Editorial

The origins of Memorial Day are often attributed to General John Logan. It is true that, in 1868, he gave impetus to an official “Decoration Day” as it was first called, a time for remembering the Civil War dead and decorating their graves. But Logan never really understood the meaning of the day. Until his own death, he remained a radical reconstructionist whose fierce anger toward the South never abated.

Ending the Healdsburg Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) has been promoted with the argument that reduction of regulatory limitations on building market-rate housing will increase the number of affordable housing units available.

It’s exciting to see county planning commissioners stepping up to the plate this week to address the county’s booming vacation rental market.

What is happening to us? What is happening to our country? Angry crowds are marching in a dozen major cities  calling for justice over recent police killings in New York City, Ferguson and elsewhere. More than a dozen state attorney generals are suing the President over his immigration reforms. Rape is either rampant — or it’s not — on many major college campuses. Heading into its second open enrollment period, Obamacare’s public approval ratings are still as bad as those for Congress, the President and Ebola. And, as always, student test scores could be better.

Big decisions require big work. And voters have very big work cut out for them this November when they will vote to either end California’s prohibition on adult use of marijuana or delay the inevitable one more time.

When we get thirsty we turn on our taps and voilà, a nice refreshing glass of water appears before us. Having around-the-clock access to safe and reliable drinking water requires huge investments of time and money, but rarely do we consider the source or the value of water.

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!”

There’s a lot of focus on teaching kids about bullying. There are laws against bullying. No name-calling weeks in schools. We urge kids not to be intimidated.

Like every parent, I struggled to cope after hearing about the mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut last week.