Dr. William MacDougall. Courtesy photo.

As most of you know, the California State Legislature still has not agreed upon a budget. This places all state-funded agencies, including schools, in a very tough position.

As they debate, life goes on and state-funded agencies spend monies not knowing exactly how much will be received when the debate ends. In their efforts to force an agreement, the legislators and the governor have made rumors and threats regarding cuts and financial withholdings.

I was taught to always “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” This philosophy has served me well and that is exactly what we have been doing.

Prior to the beginning of the year, the Konocti Unified School District developed a budget based upon the best projections available from multiple sources. The KUSD administration knew that things were going to be tight and staffed accordingly.

We have entered 2009 still with no budget adopted by the state. The governor has stated that there will be drastic cuts, but no amounts have been determined.

Now rumors are surfacing of IOUs coming from the state. These are only rumors, but IF it were to happen, it would cause a huge financial turmoil that would affect all aspects of the California economy. However, with the “prepare for the worst” philosophy, we have secured funds to get our contracted employees through this possibility.

The key phrase here is “contracted employees.” We know how much we are spending on our contracts with our classified and certificated staff. Where we come into problems is when we add staff time through time sheets.

Most of these time sheet hours are to be paid out of grants we have been awarded or categorical funds we have been promised by the state. The state is saying that it may not honor or may greatly reduce what we have been awarded or promised. Thus, we should not spend monies that we cannot count on receiving. That is why we have temporarily suspended time sheet hours and continued the spending freeze.

Once the budget is adopted, hopefully very soon, we expect to lift the suspension of time sheets and continue to fund the staff needed to operate programs such as our after school Academic Opportunity (AO) and music programs.

Over 40 years ago, my father told me that a person’s true character is best shown during the “tough times.” I have talked with several people who are being financially affected by the temporary suspension of time sheet hours. Almost every person I have spoken with has understood the necessity of this decision and then stated that “we’ll make sure that the kids get what they need anyway.” Members of our community, specifically in this case the KUSD staff, are again going the extra mile, without financial compensation, to provide services and enrichment to our community. This is the TRUE character of our community.

In these times we have very few things we can count on, but we can count on our community. When I first came to Lake County, the Lower Lake High School football field, later named Sadler Field, had just been completed. This field was completed through the funds and volunteer efforts of many outstanding citizens. This month, we opened our new gymnasium, a state-of-the-art facility that has the largest indoor seating capacity in Lake County. The gym was paid for out of bond funds purchased by our community. Amazing things happen when our community decides to invest in our children.

Another great example of how a rural community, with limited financial resources, can create a highly successful, heavily attended family activity is the Konocti Basketball League (KBL). KBL provides evening activities for youth at each elementary school and then coordinates games from 8 a.m. To 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Opening day games took place on Saturday, Jan. 10. There were hundreds of people at Lower Lake High School, enjoying a fun-filled, family activity. Parents are asked to pay $30 for each player for the entire season, but several children are sponsored by community members because some parents are unable to pay the fee. KBL is an all-volunteer organization. All coaches, referees, and organizational positions volunteer their time so that the youth of our community have supervised, safe activities after school and on Saturday.

KBL requires and enforces a policy of sportsmanship and code of ethics for its athletes and parents. This policy promotes a sense of honor, appreciation, respect and community.

The healthiness of this family activity is noteworthy. Children and their parents spend the day participating and watching basketball, and sharing “quality time.” This activity would not be possible without a partnership between the schools and a large group of community volunteers. Many of these volunteers do not have children participating; they simply want to “look after” the kids in our community.

The Calling All Communities Challenge is another example of our community’s unity and health. This U.S. Cellular-sponsored competition stated that $100,000 would be given to the 10 schools around the country that received the most community support. Community support was determined by the number of prepaid postcards that were filled out naming an individual school.

Within weeks, Lower Lake High School was listed as having the fifth-highest number of votes in the entire nation. The local newspapers and communication networks kicked into high gear as the new year arrived. People throughout Lake County realized that only one California school was ranked anywhere near the top 10.

Votes for Lower Lake High School started pouring in from all over Lake County. We will not know the final results until Feb. 15, but the last unofficial estimate from U.S. Cellular had Lower Lake High at No. 4. Thanks to all of you who voted! This really shows how our community and county are special, strong and supportive.

