Where are the birds?
EDITOR: We’ve passed the Ides of March, daylight saving time began on Sunday, March 12 and my wondering is: where are the birds? Our home is in the March Avenue area where we have lived for the past seven years. Until this year, there have always been birds around the house and in the open space adjacent to the house. This year, the cotoneaster berries continue to ferment on the branches of the bushes. No robins have arrived at the berry bar. We saw one scrub jay (a commuter?) this morning and a few days ago we thought we heard mourning doves cooing nearby. Wild bird seed scattered on the patio remains uneaten and unexplored except by our neighbor’s cat who does not eat seeds but hopes for a handout. Wondering if others who live in this area have noticed this absence? To add, we do not use pesticides in our home or garden and use only organic fertilizers.
Jack and Nancy Russell Stone
Healdsburg
Won’t renew
EDITOR: First, I was disheartened to see you start charging for the obituaries of long time local residents. Now you want your subscribers to read the majority of our local news online. Considering the $50 annual price remains the same for an 8-10 page newspaper that consists mostly of advertisements, it saddens me to say that I won’t be renewing my subscription this year.
Laura Baker
Healdsburg
Vision and leadership
EDITOR: I know I speak for many others when I say how pleased and encouraged I am that Leah Gold is willing to return to the city council. I have known Leah for almost 18 years and she has always been an active and dedicated member of our community whose goal has been to be the voice and advocate for those of us who want to sustain and build on the caring and inclusivity that has made Healdsburg exemplary. Leah’s thoughtfulness, thoroughness, consensus-building and creative problem solving were keenly demonstrated in her previous city council/mayoral experience and time has only reinforced her commitment and capacity to serve our community at a time when we can all benefit from her vision and leadership.
Sonia Beck
Healdsburg
A more just and humane society
EDITOR: As a local physician I am deeply disappointed in our current administration’s efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The ACA has allowed 20 to 30 million Americans to obtain health insurance, including healthy people unable to afford it previously as well as those with pre-existing illness who were essentially excluded from the commercial insurance market. Having been a physician for nearly 30 years I have been gratified to witness the declining numbers of people postponing needed healthcare until it is too late.
The newly proposed healthcare legislation is estimated to cause 14 million individuals to lose their health insurance over the next year with another 10 million following in the next decade. This will undoubtedly result in at least thousands of unnecessary deaths, at a conservative estimate. As physicians, the majority of us view health care as a basic and fundamental right for all our people and thus many major groups have announced their opposition to the repeal of the ACA, including the American Medical Association and the largest internists’ and family practice physicians’ groups.
In California, we fortunately have very active health care provider groups, including physicians and nurses who for decades have been gradually developing the concept of a single payer system similar to Medicare to cover all Californians. Medicare is a remarkably effective and efficient system and allows seniors and the disabled to receive high-quality healthcare. This spring, our state legislature will be considering this legislation, SB 562. I along with many other state heath care providers will be encouraging its passage so that we will join the ranks of the other wealthy nations of the world in compassionately providing health care for all. I hope you will join us in urging our state legislators to allow California to continue to lead the way towards a more just and humane society.
Niranjana Parthasarathi, MD
Alexander Valley Healthcare
