Editorial

Most people have heard the slogan “Only rain down the drain” or have seen decals near storm drain inlets with the words “DRAINS TO CREEK, NO DUMPING” on them. And we know what a wonderful environment we have in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties — our rivers and creeks are a major part of what is so great about living here. As you go about your daily tasks at work and home, you want to do what’s right to protect our environment, but sometimes it seems more convenient to overlook the responsible action, or just take a shortcut. It may seem easy to just clean a paint brush or roller with a hose into the street gutter or inlet rather than into the sink. After all, it’s just a little paint. Or when completing the replacement of a portion of a driveway you might be tempted to hose off the excess concrete into the nearby storm drain inlet — what else can you do with it? Let’s say the area around the dumpster or garbage can is getting a little dirty so why not a quick rinse with a hose to clean it up? It goes to a treatment plant, doesn’t it? These are all examples of how waste can end in our creeks.

Tax Day is looming, the deadline we all over complain about, deal with anyway and somehow always survive — often ending with a nice refund check from the IRS. How much of our complaining is justified and how much is just an inbred response to anything made mandatory by the big, bad government?

There is an energy bill before Congress that needs your

A peculiar thing happened earlier this week on Tuesday. Did you notice? Not only were all the schools closed for a single day in the middle of the week, but so were the banks and post office. Everything else seemed normal. Local businesses were open for regular hours and highway traffic reports included familiar fender benders and rush hour alerts.

EDITOR: The five year anniversary of 9/11 has many of us

To the Town Council