Representatives from the county of Lake, the city of Clearlake, KUSD and our community have been meeting weekly since November to investigate ways to increase revenue and make our dollars go further. Members of our community continue to volunteer their time and resources to provide activities, food and shelter to our kids.

One thing is certain; the best investment we can make is in our children. This is the basic, beautiful belief of the Konocti Unified School District and our community. We live and work with some of the most caring, hard-working, community-minded people on Earth. I am humbled and honored to work with you and to be able to serve our community.

Dr. William R. MacDougall, Ed.D., is in his first year as Konocti Unified School District's superintendent. He writes periodic updates with community members to let them know the state of the district.

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The old Lucerne Hotel. Courtesy photo.

I don't like to make big pleas to local officials in a public way very often, because I like to save up for the big ticket items.

But the time has come. So, here goes.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors – if its members care at all about the future of the Northshore town of Lucerne – should give direction to county administrative staff to begin the process of purchasing the old Lucerne Hotel, which some of us here who know and love the building affectionately call “the Castle.”

Ignore that sound that you hear off in the distance of a screaming man in a buffalo print shirt and I'll explain.

In recent years, thanks mostly to the Lake County Redevelopment Agency, the county has purchased a lot of property for the purpose of sprucing up the county. That's not an entirely popular business with some folks, including Supervisor Rob Brown (hopefully he's stopped screaming in frustration by now).

A few years ago, when Brown happened to take a vacation and neglected to make sure his office at the courthouse was locked, county staff did a little modifying, draping his office in pink decorations, among them a prominent “I love redevelopment” poster – printed in pink – on one wall. It was pretty priceless. Wish I could find the pictures I took of that.

To his credit, Brown hasn't ruled out every redevelopment-funded property purchase the county has made, and has generally looked at them based on impact and merit.

In November 2007 he wholeheartedly supported the purchase of Clark's Island in Clearlake Oaks as a way of dealing with a blighted property that impacted the lake. When he embraced the purchase at a meeting a few months before the final vote to purchase, Supervisor Jeff Smith couldn't help himself – he had to give Brown a good ribbing about it, telling him, “You are coming around.”

So, there are no real absolutes in this process, and for the most part it's been approached with a great deal of care and investigation. I've appreciated it when board members question the process and are willing to disagree, because the resulting dialog has benefited the county's residents.

Now comes the announcement that the Lucerne Christian Conference Center – the group that owns the Castle – is putting it up for sale. No asking price yet, but they want to sell it fairly fast.

I have to make a quick qualification here – I live in Lucerne, within view of the Castle and just around the corner from it. Its spires greet me every day, and I'm utterly in love with the building.

So this is an appeal from the heart, not just from mine but from our little community's.

Please, Rob Brown, Jim Comstock, Tony Farrington, Jeff Smith, Denise Rushing ... buy the Castle for the entire county.

I've seen few buildings as unique in my travels around the rural reaches of Northern California. Personally, I can think of no other place that best exemplifies the possibilities for redevelopment than the Castle. How many opportunities does anyone have – whether private individuals or government agencies – to buy a big, beautiful white castle?

It's one of the county's largest buildings at 75,000 square feet, and one of the tallest at seven stories.

Why should the county buy this building?

Well, for one, to protect it. That, quite honestly, is the first and best reason.

The Castle has had a lot of missed opportunities since construction on it began in 1926, part of a vast dream for Lucerne. It wasn't even completed when the despair of the Great Depression descended on the country, leading to its first sale.

Now, here we are again, in a period now being called the Great Recession, and the Castle is on the block once more, littered with broken dreams and the best of intentions.

If nothing else, the board should purchase the building to protect it from the kind of real estate speculators who have held a death grip on Lucerne for years, buying up properties in key locations and then attempting to sell them – often to the county – for outrageously inflated rates often double the market value. It's part of the reason that I believe Lucerne still languishes economically and socially.

If you think I'm paranoid, you have to remember that I've both been studying this from a professional standpoint as a journalist and as a resident of this town. So I have some information that isn't widely known.

