Publishers Association Published Daily except Saturday by Ukiah Daily Journal at 590 S.

School Ukiah, Mendocino County, Calit. Phone: (707) 468-3500. Court Decree No. 9267. Publicanon (USPS-648-920).

Second-Clan Paid at Ukiah. CA. MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES- DELIVERY TYPE PRICE Route 7 00 Motor Route Mail in Mandocino County $10.50 Mail Outside the County $13.00 All prices include California State salos tax. Motor Route and Mail Delivery must be paid In advance. 8 a.m.

6 p.m. CLOSED CLOSED MorUhru Saturday Sunday Circulation 8 a.m, 7 p.m. CLOSED 7 am, 3 th 5 dd dtll fctoo 5 Monday through Friday, and i Saturday To report a rnlsi.d and Jp.m. Hfcruty tfirouoh Perspectives THE UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL To submit an opinion forum article for the Journal, telephone Jim S-nlth, 468-5519 Opinions on of trn tmhor. EdHoriats are opinion of board.

LETTERS Polly's death hits close to home Like the rest of th North Coast, I am stunned by the death of Polly Klaas. As a father and a grandfather, I share the overwhelming grief of Polly's family and friends. Although none of us can truly know the private pain that young Polly's family feels, we have our own personal ways of mourning. For many of us, this is a confusing time. Our emotions are running high: feelings of rage and anger, coupled with the pain of our loss, make for a volatile mix.

We want to strike out at those who hurt our community, while also reaching out to those we love to bring them closer into our circle of safety. For Polly, for her family, as well as for the future of our community, we must channel our anger and fear into a fierce commitment to ensure the safety of our children. We must prevent another community from living through this tragedy. As Polly's father stated, "If we give up on our children, we might as well give up on our society." This community did not give up on Polly. The volunteers did such an incredibly wonderful job of working together for Congressman Dari Hamburg, D- Uldah; represents the First District.

His column appears once every two weeks. WASHINGTON INSIGHT Dan Hamburg long hours and showing how much concerned communities can achieve. With computers and incredible communication and distribution systems already in place, we should be able to reduce hours to minutes, and minutes to moments, in getting out the message, the description and the photos to the public. We have the resources; now we need to develop an effective way to coordinate the response to violent acts within our community. Polly's mother, Eve Nichol, has given us a prescription of the actions we need to take.

One of her points is that we need to break the 5 cycle of child abuse. Many abused children become adults who abuse children, such as Richard Allen Davis. We must not neglect the needs of our children and we should not assume parenting is a natural skill. We can not afford to allow children to be raised in conditions that produce chid abductors and other violent criminals. At the same time, we need to look at why violence is increasing, why our communities are coming apart, and why there is so much dysfunctional behavior.

We need to be tough on criminals, and especially tough on violent criminals. But we also need to look at why our society is incarcerating more and more people, yet continues to face this downward spiral of crime. It will not be easy, and it will not be inexpensive. If we are to mend ourselves as a society, we must commit to the programs and the funding necessary to get the job done. We saw an incredible strengthening of our community despite adverse conditions in the search for Polly Klaas.

We must not let Polly now that she is physically gone; her spirit will forever remain with us in our struggle to ensure the of our community. A little effort will pay off in fighting illegal dumps It's clear that Mendocino County is going to have an illegal dumping problem for a long, long, time. The pressures that create illegal dumping aren't going to disappear, and they may worsen. These pressures include high garbage disposal costs, poverty and the closure of disposal sites. But we shouldn't give up.

After working on this issue for three years, I'm convinced that illegal dumping can be contained with a sustained effort by concerned citizens and local governments. Few issues excite more passion. The sight of garbage, appliances and junk thrown along the roadside is simply intolerable to many people. There has been an outpouring of volunteer effort to clean up dumping in dozens of community programs. As long as people care, there's hope.

But public morale may fade if we don't provide a little more government support. An important step was taken last month, when the Mendocino Solid Waste Management Authority set aside some money to pay the disposal fees for trash that is collected by community clean-up programs. The Authority is also making available "No Dumping" signs in English and Spanish that direct the public to the nearest legal disposal site. Information about both these programs can be obtained by calling the Recycling Hotline at 1-800-246-3939 or 485-1111. The district attorney lent a hand recently by filing criminal charges against an illegal dumper who had TRASH TALK Mike Sweeney Mike Sweeney works In the solid waste field.

This column expresses his personal views only and not those of any organization with which he may be associated. been tracked down by a vigilant citizen. But the real need is for government to provide the public with better and cheaper disposal options. The basic dumping fee must stay high to pay the tremendous costs of running modern landfills. But despite the budget crunch, there are ways to reach the public, particularly by encouraging recycling.

Consider the problem of a dead refrigerator that needs to be thrown away. It presently costs $30 or more to recycle if any place can be found that will take them. It's not surprising that junk refrigerators are found in creekbeds all over Mendocino County. Appliances are among the items most often dumped illegally. And once an appliance has been dumped, some furniture or household garbage may follow it down the hillside.

