Modern storm troopers
EDITOR: Hitler had storm troopers. Now there is ICE. The difference?
Mrs. RJ Porter
Windsor
Support tobacco retail licenses
EDITOR: We are project TRUE members and attend Windsor High School. Project TRUE stands for Teens R U Educated; and our mission is to raise awareness about the effects of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in order to create change in our community. We have been following the town of Windsor’s consideration to implement a tobacco retail license.
As members of Project TRUE, we support the tobacco retail license because we believe it is the most effective way of preventing tobacco use among youth. There is extensive evidence that youth are targeted by tobacco products in the state of California. An estimated 34,000 youth start smoking in California each year (Sonoma County Department of Health Services).
We are committed to making our community a healthier environment for both current and future generations. It is imperative that we take steps to protect the children in our community. According to Sonoma County Department of Health Services, research shows that the retail environment is one of the primary avenues from which youth obtain tobacco products. We believe that tobacco retailers should not be located in youth focused areas, such as schools.
In our community, there are tobacco advertisements located extremely close to schools. We believe that these advertisements should be removed so that our friends and classmates do not receive the message that they should use tobacco products. The tobacco retail license, if passed, will restrict the sale of tobacco in youth concentrated areas. Another provision that Project TRUE supports is no new retailers are allowed less than 1,000 feet from schools. As Project TRUE members, we believe it is important to create a healthier environment for youth in our community.
Project TRUE: Zach Busch, Maribel Cruz, Cesar Zetino, Paxton Boyce and Ralph Manalac
Windsor
Generosity and compassion needed
EDITOR: We are deeply disturbed by the undercurrent of racism which runs through the Town of Windsor, especially as it emerges in public comments such as those reported by Heather Bailey in the Windsor Times article last week concerning the petition of a local property owner to permit seven trailers for the temporary housing of persons displaced by fire and valuable workers needed for rebuilding.
We commend those who are working toward solutions for the housing crisis and call on those with resources, power and privilege to exercise generosity and compassion toward those who are all too often marginalized and overlooked. These are our neighbors, persons of sacred worth, children of the same Creator who loves all with no exceptions.
We cannot allow anonymous comments to go unnoticed, and we call out those who harbor hatred toward those they deem “other” or “lesser than” to look into their hearts and do better. We call on those who harbor compassion to speak out in support of their vulnerable neighbors. And we call on those who have been blessed with abundance — be it land, time, intelligence, a listening ear, an ability, security, whatever — to share what we have been given in a spirit of kindness. Let us join together to heal the wounds.
Pastor Laurie McHugh and the following worshippers at Windsor Community United Methodist Church:
Ray Alcock, Pamela Arnold, Beverly Bailey, Albert Bayen,
Wayne Craven, Beverly Ewoldsen, Edith Fleish,
Heddy Hanssen, Shirley Holman, Allan Kuba,
Gloria LaFleur, Jim Markus, Lynn Markus,
Mary K. Payne, Karen Snyder, Nadine Winters
Windsor