For example, I've come across information that indicates some of these same speculators I'm concerned about had their eyes on the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center. I don't believe it's any mistake that, when the county offered monetary support to get that center back on its feet, it included ironclad protections to try to keep the building's holding nonprofit from losing the property to a private owner.

That's a nightmare scenario for many Lucernians; but just as bad – or possibly worse – is the prospect that one of these speculators attempts to purchase the Castle and turn it into something such as a drug rehab or flop house, which we're all full up on, thank you very much.

If that happens, I guarantee, it will put a spike through the heart of this community. And it's going to be torch and pitchfork time here in the neighborhood. The mess that could result might find the county having to intervene and try to buy the building anyway, at a much-inflated price.

There's also the outrageous suggestion being made by the current owners to start selling off pieces of the seven-acre property the building sits on while they're waiting for a buyer, which would eat away at the building's opportunities.

Another reason to buy the building: There's nothing like it anywhere, situated as it is, with what is arguably one of the most beautiful settings to be found. Napa and Sonoma counties may have grand buildings, but I can't think of a castle overlooking the water, as you would find in the original Lucerne in Switzerland – which, incidentally, is believed to be that country's most popular tourist destination.

Along other stretches of the Northshore, the county has taken the opportunity to buy and revitalize or give assistance in revitalizing areas that were either historically town centers or could serve as centers in areas where there weren't any.

Take The Plaza project in Clearlake Oaks, where the community and its willingness to partner with local government has put them very much ahead of the game in recreating what was reportedly once the little town's focal point. That project will reestablish a town center around which business and services can rotate.

In Nice, last summer the board decided to purchase Holiday Harbor, again suggesting it could be a town square, rather than the Hinman Park area previously chosen. That decision, according to District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing, was urged by community members.

Brown, however, wasn't happy about it, especially from the standpoint that the county's redevelopment plan had centered on Hinman, and it represented a case of changing horses midstream. His reaction was a reasonable and understandable reaction to having a longstanding plan seem suddenly to change.

Lucerne already has a town center. It's the Castle. The town's widest street, 13^th Avenue, was created to lead directly to the building, which is framed elegantly at the end of the street.

The county's redevelopment plan calls for commercial development with a mixed-use element – apartments over businesses – lining 13^th Avenue. Those plans, connected to the Castle as a community and conference center and hotel, would be a masterstroke, and could end up being redevelopment's crowning achievement in Lake County.

The building's pool, tennis and basketball courts could be updated, its facilities improved. Lease out restaurant and pub space, have a day spa, a book shop and even rent out the hotel rooms, use its undeveloped grounds as a park, offer much-needed after school activities for local children. New and existing businesses could be stimulated and expanded in such an environment.

Just as reasonable an option is that the county purchase the land and hold it for resale to a thoroughly vetted and proven developer with a portfolio of successful, similar projects. The county also could enter into a unique public-private partnership with a commercial business that would provide a conference center and office space for county government functions mixed with business and community use.

There are literally endless options.

But what isn't an option here is letting this pass us by. Redevelopment isn't a concept that has universal approval or appeal, as we've already discussed, but I've seen it do tremendous good in Lake County.

I've seen what the impact of one building can be to a community. Here in Lucerne in 2007 the county purchased and demolished “the blue monster,” an old house that had become a lakeside eyesore.

The impact of having that building gone has been incredible on the town's look and feel. It's as if the evening light hits the town differently, with that lurking bulk out of the way. We're also eagerly awaiting the scheduled demolition this spring of two blighted motels on the other end of town.

Great, you say. But what about the money? How can the county afford this at such a difficult economic time?

I'm glad you asked.

Here's the great part about redevelopment: The county redevelopment agency can finance this purchase.

Let me say that again: The county has the ability to do this. They can buy the Castle today and begin the process of saving it. Redevelopment can make that happen.

So, yes, it's possible. I've confirmed with county officials that the funding possibilities exist.

This will come down purely to a political decision for our board. If the money is there, it will be more about ideological concerns about government getting involved in private property ownership and commercial development.

However, we live in interesting times. With what's happening in our government right now – buying shares of banks and finance companies – the expectations of what government should be and what it should do have changed forever. The federal government has set the precedent of buying into private enterprise elsewhere, although not very well, but I believe our local government has the ability to make public-private partnerships work.

