Editorial

From cartoon balloons in classic comics, to today’s internet slang, “PSST!” means “I’ve got a secret to tell you.” Here’s a secret that needs telling: Starting in 2009, Public School Success Team, a local volunteer organization, has worked with the Healdsburg Unified School District to make constructive connections with public school kids. Connecting with people who care about the their success — and can help them to succeed — is a powerful motivator for students. Our tutoring, mentoring and coaching programs supplement their connections at home, church and school.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a tiny item in some newspaper or other about a preacher browsing through the book department of a big chain discount store. He noticed that they had placed the Bibles in the “Fiction” section, and he took offense. The store apologized profusely and fell all over itself to right this supposed wrong.

It was a hard fought soccer game. The boys were aggressively moving around the field, challenging one another. Several collided and one, from the other team, fell and took his time getting up. One of my 8 year-old’s teammates began pressing towards the goal. “Get up! Get off the floor!” yelled a spectator for the other team. Wait…floor? The game was outdoors, on natural grass, at Badger Park. Was it just a slip? Clearly he meant ground. But he was relentless in his error, continuing to choose THAT word. “Get up off the floor!” “Stop rolling around on the floor!”

After reading Rollie Atkinson’s editorial it got me thinking just how valuable the Tribune is to Healdsburg and I’m sure how the other Sonoma West Publishers’ weekly papers are to their communities.

Ask any child what is in a creek and they will reply, “water.” Ask them to take a look at the creek water after a rainstorm and they will change their answer to “dirt.” In California's North Coast, there is so much “dirt” in local rivers, streams, and creeks that 61 percent of our waterways are considered impaired for sediment by regional regulators.

This is Thanksgiving week and along with the turkey, cranberries and other fixings, usually comes another tradition — a Thanksgiving message written in this space for our local readers. The editorial always urges everyone to not only count their own blessings but to reach out to those who have unmet needs for food, shelter or personal security.

My Indiana friend sent a photo of her dazzling ruby-colored backyard. For your fall fix, she wrote. A California friend visiting Maine posted golden leaves on Facebook and happily reported it blustery enough for gloves and scarves.

I do not intend the following to be mere nostalgia, but rather a description of a safer world in which a teenaged boy would not likely be shot by a police officer.

On a day dialed up by the Point Arena Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, came, saw and listened. I attended Friday’s environmental love fest on behalf of Sonoma County Supervisor Mike McGuire who is running for the 2nd District Senate seat in which the beautiful 1,664 acre Stornetta Public Lands is being considered for a land inclusion into the California Coastal National Monument.  McGuire’s time is now limited as he is speaking to the Kiwanis, Rotarians and special interest groups times the seven counties in the district.

Last month, Alliance Medical Center was contacted by the Health Resources and Services Administration, the branch of federal government that oversees Federally Qualified Health Centers. HRSA wanted to study how we work with pregnant women. It turns out that Alliance is in the top 1 percent in the nation in prenatal care! More than 90 percent of our patients who are expecting are receiving medical care beginning in their first trimester.