Editorial

Our editorial last week about saving for a rainy day must have had an impact on Gov. Jerry Brown when he proposed his $164.7 billion budget calling for “restraint” and warning against “exuberant overkill on our budget spending.’’

For centuries, civilized peoples recognized the need for removal of bodily wastes from the human environment. Apart from the obvious odors and appearance of this waste, either on land or in bodies of water, the disease-causing germs were also present. Dysentery, Typhoid Fever, Cholera, and other public health issues were often found to be caused by the presence of bacteria and parasites in drinking water sources which were contaminated by wastewater. In areas where populations are concentrated, and where there is more wastewater to treat, communities construct wastewater collection systems that collect the wastewater and convey it to a treatment facility. The wastewater collection system typically consists of gravity-fed and pressurized underground piping which allows the unobstructed flow of wastewater to treatment facilities.  

I appreciate your three informative November articles on the

As a member of Healdsburg’s Community Housing Committee, I had the honor of getting to know many community members. It was striking to me that people who already had secure housing themselves were so invested in finding solutions for other people to live in Healdsburg. The pluralism of ideas shared inside committee meetings and on the streets amongst neighbors has been inspiring.

For the last 15 years, I have been a volunteer in prisons, teaching convicted felons in the field of sociology and running self-help groups. Most of my students are “lifers,” men who have been convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape, or burglary for which they have received sentences of 15 years to life and much more. None of them are on death row, and most are now eligible for parole, having served their minimum sentences. Often, they have served far longer.