That's because I have faith in certain key people, who have made redevelopment work for the people of this county. They can take this opportunity and use redevelopment for a vast project of community rebuilding.

The chance is here now, however, and may not last long. If the county tarries too much, the Castle could fall into an ownership that once again can't do the right things due to lack of will, knowledge or finance.

If the heart of the community isn't addressed, then other attempts to revitalize the Lucerne community may be seriously diminished. From that building flows huge possibilities, both good and bad, depending on what happens to it next.

This isn't an opportunity likely to present itself again – at least while the building is standing in its current condition. The next time, it could be a battered ruin, the saving of which could cost millions more than it would take today to turn it into a world-class community and conference center.

To the community: If you support this, let your supervisors know. E-mail them (you can find their addresses by going to this page and clicking on your district in the lefthand side of the page: www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Boards/Board_of_Supervisors.htm), call them at 263-2368 or – better yet – show up at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday. The Castle is scheduled to be discussed at 11:15 a.m.

To our supervisors, I implore you: Storm the Castle. Take it. Let the community come together to plan a future for it. You hesitate at the community's peril.

Elizabeth Larson is publisher and editor of Lake County News and proud to live in Lucerne.

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Congressman Mike Thompson doesn't want rural America to be forgotten when it comes to making critical investments in infrastructure and services. Courtesy photo.

Our country is facing some of the biggest challenges I’ve seen in my lifetime, and we must act quickly and carefully to put our country back on the path of greatness.

There has been much talk of the need to invest in infrastructure projects that will employ Americans while rebuilding our nation. But in this discussion once again America’s rural areas are being ignored.

Approximately 50 million Americans live in rural communities, and they face the same challenges confronting all other Americans.

People across this country are struggling to pay their mortgages and afford rising health care costs, while still putting groceries in their refrigerator and gas in their tanks.

But rural communities are hit even harder by the tough economy, especially when it comes to jobs. In my district, for example, one rural county’s unemployment is over three percentage points higher than the average for the state as a whole.

Despite the bleaker outlook facing rural communities, we fail to invest equitably in their economic health.

Right now, the federal government invests $500 less per person in rural communities than in urban areas. But this proportion does not fairly recognize the importance of rural infrastructure to our country’s economy.

For example, America’s interstate highways help transport 77 percent of America’s freight. On a typical day, about 33 million tons of goods, valued at about $27 billion, are transported across America’s highways.

We must recognize that the highways are more than just a way for rural folks to get to work, they are one of the main arteries of our country’s economy.

A broader stimulus plan that ultimately only funds projects in urban and suburban communities will fail to provide the broad economic benefit Congress intends.

Congress should build on the precedent created in previous funding bills to include similar guarantees of equitable funding for rural areas.

America’s economy cannot be restored to greatness without investing in all Americans, not just those in urban areas.

Congressman Mike Thompson represents Lake County in the US House of Representatives.

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WASHINGTON, DC – The estimates of two million people were low. Most could not get in: perhaps double that number were at the Capitol Mall today!

I am overcome by the sheer jubilation and numbers of people here. We woke up at 4:30 a.m., left Alexandria, Virginia at 5:30 a.m., sausaged ourselves on the Metro (stop and go, mostly stop) for two and a half hours, faced extraordinary crowds, and encountered NO volunteers to help with crowd control. Despite that, the crowd was remarkably well-behaved. Without volunteers and with some of the crowd management missteps in the setup, it could have easily been a disaster had the crowd not found a way to self-manage.

After the Metro, we waited another three hours in the Blue Ticket line to see the inauguration—though it was less a “line” and more like a river of humanity, pressed together so close that a dropped mitten became a major incident. We wondered how Wanda Harris, Tony Farrington and Cliff Swetnam were faring over at the Purple Ticket gate.

I was sure we all shared the bitter cold: even the warmth of the nearby bodies did not stop the inevitable numbness setting into fingers, toes and any exposed skin. We were all in SUCH a good mood, though ... singing in the crush of people. Today is OUR day, after all, we are taking our country back and adults are in charge again and the rule of law will be restored. Hope reigns.

Once inside the event venue, the festivities began without any waiting … this meant there were thousands upon thousands with tickets still outside, waiting to get in who would miss the event altogether. The fact that there wasn’t a riot at this point was amazing.

