Letters for July 20, 2006

Taken to task
Re: “Hi-tech HQ” (In My Eyes, CN&R, July 6):

It is nice you are getting out and meeting our local officials, and it is nice Sheriff Reniff was willing to show you select cleaned and polished portions of his department; however, it is disheartening you failed to ask him the hard questions about why the jail is in such chaotic disarray.

By law, Sheriff Reniff is required to keep the jail functioning in a humane manner. He has failed this duty. The conditions in the facility are medieval at best. Sheriff Reniff fails to meet the requirements of the consent decree for basic humane treatment and care of inmates, and this results in lawsuits that cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend.

Very few care about the human beings warehoused in the Butte County Jail, or the jails and prisons throughout the state; however, they are human beings and deserve to be treated as such. Next time, be a reporter, Mr. Tuchinsky, and ask the hard questions that need to be answered.

Eric Anderson
Chico

Editor’s note: We are working on a report about the County Jail that will run shortly.

Prison or park?
Just what are they building where there used to be trees and grass? When the city plaza used to be trees and grass, I don’t remember a public outcry that demanded it to be covered from end to end in concrete.

The city plaza park actually looked better this winter. At least the mud was natural. Where are people going to sit for the Friday-night concerts in the park? Is the band going to be playing to a water fountain or people? It looks more like a place to have gladiator games than to relax in.

I have an idea for the ribbon cutting. Have a contest to see which section of concrete will fry an egg the fastest.

Dan Grover
Chico

Editor’s note: Check this issue’s Newslines section for a story about the esthetics of the plaza project.

CNF choice
Re: “Meaty issue” (Letters, CN&R, July 13):

I read with concern Daniel Donnelly’s letter about Chico Natural Foods’ upcoming vote to stock meat or not. In an attempt to get things back on track after the opening of Trader Joe’s and subsequent loss of $25,000 in sales monthly, they asked members why they were shopping elsewhere, and the member response most heard was, “I go elsewhere to buy meat and end up picking up my other groceries while there.” My husband and I also eat meat, but thankfully I have the luxury of time to get my meat elsewhere and still go to CNF for everything else. Most folks don’t have this luxury.

So to keep CNF open and profitable, they are considering stocking meat. I am all for it personally not only because I eat meat, but because I enjoy shopping at CNF, where 99.9 percent of the produce is organic and I can be assured that I am paying retail or under. The variety of fresh organic produce available any time of year at CNF is unequaled anywhere in the area, and I’m calling on all members, vegetarian or not, of Chico Natural Foods to vote yes concerning whether or not to stock meat if it means keeping this wonderful resource alive and well and profitable.

Bonita Cowan
Chico

‘We were here first’
Re: “Keep one, unsupersized Wal-Mart” (Guest Comment, CN&R, July 13):

Three cheers for Heather Schlaff and the other citizens of the Chico community (of which I am one) for their efforts to thwart the expansion plans of Wal-Mart.

I am not an employee at a discount grocery store, nor a union member or even a disgruntled former Wal-Mart employee. I am simply someone who purchased a home in north Chico because I appreciated the rural surroundings and wanted to raise my family there. Now Wal-Mart wants the city to annex the county property where the Sunset Hills Golf Course stands so they can build a massive Supercenter with all of its subsequent pitfalls, including increased traffic, noise and crime.

This is not a case of someone moving into an area where there is an existing airport and then complaining about the noise. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The bottom line is we were here first. As citizens of the county, and residents who will be the most affected by this massive undertaking, we have the right to fight this.

Some say this goes against the concept of “free enterprise,” that the market weeds out the weak, and that Wal-Mart is only so big because everyone likes them. Fine. Please send me your home address so I can forward it along to Wal-Mart. I’ll let them know you would have no problem with them building a Supercenter right next to your home.

Mitch Cox
Chico

Must-see movie
I just saw Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and I urge everyone to make it his or her civic and moral duty to see it. I think this is the most important movie of the 21st century. It makes obvious the extreme urgency to start now to counteract global warming before it’s too late.

Especially you naysayers out there owe it to the children and grandchildren of our country and our world to see this movie. Then you can decide for yourselves: Do you want to believe the media and the current administration’s refutation of global warming, or do you want to be informed by scientific evidence? For example, 57 percent of news articles report that global warming is a hoax. Yet, all published scientific research in the world confirms that global warming is a fact.

But as I said, go see the film for yourselves. In the words of Herbert Spencer: “There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance—that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” Before you show contempt by dismissing scientific evidence, please investigate the facts as presented in An Inconvenient Truth. Whether we can continue to survive on earth may depend on it.

Jan Hildenbrand
Chico

e-Voting campaign
Dear Rep. Wally Herger,

If you truly represent us, your constituents, you will demand that the voting machines leave a paper trail to ensure that the voting process is honest for both Democrats and Republicans. Please heed us and represent us by insisting that the machines have a paper trail by co-sponsoring H.R. 550—the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act.

Trudy Leap
Chico

More on elections
Our presidential elections are anything but democratic.

Only the wealthy have access to the media. You must be wealthy, or represent wealth, in order to run.

If you belong to other than the two major parties you will have a difficult time even getting on the ballot and you will not be allowed in any debates.

Because primaries are held on different dates rather than all on the same date, good candidates might be eliminated from the race early.

Election Day is Tuesday to eliminate the workingman vote.

Even if you get the most votes, because of the Electoral College, you may not win.

The only way it will change is by our youth getting together on the Internet and voting for someone who wants to change the above requirements for election.

Norm Dillinger
Chico

Correction
Re: “Frustrated freedom lovers” (Newslines, CN&R, July 13): The last name of state Senate candidate Tony Munroe was misspelled. We regret the error. This has been corrected on the Website.