Editorial

This Sunday is when all of us will spend billions on flowers,

The Jewish festival of Passover, the moveable feast of Easter

How come when someone says to us, “Have a nice day,” we sometimes feel offended or dismissed instead of welcomed or appreciated? This four-word greeting can be as fake and condescending as it can be uplifting or soulful.

Here’s wishing everyone a fulfilling, prosperous and happy New Year. In this new year, we hope more and more citizens of all ages take more active roles in our many community pursuits, local government actions and our far-ranging series of crucial debates and decisions. It’s a new year for all of us, a year already filled with undone tasks, ongoing conversations and new goals.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Annie Millar, Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Healdsburg Unified School District, to discuss, among other things, how the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are affecting the way she goes about her work.

Mothers are wise. They offer their families love, support, security and, for no additional charge, they also provide excellent medical advice. When our mothers told us, “A Stitch in time saves nine,” or “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” they weren’t just whistling in the dark. They were passing on a time-tested truth. It is always better to prevent a problem in the first place rather than wait for it to happen, then try to deal with the consequences afterwards. This wisdom certainly applies to childhood vaccines.

Americans have much to be grateful for. Freedom makes the top of the list for most of us because it’s expressed in so many aspects of our daily lives. Independence Day marks our celebration of freedom — it remembers we declared our independence from political and economic oppression by outsiders.

While Healdsburg District Hospital (HDH) appreciates the visibility the Healdsburg Tribune affords us, there were several errors and omissions from the article titled, “Hospital adopts tough budget” (Feb. 11, 2015). I would like to clarify a few of the points I feel may be misleading to both our community and our hospital staff. Some points may seem innocuous, but for those whose daily work revolves around the hospital and those who have lent financial support to our ongoing efforts, clarity is needed.

Healdsburg voters will be asked in the Nov. 6 election to increase the city’s sales tax a half percent “to stabilize city finances, offset declining revenues and the loss of redevelopment funds.” Measure V is unanimously supported by the current five city council members and has been endorsed by the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce directors and the Healdsburg Unified School District trustees.

What’s the answer to whether we have too big or too small a