As the dignitaries were introduced, a strategically placed big screen treated the crowd to a preview of who would soon enter the venue. Later that evening, as I watched the pre-recorded inauguration on Tivo, I can tell there were moments that were either ignored by the media or not adequately appreciated.

First, there were few comments about who was cheered and who wasn’t. The crowd was surprisingly restrained when President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush were introduced. Most people did NOT boo — perhaps a few close to the ABC and MSNBC cameras did, it sounded a lot louder on TV than in real life.

And, even though this president was clearly unpopular among those attending this event, the comments around us were more relief than anger at the outgoing president. In fact, the most negative response of all was reserved for Joseph Lieberman — perhaps loyalty means more than disagreement over policy.

Lieberman scored a even more negative response from the crowd than Dick Cheney, who engendered a modest amount of restraint with his (convenient?) wheelchair: there were some side comments about how crass it might be to boo someone in a wheelchair. Here, democracy flirts with boorishness, those around commented on how allowing our country to torture might be worth a few boos even if the guy is in a wheelchair.

It was clear that most folks intended to celebrate the new administration, and the cheers that erupted at the first glimpse of Obama on screen proved this.

Next, no matter what the pundits say or don’t say, the inaugural address was spot on with the crowd and, in my opinion, with the international community watching around the world.

Here in the shadow of the Capitol, we were cheering and in tears. Obama seemed to strike the right balance between acknowledging the dire situation we are in and his reference to dark storm clouds gathering suggested that we have some particularly difficult times ahead, which we all appreciate and are experiencing back home.

Those around me were saying “Amen!” to key phrases like “putting away childish things” and “restore science” and “ready to lead once more” and Obama’s reference to the “values upon which our success depends: honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism.”

I, for one, greatly appreciated the reference to the restoration of the “rule of law” and his unwillingness to sacrifice our constitution for expediency, his acknowledgment that we are a member of a world community and our needs will not be met through the oppression of others.

Obama made known his priorities: peace, energy, economy, education and health care. His emphasis on giving all the opportunity to pursue their full measure of happiness was particularly refreshing: acknowledging that the concentration of wealth has created such huge injustice in recent years.

He focused on the concepts of personal responsibility, hard work and our task of growing abundance and prosperity for all, while acknowledging that the one thing we control is our willingness to serve, and the nobility of devoting oneself to service, to an effort greater than ourselves. This was a great blend of reality and hope.

Fortuitously, after the swearing in, we left the inauguration and walked around the US Capitol just in time to see the Obamas escorting the Bushes down the Capitol steps for George and Laura Bush’s sendoff off in a helicopter.

The TV pundits did not comment on the song that erupted in the massive crowd: “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey hey goodbye!” But in replays of the scene, you can clearly hear it on ABC’s coverage of the event and also at about 30 seconds into this Youtube clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFhlZtTn_0U.

This impromptu singing was much louder in person than on TV. I felt an odd mixture of delight and bit uneasy about the response (I am glad to see him go too). Was this democracy or a baseball game with the opposing pitcher being removed from the mound? It seems the two have been merged together somehow. Yet, how else might a crowd celebrate their glee?

At this point, maybe 2 p.m., after no breakfast and being on our feet for nine hours: we were cold, we were tired, we needed to pee and we encountered a 30-person long line at a Starbucks on the corner of 5th and New Jersey. We decided that a warm coffee would be worth the wait. We would at least get inside for a respite.

In what I consider a miracle, Starbucks was also serving oatmeal with nuts, raisins and brown sugar that afternoon. I can honestly say that this is the second-best meal I have ever eaten (the first being the soggy hospital hamburger that I consumed after the birth of my son). This simple dish reminded me that food is sacred, and this food was a godsend: warm, hearty, filling and oh-so-delicious. Unfortunately, the bathroom was closed to the public, not even customers were allowed in.

A final thought on the overwhelming crowds: Barack Obama's concert was handled so well on Sunday ... it is too bad that the same folks were not apparently planning the crowd control and services for the inauguration!

