Letters to the Editor
FineLife magazine ‘beautifully designed and well-written’
Editor: What a delightful surprise to open your newspaper last Thursday to find the beautifully designed and well-written magazine, FL (Fine Life).
So often these glossy inserts can be very “chic,” and at the same time rather shallow. However, this was not the case as I read a number of the well-researched articles. I especially enjoyed Kathleen Hill’s descriptions of the four over-the-top Napa wineries (it’s always best to know in advance where to take expectant houseguests), and her background article on Buena Vista’s 150th birthday bash.
But this is not unusual, as I am a regular reader of her column, “The Jolly Green Goddess.” As a Master Gardener, I appreciate all her personal tips and her support of our community education programs. I discovered I was not alone when I read about Wedekinds sale in her column and found that many other gardeners had followed her lead to the nursery.
Keep up the great work on behalf of ALL the residents of this community.
Barbara Kirbach
Injured woman wants to thank gentle ‘hero’
Editor: I was walking my dog on April 5 and fell into a bush where no one could see me. I still had the dog leash in my hand and tried to get out of the bush. I managed to get out of the bush but then I fell into a pile of rocks and dirt. I couldn’t move. I had a cell phone but was in too much pain to use it.
I looked at my little Shihtzu who was only 1 1/2 yrs old. His name is Sammy. I looked at him and said Sam I need your help – grandma is hurting bad and needs your help. I never let go of his leash but I gave him more room to run around. Before I knew it Sammy was running into a circle hoping someone would see him. An elderly man saw him and came down to see why the dog was running in circles. He petted the dog and the dog took him to me. He had his cell phone and called help for me. I have been looking for this wonderful man to thank him but forgot to get his name.
I’m hoping he reads this letter and calls me. My name is Betty Zumbo. My contact number is 996-8809. My dog and this man were my heroes. I would like to find him and say Thank you.
Betty Zumbo
Pot calls kettle black
Editor: Very provocative—your Aug. 16 editorial “Life Ain’t Fair” right next to Mr. Unti’s letter criticizing Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela for income inequality and “Boli-bourgeoisie”. That’s the pot calling the kettle black! Bourgeois? That’s you and me and apparently, an increasing number of Venezuelans! The World Bank reports corruption? Hypocrisy incarnate! Thanks to columnist Joan Huguenard for taking the time to GO TO Venezuela to “write a more balanced report.”
And the Sun, bemoaning other “heavily-socialized societ(ies), where bureaucrats wield their considerable power arbitrarily”? Gimme a break! Like our bureaucrats invading and occupying Iraq while unable to manage water systems in New Orleans isn’t “arbitrary power”? Physician, heal thyself!
Yes, yes, “we make our own happiness,” but inner peace also comes from “doing no harm,” and as a planet, we’re not there yet. We are judged by how we treat the poor, aged, and powerless (including plants and animals), not by how rich a few of us can get. So do the right thing, consume less, vote for men/women you trust and keep them honest! Because remember, democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.
James Osborne
Why aren’t deputies arresting miscreants?
Editor: While serving in the Military I was taught that an individual was responsible for their actions 24/7, which meant whether in a fight, drunk or disorderly a person is responsible for their own lives.
Why isn’t this true in the civilian world? Now being a civilian I try to live by the same rules because it is only fair to my fellow Sonoma residents. As I am reminded constantly by those who live, work or visit Sonoma, what I try to live by isn’t necessarily the same for others.
Sunday morning at 2:30 a.m., I was awakened to the wonderful sound of a man using my neighbor’s sidewalk as a placement for his “vomit” as it spewed from his stomach upon our avenue. After summoning the Sheriff’s Department and notifying them about our kind alarm clock, they sent out a deputy who found a husband (driver) and wife were both too drunk to drive any further.
I watched as the deputy talked to them and then just left them there. Astonished I waited as he approached me, letting me know they were sleeping it off.
Isn’t a DUI a DUI, if he puked at one intersection and then drove to another, isn’t that considered a DUI? Just because the officer didn’t see it, he can’t look at the vomit and add “1 plus 1” and then consider that this individual might eventually cause the death of some other individual.
Last Sunday morning at 5 a.m. Four local youths (all under age) after a night of drinking used the same location as a receptacle for two-dozen beer cans, when approached to pick up their trash by a local resident, the resident was pushed to the ground by one of the male teens, they then all fled. Again the local authority failed to do anything.
As I write this, I can recall my weekly remembrances of graffiti on the bike paths, donated benches vandalized, Verano Ave. East and other Sonoma streets being used as drag strips or racetracks by not only the youth but adults trying to recall their younger days. Drivers who are waved at to slow down, instead of slowing down, give up the one finger “Hi Sign”.
With as much as goes on why isn’t law enforcement and local government doing something more to protect the property and in that case the individuals of Sonoma County and the town of Sonoma?
As a member of the Sonoma community I am tired of being told there is nothing we can.
It’s about time Sonoma residents ask our law enforcement and community leaders to do what our taxes pay them to do.
James Oconnel
