Editorial

The specifics of the effort to re-draft the JPA governing the County Library System came to my attention very late in the process. I was pleased to read the paragraph in the draft revision which proposed allowing communities to provide supplemental funds for local branches. When the county library system budget does not meet locally perceived needs a community could support their local branch. The Monday closure of the branches, in place for the last three years, could be reversed by allowing communities to fund Monday library services. It would be a valuable mechanism for communities to have library services responsive to local needs.

There are 78 million dogs in the U.S. today. They eat and then each eliminates almost a pound of poop every day. The resulting 3.6 billion pounds of dog poop produced in a year can fill 800 footballs fields, one foot deep! This is no small nuisance. Sonoma County’s 43,000 dogs produce over 32,000 pounds daily. Cleaning up your pet’s waste helps keep our pets, the environment, and each other healthy.

From cartoon balloons in classic comics, to today’s internet slang, “PSST!” means “I’ve got a secret to tell you.” Here’s a secret that needs telling: Starting in 2009, Public School Success Team, a local volunteer organization, has worked with the Healdsburg Unified School District to make constructive connections with public school kids. Connecting with people who care about the their success — and can help them to succeed — is a powerful motivator for students. Our tutoring, mentoring and coaching programs supplement their connections at home, church and school.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a tiny item in some newspaper or other about a preacher browsing through the book department of a big chain discount store. He noticed that they had placed the Bibles in the “Fiction” section, and he took offense. The store apologized profusely and fell all over itself to right this supposed wrong.

It was a hard fought soccer game. The boys were aggressively moving around the field, challenging one another. Several collided and one, from the other team, fell and took his time getting up. One of my 8 year-old’s teammates began pressing towards the goal. “Get up! Get off the floor!” yelled a spectator for the other team. Wait…floor? The game was outdoors, on natural grass, at Badger Park. Was it just a slip? Clearly he meant ground. But he was relentless in his error, continuing to choose THAT word. “Get up off the floor!” “Stop rolling around on the floor!”

After reading Rollie Atkinson’s editorial it got me thinking just how valuable the Tribune is to Healdsburg and I’m sure how the other Sonoma West Publishers’ weekly papers are to their communities.

Ask any child what is in a creek and they will reply, “water.” Ask them to take a look at the creek water after a rainstorm and they will change their answer to “dirt.” In California's North Coast, there is so much “dirt” in local rivers, streams, and creeks that 61 percent of our waterways are considered impaired for sediment by regional regulators.

This is Thanksgiving week and along with the turkey, cranberries and other fixings, usually comes another tradition — a Thanksgiving message written in this space for our local readers. The editorial always urges everyone to not only count their own blessings but to reach out to those who have unmet needs for food, shelter or personal security.

My Indiana friend sent a photo of her dazzling ruby-colored backyard. For your fall fix, she wrote. A California friend visiting Maine posted golden leaves on Facebook and happily reported it blustery enough for gloves and scarves.

I do not intend the following to be mere nostalgia, but rather a description of a safer world in which a teenaged boy would not likely be shot by a police officer.