Letters for March 2, 2006

NEFR again
I applaud the Chico City Council’s purchase of the Thomasson property to preserve the Comanche Creek greenway.

It is a shame that the conservative City Council of 2001 were sore losers after the defeat of the Otterson Drive extension and refused to buy the property then. It could have been purchased for only $700,000 instead of $1.2 million.

I am distressed to hear city officials still talking about connecting the two adjacent business parks and a potential extension of Otterson Drive.

The overwhelming defeat of Measure A, the Otterson Drive bridge and extension, has made it clear that the citizens of Chico do not want these intrusions into the Comanche Creek greenway.

I urge the City Council to remember and respect the will of the voters.

Michael Pike,
Chico

Osama dockworker?
I find it shocking that, in a post 9/11 and Patriot Act culture, the president would condone and push for the Saudi Arabians (Osama bin Laden’s homeland) and the United Arab Emirates (facts support that money for 9/11 was laundered through this nation) to take over operations of six U.S. ports! Talk about Home Security! Bush is more interested in spying on Americans than he is in securing ports and borders. He vows to veto efforts to cancel the deal, and continues to pursue wire tapping US Citizens. Something is very wrong here. Why is America for sale to the highest bidder? I understand capitalism and I understand what can happen to the chickens when the fox guards the house. We need security at all airports, and shipping ports, but not by countries that supported the 9/11 attack. Remember, there were no Iraqis on those planes and there was no financial link to Iraq for the attacks, contrary to the lies the president chooses to believe. Americans and American companies must secure all ports and borders. Where is Osama bin Laden? Perhaps he works for one of those companies who will guard our ports if Bush has his way! Time will tell.

Luisa Garza,
Chico

Stupid evolution
Your recent essay on Intelligent Design by Roland Lamarine [“Intelligent design?” Feb. 16] is a remarkable piece of fiction:

The old fairy-tale regarding the so called evolution of moths from white to black has been exposed as a total hoax. The dead moths were glued to trees and then photographed. Live moths attach themselves to the underside of leaves and not to bark.

The purported evolution of the whale is indeed a whale of a story. Closer investigation of the facts shows that there are absolutely no transitional forms except in the imagination of the artist who drew the pictures.

Transitional forms in the fossil record? Please document a single one.

Concerning the eye, Charles Darwin himself stated that its extreme intricacies pose a huge problem for his theory.

And just exactly how does DNA support evolution, pray tell? The author states his opinion without supporting evidence. DNA, in fact, points more to a designer than to chance.

The bottom line is that your interpretation of scientific data regarding origins is driven by faith – faith in evolution or faith in a designer.

Hannelore G. Orrick,
Paradise

The tree vote
In Chico it’s much easier to make a difference by voting for those who care about our city. For example, our city center around the plaza needs rebuilding to strengthen businesses and give us something to be proud of. We need exciting useful architecture and new ideas mixed in with the best of the old, not just an attempt to recover from the brutal surgery on our old tree-lined plaza.

As you look at the plaza today, you might ask where all the trees went, especially the large chestnut that was on the State Register of Big Trees? If the city’s Tree Ordinance had covered city trees and parks, it would not have happened.

The Tree Ordinance was enacted in a weakened form and has failed to stop developers and the city shopping around for the arborist who will tell them the trees they want to cut down are sick, rotten or dangerous. Young healthy trees that will grow to replace our urban tree cover are not protected at all.

What we need now is to bring the city parks and street trees within the scope of the ordinance, including trees of 12 inches diameter, and make sure that only qualified arborists approved by the city can make decisions about what stays and what goes.

In this year’s election, vote for council members who will support a strengthened Tree Ordinance to ensure a beautiful tree-filled city.

Alan Gair for TreeAction,
Chico

Good friends
As President of Friends of Bidwell Park, I would like to thank the many Friends of Bidwell Park volunteers who have contributed more than 5,000 hours of on-site labor to the city of Chico since we started our community service program in June of 2003.

They’ve removed hundreds of thousands of invasive plants from Bidwell Park, picked up tons of trash from the park and creeks, spread wood chips in oak regeneration areas, watered new trees, planted acorns, mapped trails and plant species, and taken down old wire fencing. They’ve worked at Bidwell Bowl Amphitheater, Children’s Playground, Lost Park, Annie’s Glen, Camellia Way Park, throughout Lower Park including Caper Acres and Cedar Grove, Five Mile Recreation Area, Hooker Oak Park, and Upper Park.

Our volunteers have also removed puncturevine from local bike paths and schoolyards, participated in the service projects of other organizations and helped park neighbors take out their invasive plants.

They’ve worked diligently to” Conserve and protect Bidwell Park’s natural resources,” which the current Bidwell Park Master Management Plan describes as one of its guiding principles. I hope the rest of Chico will join me in applauding the efforts of these hard-working volunteers.

I also want to thank those who have made financial contributions to Friends of Bidwell Park that have allowed us to purchase the tools and supplies needed to keep our program going.

For more information about our organization, please go to www.FriendsofBidwellPark.org.

Susan Mason,
Chico

The real immigrants
When I hear about Americans crossing the border to live in Canada, I think of how this country is made up of immigrants. The rest of this country is made up of years of immigration. When we wanted to get away from ruling kings years ago, we left Europe and came to the Americas.

Later in history, we brought blacks to the Americas to work as slaves. Later, they were freed and joined our country after a hard fight for the rights of Americans. We brought Chinese to work as quasi-slaves to build the railroads. They struggled to become part of our country.

From 1820-2000 over 65.2 million people have immigrated to the U.S. So one could say our country is made up of people who wanted to get away from their old lifestyle in another country and start a new life in America. For a lot of people America was a beacon of hope where all people were united.

But now, in the country we fought so hard for, we see people leaving as soon there is a bit of trouble. Our president has screwed up badly, but that doesn’t mean that we should leave. We need to stay and fight to correct these problems. Do not run; stand up for your rights by voicing your thoughts to the public.

Cameron Martinez
high school student,
Chico