Letters for January 5, 2017

‘Pathetic!’

Re “Favoritism” (Second & Flume, by Melissa Daugherty, Dec. 28):

Your column regarding the state champion Pleasant Valley football team parade through downtown could have and should have been a nice tribute to a hardworking group of players, coaches and fans, but it quickly fell flat and turned petty. Instead of highlighting the good feeling and pride our team fought very hard for, you chose to denigrate it and show your pettiness with sniping comments about our mayor and two politicians who attended the celebration.

Although a few politicians were present to share in the success of our local team, they did not say anything politically related and, like the rest of us, were there to show support. Your sniping comments such as a weak-mayor system and brown-nosing were pathetic and small-minded but of the type of style that those of us on the opposite side of the aisle have come to expect. In that respect, your column did not disappoint, it only reinforced the depths to which people like you will stoop.

Your column sounded like it was written by someone who started writing it with a two-glasses-of-wine head start and finished when the empty bottle crashed to the floor. Pretty pathetic!

Chris Nicodemus

Chico

You sound like a bitter, jealous person who cannot let others enjoy their achievements. Winning a state title is a big deal. The parade, to me, came off as heartfelt, lovingly cheesy, cheerful and filled with appreciation of each other and other community members or community members’ children’s accomplishments. Long story short, you are a hater. Nothing but. And most of your stories come off this way. With some sort of higher-up snobbery. You’re in the North State, be present and proud.

Paul Pfister

Chico

It is apparent to me that you went to that parade looking for the rainstorm that might dampen it. When you didn’t find the “rain” from those in attendance, you created your own rain. What’s wrong with a community celebrating something as positive as a state champion high school football team? Nothing, of course, unless you are a bitter political partisan like yourself. You referred to yourself as a journalist. You’re not a journalist, you’re an opinion newspaper writer/editor and a sour person. It’s too bad you were unable to enjoy the moment like others did.

Dana Davis

Chico

Dunces

According to British clergyman and satirist Jonathan Swift, “When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” But the opposite is true as well—and marvelously illustrated in the unusual circumstances in which our country currently finds itself.

The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, perhaps the most blatant criminal ever to lead a developed nation, has welcomed our president-elect like a brother. The most dangerous tyrant in the world, Vladimir Putin, has publicly touted Mr. Trump, who has expressed unabashed admiration for the Russian dictator in return. Most recently, another national leader who boosted Trump over the “quaintly honest” Obama, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing indictment for a second time for accepting bribes from businessmen, possibly auguring what we may expect here at home, and certainly qualifying him for the “dunce” designation. Of course, this is not even to mention U.S.-based dunces like Richard Spencer, who literally hailed Trump’s electoral college victory as if it were the Second Coming, although in his pantheon, the “first” coming was probably Hitler’s.

The multiple extreme choices among Trump’s cabinet appointments, of course, constitute a completely separate and additional Confederacy of Dunces.

Norman Beecher

Chico

FYI

Re “Punishment unfitting” (Letters, by Nathan Esplanade, Dec. 29):

Just an FYI for Mr. Esplanade, who states: “Since shooting a Glock .45 requires first releasing its automatic safety, Feaster’s shooting was clearly intentional.” One of the potential shortcomings of Glock handguns is that the safety is trigger-operated (i.e., a small release mechanism is located on the forward edge of the trigger, which, when depressed, as in when the trigger is pulled, releases the safety). This “feature” has caused some law enforcement agencies to prohibit their officers from carrying Glocks though their reliability and durability are legend.

Charles Carey

Paradise

Prioritize homeless first

Re “Hands in need” (Newslines, by Howard Hardee, Dec. 22):

Vice Mayor Reanette Fillmer’s recent interest in finding common ground between the often competing territories of commerce and compassion has great potential for the issue of homelessness locally, but let’s please remain aware that business priorities are rarely the wisest drivers of social policy.

Lloyd Pendleton has been instrumental in the impressively successful efforts at improving access to shelter in Utah and has earned the broad respect he enjoys in the field. Among Mr. Pendleton’s many insight points are: We have to change as much as they do, and we have to meet them where they’re at.

Dozens of cities and counties—and even a school district and the entire state of Hawaii—have declared emergencies in response to the number of people living in their communities without adequate shelter; many of these places have lower per-capita rates of homelessness than we do. San Jose has recently persuaded California to amend the shelter crisis code, which now allows emergency bridge housing in their community.

Declaring a shelter crisis locally would greatly reduce regulatory and legal obstacles that prevent Joel Castle and his friends out there at the farm from finding refuge in a humble manger if that’s their best option.

Dan Everhart

Chico

Tree time

Planting season is upon us, and Chico Tree Advocates has trees we want to plant. We have volunteers who want to plant. What we need now is the contact info of Chico property owners who want shade for future generations. It requires less water than you were putting on the lawn. Knock on doors of treeless yards. Have them contact Charles for free planting of free trees: 518-1417 or cswithuhn@yahoo.com.

Charles Withuhn

Chico