We needed many volunteers to handle the record crowds on this inauguration day. The WORSE situation was this: nearly every bathroom and porta-pottie anywhere within walking distance of the capitol building was LOCKED – no, check that, PADLOCKED – virtually all of them at Union Station, a prime Metro stop suddenly closed due to crowds and another three hours of walking and lines to find a way home.

The lack of attention to basic human needs was absolutely appalling … hotels with their armies of employees out front to prevent crowds from using their bathrooms, even the elderly and disabled were turned away.

What happened? How could dozens of facilities lined up for use by the crowds all be locked, all except one which was in disgustingly dire condition? No matter where folks walked, they found the same situation, and the crowds were not allowed back into the standing areas where other portable facilities were located.

Hundreds of thousand of people there – all waiting since the early hours of the morning, all dressed up and literally nowhere to go. To make matters worse, Capitol police were giving misdirection to those in need of facilities, directing them to local restaurants or the Union Station – they were no help at all.

I couldn't help but feel that this is the last gesture by the Bush administration: the planning for basic needs was clearly abysmal. In addition, the lack of trash cans resulted in a Capitol area covered in litter after the event. I’m not sure who was in charge of this part, but it wasn’t handled well.

All that said, people were remarkably upbeat. It was a jubilant day. For example, in the midst of all of the chaos, one of the street vendors gave Loretta a free Obama button. The gentleman’s smile and act of kindness shone through like the sun.

There were thousands reaching out to each other: all were singing, celebrating and filled with a growing realization that we were all a part of history.

Denise Rushing represents the Northshore on the Lake County Board of Supervisors. She lives in Upper Lake.

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Entering the forest at Goat Mountain. Courtesy photo.

“Shall I not have intelligence with the Earth?

Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?”

– Henry David Thoreau, “On Walden’s Pond”

You’re taking a hike along your favorite wooded trail and gradually you realize that this is no ordinary walk. Suddenly your awareness is heightened and you hear, smell, taste and feel things that you have not encountered on previous walks through the same woods.

You notice more birds singing. The colors of their feathers are somehow brighter, bolder. You are hearing other movements in the forest depths. A squirrel shows itself to you scampering up a nearby tree. The insects are having a conversation and when you hear them speak your awareness shifts and then you see them: ants, beetles, flies, butterflies, moths and worms burrowing in the soil.

As you look up and see the sky, it is as if for the first time. You notice the unique whiteness of the clouds and the way they billow in and away, in and away. The sky is not just blue but many shades of blue – over here there is azure, and over there the color of a robin’s egg, and here right above you sapphire as dazzling as the jewel.

The trees actually seem to be speaking, beckoning you to come closer to them and to touch the rough and smooth bark, the skin of the tree, the glistening leaves, the trees’ fingers touching yours. You are one with this place.

You feel connected without a sense of ownership but with a firm belief that you are somehow a part of a larger family. Yet this family consists of beings other than your human self and this place, not yours but of you. In these woods you feel a connection; a deeper sense of place than that which you feel in your personal dwelling, with your human family.

Gratefulness then envelopes you. You want to shout out “THANK YOU” to every being that is around you, to all that you sense and hear and feel in this place of great beauty, this wooded trail, this place of beings that are not human.

You continue to walk and your heart is so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for this place that your tears flow freely, dropping on the soft earth, moistening it with a piece of you. And then the trail leads you out of the woods, out to a prairie of grasses and scattered oak trees and chemise.

And once again you are noticing; seeing, hearing, feeling; tasting the wind on your tongue, feeling its touch on your face, cool and soft. The grasses are swaying with the wind as if they are being gently petted by some great unseen hand.

In the distance a herd of elk slowly grazing, gaining nourishment from the grasses, look to you and you sense rather than feel that the grasses are grateful for the elk eating them and you remember the circle of life.

As you continue walking you realize that this journey is coming to an end and the ordinariness begins to return. And yet, you have a knowing; intelligence has spoken to you, hearts have touched you. These beings are not of you yet are part of who you are and who you’re becoming.

Your epiphany is this: Care for the environment is your greatest imperative. Realizing this you pledge to be of greater assistance in restoring and preserving this natural beauty.

You now know that environmental activism is just that, being active in protecting the natural environment. You remember all of the organizations and individuals who are dedicated to the protection of our natural world and your feelings of gratefulness return. You now know that this spirit you found in nature is deeply consonant with your greater capacities.