Yet appliances are recyclable and have value as scrap metal. Rather than charging full fee at the disposal sites to accept them, I believe our local governments would be wise to accept appliances for free. The financial impact would be small, but the benefit would be great. Similarly, recycling offers the public a moneysaving disposal option because it's usually free or even pays back a deposit on some things. The broader the public consciousness of recycling opportunities, the smaller will be the impulse to dump trash on the roadside.

It won't happen overnight, but a sustained public education effort will pay off. Local governments need to expand, the variety of It won't happen overnight, but a sustained public education effort mil pay off. materials that can be recycled, increase the recycling locations, and improve the economics of recycling by establishing a centralized processing facility. We could develop at least one place in this county open seven days a week where most trash could be recycled for little or no charge. That would make a big difference in our efforts to reach the small minority of people who are despoiling our landscape by illegal dumping.

Logging questions raised To The Editor: Our Board of Supervisors has recognized the productive nature of the timberland that the county owns near the Little River Airport They have been made aware of the positive effect that intensive management of that land can have on providing funds for the various programs that the county strives to provide. That is good! In a county where the highest value agricultural crop is timber, there is no better way for our local officials to understand the workings of timber management than to become timber managers themselves. They have already learned there is more than one way to look at a timber stand and that making resource management decisions is not easy. They have enrolled in a graduate level course in timber management. In November, the supervisors voted to accept the request for proposal from Mendocino Real Wood Co-op, with Rudlof Becking acting as its affiliate RFP, awarding them the contract for the timber harvest plan on the county's property at Little River.

By selecting an RFP, with possibly a little extra baggage, they have completed their first semester. Their next course 'is understanding the material in Dr. Becking's and Real Woods' proposal. Dr. Becking submitted a comprehensive 50-page proposal covering such aspects as: unknown boundary lines, soil types, access, growth projections, harvesting methods and silvicultural theories.

I encourage each supervisor to reread the Real Wood proposal and seek advice from trusted associates that are willing to provide expertise in deciphering the technical language. If they expect to receive passing grades in successive semester mileposts I certainly hope they don't get fooled into going along with a plan they don't understand. How the county prepares its contract with Real Wood and Dr. Becking will be the next semester course. The problems with the RFP proposal can be solved at that stage if it is properly written.

I sure hope the board doesn't flunk out, causing the county to lose the revenue that it desperately needs. Kathie Cooke Redwood Valley Between the lines To The Editor: Accusations by the 5th District Supervisor that I am promoting an armed assault on the hamlet of Elk and, as one of his supporters put, "Ore people of color who live there" are attributable to three strategies worked out by the supervisor and his odd claque of supporters. The plan is (1) avoid the political debate with persons to the left of phony liberals like himself, (2) cordon off my newspaper because it considers the supervisor and his friends personally and politically contemptible and says so on a regular basis, (3) is the usual shameless attempt by persons who are, essentially, exhibitionists, to get their silly faces and even sillier opinions into the local media. We would all be save the tedium of de Vallians if he and his idolaters would simply do nude headstands at the supes' meeting once a month to get the attention they seem to need. The spectacle would be amusing and it would spare us having to read about them.

From the ridiculous to the more ridiculous; I may be the only person around unhappy with the state investigation of the Superintendent of the Mendocino County Schools. But I think the report, and the cowardly crew of ersatz liberals who sit as MCOE trustees, are guilty of misleading the public into thinking that the rot at the agency is confined to one man. Mr. Ward has had plenty of help over the years from the upper echelons at Talmage. If MCOE were a branch of the Mafia, Ward's sub-administrators would be indicted as co-conspirators hi the looting of the public money these people siphon off before it reaches the starved classrooms of Mendocino County.

(I'd also indict the architects of the grotesquely expensive 175k production of "The Thing Called Love," on the twin grounds of bad art and corrupt politics. This scam is emblematic of both MCOE and the mercenary liberalism," represented by the 5th District Supervisor and his Ukiah soulmates.) But rather than move to clean up the mess at Talmage, the County School Board is wasting thousands more public dollars protecting itself from the man they themselves appointed as head man! Throw them all out of office, and then toss Ward and his entire administrative apparatus into the criminal docet for conspiracy to defraud the children and taxpayers of Mendocino County. Bruce Anderson Boonville BY GARRY TRUDEAU PUCKS, BUT POYOU KNOW YOU'RE 5TANP- IN6 RIGHT NOW? THIS15 THE BUS STOPWHBRB APAM5VIPPA WOMAN JUST ACROSS THB THAT'S RIGHT, SIR, THIS 15THEACTUAL BWCHCNWHICHA OH, NO, I THOUGHT YOUW5RZA TOURJST,.

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About Ukiah Daily Journal Archive

Pages Available:
307,618
Years Available:
1890-2009