Corrective action for Pomo?
I have three children in Pomo School. This is the seventh year for my sixth grader. I want to express publicly that I have complete confidence in the teachers and staff at Pomo School.
No Child Left Behind is just one more bungled policy from this neo-con-artist Bush regime. They cannot manage education in Lake County any better than they can manage the war in Iraq. Had Bush actually studied in college he might have learned what demographics means. Had he ever come out of his spoiled-little-rich-kid bubble he might have learned something about the plight of the socioeconomically disadvantaged. Folks, we just cannot wait any longer to throw off this yoke.
The best corrective action for Pomo”s problems would be for this cabal — Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld et al — if they think they are doing such good job — then they should go for a “victory stroll” down the open avenues of Bagdad like Lincoln did in Richmond and MacArthur did in Tokyo. They could all wear matching jump-suits.
Patrick M. Tuell
U.S. Navy 1967-1972
Clearlake
Unruly students are running the Konocti district schools
Have you seen those school board re-election signs in Clearlake? Gura, Gordon, and Jarrett, posters are everywhere. They”re doing a lousy job and want to be re-elected.
Voters should pay attention to former Lower Lake High School (chemistry and physics) teacher, Russell Hunt. He wrote about the sad state of Konocti schools in a recent “Speak Your Mind” letter (Wednesday, June 28), “The children are wild and running the school. There is absolutely no discipline and little or no learning going on. The average child is … graduating with an eighth grade education. Bottom of the barrel state test scores are evidence of this.”
Russell Hunt isn”t the only one who knows this school board has flopped. In fact, everyone knows about their mess except board members themselves. Too often kids don”t bring homework to class. They don”t stop talking when the bell rings. They don”t raise their hands when they want to say something. Teachers spend too much time policing classrooms instead of teaching. State test scores are a fiasco. These board members are duds; the blind leading the blind. Everyone has fallen in a great big ditch.
In November, voters should throw the bums out! Gura, Gordon, and Jarrett, seem to have a liberal bias against discipline. They accuse teachers when kids disrupt class. When they don”t criticize teachers, they point the finger at parents. If they don”t condemn parents or teachers, they impugn money saying, poor kids live in a poor district and can”t be disciplined or don”t want to learn.
Konocti desperately needs board members who”ll accept responsibility for school discipline and hire capable, no nonsense administrators. Teachers need only point to the door when kids disrupt class. They return, strictly chastised, with good attitudes and ready to learn. Board members who can”t guarantee orderly schools have no business holding that high office.
Darrell Watkins
Kelseyville
We want to know about local ”Men of Influence”
Lake Family Resource Center and The Lake County Domestic Violence Prevention Task Force are inviting nominations for local “Men of Influence.” We are looking for men that are the visible voice of their neighborhoods, churches, schools or are role models for youth in their community, coaches and youth group leaders.
There are so many men working to provide positive futures for the youth of Lake County. However, their work often falls under the radar. They frequently get little or no recognition for the incredible work that they do. Who are they? If you know of any such man that is influential in our community please let us know!
Members of the Lake County Domestic Violence Prevention Task Force have been working to put together a special event for “Men of Influence.” This exciting event will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church. The event will be hosted by Lakeport Police Department Chief Kevin Burke. Featured speakers for this event will be Neil Stratton, retired Walnut Creek homicide detective; and Wil Broome from the Richmond Parole and Probation Domestic Violence Division. Both Neil and Will have been working with men and boys in Contra Costa County for several years to end dating and domestic violence in their community. Additionally, there will be an inspirational speaker talking about his experience as a youth growing up in a home where domestic violence occurred.
For further information or to submit a nomination, call Susan Thompson at 262-1611 or e-mail the name of your nominee, reason for the nomination and their contact information to susant@lakefrc.org.
Susan Thompson
Lake Family Resource Center
Proposition 90 is deceptive
Proposition 90 is one of the most deceptive initiatives on the California ballot in decades. It”s being sold to the voters as “eminent domain reform” but buried in the text of Prop. 90 is a loophole that allows virtually anyone to sue over basic laws that protect our environment and our communities, simply by claiming a new law has caused economic loss to their property. No matter how far-fetched the claim — taxpayers could be on the hook for the cost of these lawsuits and payments.
Prop. 90 creates a lose-lose situation. If communities act to protect their quality of life, taxpayers could be forced to make huge payouts. Or, if we can”t afford the payouts, basic quality-of-life and environmental protections simply won”t be enacted. The negative impacts of this measure are virtually limitless. For example, it would restrict our ability to control unwanted development, or to limit the number of new houses in a development, and to pass new laws that protect our coast — just to name a few.
Prop.90 would threaten quality of life in communities throughout the state and cost taxpayers billions of dollars. Everyone agrees that something needs to be done to reform eminent domain, but Prop. 90 goes way to far.
Anita Sombs
Lakeport
Recycle campaign signs for Konocti district art projects
To all political candidates:
A friend of mine who teaches art at one of our local schools mentioned yesterday that used campaign signs can be recycled for use in student art projects.
Whether you win or lose your election, this is a great opportunity to convert all that political energy into something positive. It”s also one more reason to get out there and take down your campaign signs on the day after Election Day.
For information on donating used signs contact: herbgura@lake.org.
Herb Gura
Clearlake
Right to keep and bear arms preserves freedom and life
Mankind”s greatest threat is war waged against the unarmed citizen by his or her own government. That is the main reason a person needs a gun. This was the thinking of the Founders when they established our nation. Furthermore, 20th-century history clearly proves this very remarkable fact.
Professor R. J. Rummel of the University of Hawaii provides the needed evidence to support this fact. He coined the word “democide” to describe the intentional murder of people by government. It includes genocide, political and terror killings and massacres.
Rummel is perhaps the world”s foremost authority on this horror. In his fourth book on the subject, “Death by Government” (Transaction Publishers, 1994) he documents nearly 170 million victims of democide from 1900 to 1987. That is more than four times the 38 million battle deaths from all civil and international wars during this period. He points out that democide has been inflicted “on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners” and has killed more than 200 million in the 20th-century. Visit www.thenewamerican.com/artman/publish/article_2734.shtml for details of Rummel”s research.
Obviously, too much government is more deadly than war. Freedom, which includes the right to keep and bear arms, preserves life. It is important to remember this when government officials threaten to enact laws to restrict our weapons.
Larry William Bradbury
Reseda
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