Hidden agendas
A town up in Oregon’s citizens all had a laugh about the local liquor store who had to replace the back door floor tile every couple of years from the traffic of the closet drinkers who never came in the front door. The same now can be said, as the mom and pop liquor stores are all closed here at the lake and the local drug stores have taken their place. No one notices who goes in and out of them and they have the largest liquor inventory’s in the country. The joke now will be the fact that their inventory also is filled with those health products we all need from time to time. With the very, very profitable drug and health care inventory, they will be able price their liquor inventory with a far less need for profit then the old mom and pop’s.
Every sales flier we get in our newspapers has at least one page advertising this new product line they have added to their inventory and the band plays on. Smiles.
Jim Hall, Clearlake Oaks
Different requirements, same space
You want to know what gives me heartburn? Bicycles and bicycle lanes on our highways!
Why you wonder? Here’s why.
California signed into law a law stating a driver of a motorized vehicle must allow at least 3 feet between the vehicle and the bicycle when passing and if that is not possible the vehicle must slow down and only pass when the cyclist will not be in danger. So let’s see what is going on here.
The environmentalists have succeeded in co-opting our state highway system for a green form of transportation while we who drive motorized vehicles have paid for this to happen.
To drive a motorized vehicle on the highway requires a valid driver’s license that you must pay a fee for, requires you pass a written exam as well as a vision test and meet an age requirement. To ride a bicycle on the same highway with the same laws requires the cyclist do nothing except wear a helmet.
To drive a motorized vehicle on the highway requires the vehicle be registered, licensed and it must be covered by liability insurance. To ride a bicycle on the same highway requires no license, no registration and no insurance.
To drive a motorized vehicle on the highway, in the majority of cases, requires the purchase of fuel and built into the price of that fuel are taxes that are collected to maintain our highways and build bicycle lanes. To ride a bicycle on the same highway is free.
So now I have a question: If a bicycle and its rider cause an accident and they are not required to carry insurance or even know the state laws governing our highways and someone dies in that accident, who is at fault? What insurance will pay? Will the cyclist walk free because he wasn’t required to know the laws governing our highways? What if the cyclist is only 11 or 12 years old?
Bill Wink, Hidden Valley Lake
Another hitch
Like a lot of others, I have been interested in the articles and opinions concerning the hitch situation. On the other hand I’m surprised at how little Lake County dwellers understand the nature of the situation and its possible consequences. Let’s start off with the simple fact that, while eons ago Clear Lake and the Blue Lakes were part of the same drainage system flowing to the Russian River, geologic uprisings put a barrier between the Russian River and the lake, and it now drains to the Sacramento River drainage system. Before the dam was built both Steelhead and Pacific Lampreys swam up Cache Creek, over the riffle to spawn in Clear Lakes feeder creeks. At that time, apparently, there were three fish species (native) in our lake: blackfish, hitch and the splittail. While our lake was a well known vacation destination, it was not an angler’s paradise. I can only imagine that this spurred the major change in the lake’s ecology. People wanted to be able to catch fish and large minnows just didn’t get the job done. Over the years the lake was stocked with catfish, carp, bluegills, crappies, and, apparently much later, with largemouth bass that the state farmed and stocked into the lake. This changed ecology has not worked out well for the native fish. Blackfish and hitch populations are almost non-existant and the splittail is long extinct.
Recently the hitch were nominated for an endangered classification and a short time ago an investigation was initiated. From what I can glean, this is an examination of the ecology and environment of the species in question as it now exists. No changes to the environment are permitted, even if it is to the subject’s benefit as that would louse-up the study’s parameters. The results of the study will be “go/no go” as of the end of the study. Simply: The hitch does not measure up to the “endangered” criteria — although a new study may be authorized, later; or the hitch is judged an endangered species and steps will be taken to develop an improved environment to preserve it. As I see it, the mechanics of the process eliminates any input, economically or socially, from the local populace.
I suspect that the first (and easiest) measure will be to disallow the planting of non-native species of fish into the lake. The next step (to judge from places as Lake Davis), will be to (try) to eliminate the main predator, the largemouth bass. This eventually could eliminate the bass tournaments, and hurt local income. As I read it, bass tournaments have been part of the environment for a long time and there is no reason they should not be allowed through the end of the study. An integral part of bass tournaments is “catch and release” To implement a “catch and destroy” might be a compromise for a few years.
Regardless of the hitch, Lake Country has a responsibility to improve the lake for which it is named. We need to publish (in large letters) what the responsibilities of landowners are with respect to the lake’s condition, whether it be runoff chemicals, surface diversions and use of subsurface water sources, as well as wetland enhancement and algae reduction. A while back, Terry Knight noted that people seemed reluctant to do any planning as they “were unsure as to what will happen.” Bad attitude as it would seem there are only two alternatives!
Guff Worth, Lakeport
