Opinion
My wife asked him how his elderly father was doing. He said that he had gone to Salem over the weekend and brought his father back so he could look after some medical matters for him. He said he and his wife were enjoying their visit with dad.
He related that as they were relaxing the previous evening, his dad catching a nap in his chair, the phone rang. A neighbor asked if he would like to come over and help butcher a pig. When asked, dad thought that would be fine, so at 11 p.m. they set out to help the neighbor with his task.
The pig, a huge one about 300 pounds, was still in the back of the pickup when they arrived. They helped get it out of the truck and into the barn where everything was ready for the butchering. The neighbor was well equipped to handle the chore as he had done this quite a few times before. It was the surgeon’s first time to cut up a cadaver since medical school, however. He usually cuts on live subjects such as my wife and I.
The operation (on the pig) was a huge success and the good doctor was rewarded with several packages of fresh pork for his freezer.
Sandy survived her operation; the pig didn’t.
Oh, did I mention that the neighbor in this story is a mortician who owns one of the local funeral homes? I guess you could say that the surgeon and the mortician are quite the cut-ups.
It’s great living in a small town.
(Names withheld to protect the innocent, whoever they may be.)
Herman W. (Woody) Hughes, Ph.D., lives in Lakeport.
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- Written by: Herman "Woody" Hughes
Lake County Sheriff’s Association likes the status quo but that just won’t do.
The Lake County Deputy Sheriff’s Association’s position is clear. They like things just as they are; hence the majority vote of its members to endorse Sheriff Mitchell.
Although they did not have the required two-thirds vote needed to endorse a candidate for district attorney, the majority of votes went to Jon Hopkins and Doug Rhoades, a clear signal they like their own and either don’t want, or are afraid of, the change new leadership will bring.
Hopkins is the sitting district attorney and Rhoades, a candidate for district attorney, works closely with the deputies in his public defender role and has a family member on the sheriff’s staff.
That’s too bad because the citizens of Lake County deserve better and a change in leadership in the offices of sheriff and district attorney is needed.
There are many examples of poor leadership in these offices and both share in the most notable example, the handling of a boat crash and fatality on Clear Lake. Bismark Dinius, the operator of a near stationary boat, was charged while Russell Perdock – an off-duty sheriff's chief deputy who ran into the Dinius boat at breakneck speed at night – incredibly, was not.
Ultimately Dinius was acquitted but the ordeal left a stinging and lasting reflection on both offices and the lawsuit soon to follow is the constant reminder of the true cost of bad leadership. Negative publicity and careless use of vital resources in crippling economic times is attributable directly to the dismal leadership of incumbents Mitchell and Hopkins.
This case was a sad commentary on these top government offices and, unfortunately, Lake County in general. Not what we need when we’re trying to reduce spending to save jobs, elevate our economic standing and boost tourism.
It’s time for a change in leadership and one day the good deputies who voted for the status quo will be the better for that change. In the meantime the weight of a growing perception that Lake County incumbents have overstayed their welcome will continue to cast a shadow on the local law enforcement community.
The primaries are on June 8. The only way to hold Sheriff Mitchell and District Attorney Hopkins accountable for their actions is for the voters to replace them. Fortunately, the people, not the endorsement (or the lack thereof) of the deputy sheriff’s association, will decide who goes on to the general election.
Olga Martin Steele lives in Clearlake Oaks.
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- Written by: Olga Martin Steele
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