Letters for December 20, 2018

Cheers to this

Re “Belly up to the bar” (Chow, by Jason Cassidy, Dec. 13):

I’ve always enjoyed reading Jason Cassidy’s weekly column, and I believe his recent contribution [about Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Camp Fire fundraiser via Resilience IPA] represents some of his finest work.

As a longtime downtown development consultant, I’ve worked in nearly 100 communities over the past 30 years. During this time, I’ve seen many extremely altruistic and selfless programs and projects carried out in times of great community need. However, Sierra Nevada’s most recent gesture, among their many other community betterment activities over the years, shows a higher level of community support than I’ve seen anywhere, anytime.

In addition to developing, and then donating, a delicious new ale recipe, which is traditionally as closely guarded within the world’s brewing industry as my sainted grandmother’s brown gravy recipe, they also fed the fire survivors and firefighters as well as comforted them with many thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing.

And on top of all that, the new Resilience IPA is an excellent ale. No surprise there. Donating to a worthy cause never tasted so good!

Our deepest sympathies and best wishes for all those who suffered losses during this tragic Camp Fire disaster.

Dave Kilbourne

Chico

‘One of hundreds’

Re “The vulnerables” (Second & Flume, by Melissa Daugherty, Dec. 13):

Lisa Currier was emotional as she spoke during a recent Continuum of Care meeting about her octogenarian mom from Paradise who is a post-Camp Fire couch surfer with few options other than hope. Her housed-to-houselessness story is just one of hundreds from retired Butte County residents who are homeless, with little to no assistance forthcoming.

I attended a Chico Police chief coffee talk back in 2017 that was well-attended by senior citizens with concerns about homeless people in their neighborhoods. The last statement one eloquent woman had for Chief Mike O’Brien was about the proposed tiny house village: “I’m on a fixed income and I could really use something like that.”

Hopefully as you read this, Simplicity Village—a tiny house community for homeless senior citizens—will have been approved by the Chico City Council along with directing city staff to work with the Torres Community Shelter, the Jesus Center and Safe Space on a desperately needed low-barrier shelter location for folks like Lisa’s mom, and the hundreds of humans of all ages, shapes and sizes, in a similar situation at the Red Cross emergency shelter at Silver Dollar Fairgrounds.

Bill Mash

Chico

Heart-warmer

Re “Morning Prayer” (Letters, by Mike Waltz, Dec. 13):

Your “prayer” is obviously written with so much love and compassion. It warmed my heart as I’m certain the same for many others. A tear drop accompanies my thanks. You are indeed a poet, and don’t ever stop.

Ani Sky

Chico

Use common sense

Re “The leftovers” (Second & Flume, by Melissa Daugherty, Nov. 21):

Every once in a while, I need to write you to offer some common sense to your thinking.

But first I wonder why all these actors that hate America/Trump don’t just leave the country—just go and live somewhere that they think is better! Jim Carrey would have to write a check for 80 percent of his wealth to any socialist government to help everyone else out—I won’t hold my breath.

Let me ask you and your colleagues a simple question. (By the way, your articles about the Camp Fire were wonderful and moving. It’s so horrific, an average person like me can’t really relate. Thoughts and prayers for all.) Anyway, your article got in a dig at Trump, so my question is: Would you rather he’d stayed in Washington, D.C., said everything politically correct, and authorized some funds to Paradise/Magalia and the suffering people; or visited these areas in person, said some things that are arguable, and then gave much, much more money to these areas/people? Common sense says the latter.

By the way, I just read some of your readers ripping Trump for stupidity. Please remind them that the “brilliant” Obama once stated, in a news conference, that we have 57 or 58 states. Enough said.

Paul DiGrande

Chico

Beware of attorneys

I feel compelled to write this letter in response to the large number of lawyers and legal firms preying on people’s emotions and losses due to the Camp Fire by saying, conclusively, that PG&E is to blame. The official Cal Fire Incident Report at fire.gov/current_incidents/incidentdetails/index/2277 still lists the cause as “under investigation.”

To you lawyers who are accusing PG&E, what proof do you have? Where is your evidence? What do you know that the Cal Fire investigators don’t know?

People, please be aware. These lawyers have only one thing in mind, and that is their best interests, and not yours.

Kenneth Mack

Oroville

Unreasonable plan

I own a business that is accessed off Meyers Street, the main entrance route for the proposed Barber Yard debris-sorting site. It is the only road available to access my business. There are many small businesses in this area; estimates are that several hundred people work at businesses accessed directly from Meyers Street.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of Chico, and we would all be directly negatively affected. This area already has traffic issues that noticeably worsened after the fire. There is already considerable truck traffic in this area with shipping companies, distribution companies, manufacturers and food and beverage production.

Adding several hundred trucks a day into this traffic does not make sense. Performing these waste-hauling and sorting activities in the middle of a community does not make sense. This is something that needs to be done outside of the city, where it will not have a negative impact on so many. In a community that is already struggling from so many people being affected by the fire, the last thing we need to is add to the list of difficulties and make it harder for people to conduct business and hurt the local economy.

Ben Nielsen

Chico

Editor’s note: On Monday, Dec. 17, Cal OES announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the lead agency on the temporary debris-handling project, decided that the Barber neighborhood’s Diamond Match property was “no longer the preferred site for this element of debris removal.” For more on this issue, see Downstroke on page 8.