Opinion
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- Written by: Barbara Christwitz
Author Barbara Kingsolver writes in her new book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, “This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew … and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air.”
Perhaps Kingsolver’s book and/or our newest Lake County Supervisor Denise Rushing’s sustainability ideas are inspiring me. In particular, I am considering that Nature’s Own, Clearlake’s health food store is up for sale, and I say, "Opportunity knocks." I wonder, “Can a store make it if it sells only products produced within its immediate area? Will a health food store survive if its produce originates solely from Lake County? Can a store be like a year around farmers’ market only with a roof overhead?”
I think of our farmers, gardeners and Mother Nature herself who produce in Lake County water, walnuts, almonds, honey, pears, grapes, tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries, raspberries, plums, apricots, peaches, Swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, brussel sprouts, pumpkins, chickens, wild turkey, deer, lamb, goats, ducks, geese, olives, Jerusalem artichokes, corn, eggplant, various herbs and a host of other delectable foods.
Is anyone and/or a group of community-minded people feeling called and challenged to create a health food store and/or cooperative store which sells locally- grown meats, fruits and vegetables? Will the Department of Health and agricultural education institutions support people as they haul out their canning jars, food dryers and freezers for the purpose of food preservation and selling food? Is anyone willing to pluck a scalded chicken? Granted, such a business place is a stretch to consider; however, I would enjoy at least engaging in conversation about producing, preserving, selling and eating foods produced closer to home.
Our great-great grandmothers did it. Can we? Would we want to work so hard?
Barbara Christwitz lives in Clearlake.
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- Written by: Dr. Bob Gardner
Having spent 10 years as a practicing local physician and having served six years on the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center's Board, I have seen the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) issue from various perspectives. Whereas most workers are dedicated and professional, there is an occasional person who is chemically addicted and predatory. Pilots must pass a background check and drug tests to safely transport other people. IHSS workers are also responsible for the lives and safety of people and there needs to be a way to weed out those workers who can be dangerous and exploitive. The workers who have diseases such as addiction need to be screened and treated, and our elderly and infirmed need to be kept safe.
I like our Lake County supervisors. I do not agree with every one of their decisions, but I do respect each one as an individual. I do not want to see our local quality of life disrupted by a recall or have dollars wasted on the recall process. I also do not want my elected representatives replaced by candidates selected by a union group. My suggestion is for both sides to negotiate, talk, explain, listen, educate, get a mediator, hire a facilitator, compromise or just pray for a solution, but do not waste our time and resources on a recall.
Dr. Bob Gardner
Buckingham/Lucerne
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- Written by: Laurel Elliott
I have talked to many other care givers from all over the nation, and almost to a man, every one of them goes above and beyond what work they get paid to do. These are caring individuals who take their jobs seriously. This type of devotion should be rewarded.
I heard from David Smith today and he read an excerpt from the Lake County Record-Bee about an opinion sent in for their editor's column where the comment is made that Supervisors Farrington and Brown are doing their jobs and that the California union president should "stay in Los Angeles and beat his chest" [paraphrase].
I feel that this is a strong racial comment and it makes me wonder if maybe Supervisors Farrington and Brown feel the same way. Were I in their districts, I would not vote for them, as this comment is, I feel, a racial slur. I wonder if the residents in Lake County want supervisors that they believe feel that way?
Laurel Elliott is an In-Home Supportive Services care provider who lives in Nice.
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- Written by: Perry McCosker
Recent statements that came out in the local newspaper in response to the IHSS union recall attempt sounded a little racial. I don't think there's a need for that kind of thing to be going on in Lake County.
I'm an IHSS client, and I'd be a dead duck if I didn't have an IHSS worker helping me day to day.
This whole big argument between the county and the union is not a good thing. I think we're able to pick our own providers, without a lot of input. That's the way it was set up by the State of California and I think it should be left alone.
Perry McCosker is a Vietnam veteran and an IHSS client who lives in Nice.
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