Your journey through the woods and the prairie has made you more deeply aware of your relationship with the world that surrounds you. This ego-transcending experience has given you a greater drive to preserve the earth’s unspoiled places and to restore those places spoiled by the human hand. You are aware that what you have just experienced is a solidarity fundamental to your existence on this planet.

Because of this encounter you have a greater understanding of this deeper form of environmentalism and you have experienced the humble connection to the mystical oneness with nature such as what Muir and Thoreau experienced. Two American naturalists connecting to nature and inviting others to connect. This same inspiration is now leading you to action just as it led them to their work. Not as much of practicality as by a spiritual affinity with our natural world.

You’re away from the prairie now and you see your car in the distance where you parked at the beginning of your hike. You approach and on the seat are books you have read many times but now you have a “knowing” and the truth of the words spoken in the books touch you more deeply, your resolve is strengthened and your faith returns.

“I used to envy the father of our race, dwelling as he did in contact with the new man-made fields and plants of Eden; but I do so no more, because I have discovered that I also live in 'creation’s dawn.' The morning stars still sing together, and the world not yet half made, becomes more beautiful everyday.” – John Muir

Debra Chase is the executive director of Tuleyome, a nonprofit working to protect both our wild heritage and our agricultural heritage for future generations; visit the group at www.tuleyome.org. Chase resides on a small family farm in Colusa County.

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Quite a few of the news media used this headline: “Where'd the bailout money go? Shhhh, it's a secret.”

The Associated Press' Matt Apuzzo contacted 21 banks that have received at least $1 billion in government money and asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what's the plan for the rest?

None of the banks gave specific answers. One took it beyond stonewalling with, "I just would prefer if you wouldn't say that we're not going to discuss those details."

Another recent story disclosed the same banks awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses and other benefits last year.

The news left many people stunned, but if you've looked at your credit card interest rates lately, you might have already been stunned. Maybe you asked them why; I did and got these answers.

The first is more responsive than what the top guys are telling the big media. The second is from a company whose chairman ran up a $211,182 bill for private jet travel last year when his family lived in Chicago and he commuted to New York.

Response from Citi

Subject: Your bailout money

Date/Time 12/19/08 03:15:57 PM

You wrote:

If you can afford to spend $400 million on naming rights for the Mets stadium, you can lower my interest rate. The government bailout was intended to help consumers.

Subject Re: Your bailout money

Date/Time 12/19/08 04:27:29 PM

Customer Service Wrote:

We would like to inform you that we have restored the APR on your account to the standard APR on all of the active balances, including:

- Balance Transfer Rates

- Rate Sale Offers

- Intro Rates

- APR Buy-Downs

The lower APR will appear on your next statement.

Thank you for using our website.

Response from Chase

Date:12-20-2008 11:46:47

From:Credit Card Support

Subject:Re: Fees/Finance Charges Message:

Dear SOPHIA JENSEN:

We apologize that our previous response did not fully address your inquiry and would like to take this

opportunity to resolve any remaining issues.

We've received $25 billion and we're working to make sound decisions; we want to be sure these funds will help us expand the flow of credit where it makes the most sense. This could help customers across our consumer, corporate, institutional and governmental client bases.

The funds we received will help us expand the flow of credit where it will be most effective. And, while we still have to make the right decisions for each and every customer, the purpose of the Troubled Assist Relief Program isn't individual assistance."

I know Congress is working diligently to make sure they can help consumers, and we're working to ensure that each account decision is handled appropriately in this current economic environment.

If further questions should arise regarding the information above, please call me at the number below. If you have concerns regarding any other issue, please contact Cardmember Services at 800-436-7927.

Thank you,

XXXX

Customer Care Specialist

Chase tried damage control Tuesday with a statement that they are "lending the fund to consumers, small businesses, corporations, municipalities and other institutions in a disciplined and responsible manner."

Credit unions aren't getting a lot of attention in this chaos, perhaps because they are only getting $40 billion total, and it can only be spent on mortgage help for their members. Both Mendo-Lake and Redwood credit unions serve Lake County.

Sophie Annan Jensen is a retired journalist. She lives in Lake County.

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