Take, for example, the recent headline that marijuana can lead to psychosis. While I don't dispute that use of any medicine may have side effects, we should have become inured to the seemingly endless litany of the potentially harmful use of almost any drug or ingested substance. A critical reading of this article illuminates why it received headlines and who stood to profit from its "scare" value.

First, the propaganda.

"Using marijuana seems to increase the chance of becoming psychotic, researchers report in an analysis of past research that reignites the issue of whether pot is dangerous. The new review suggests that even infrequent use could raise the small but real risk of this serious mental illness by 40 percent."

Then the caveat.

The researchers said they couldn't prove that marijuana use itself increases the risk of psychosis. There could be something else about marijuana users, "like their tendency to use other drugs or certain personality traits, that could be causing the psychoses," Zammit said. The overall risk remains very low.

Then, the real truth. (The study isn't conclusive at all.)

Scientists cannot rule out that pre-existing conditions could have led to both marijuana use and later psychoses, Dr. Wilson Compton, a senior scientist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Washington said.

Finally, the most interesting information.

Two of the authors of the study were invited experts on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Cannabis Review in 2005 (and were probably compensated handsomely for their participation).

Several authors reported being paid to attend drug company-sponsored meetings related to marijuana, and one received consulting fees from companies that make antipsychotic medications … (Ahhh, pharmaceutical reps – and we consider these to be unbiased scientists?)

Even the scientist who led the effort to discover the human genetic code has written extensively about the landslide of corruption in the scientific industry, paid by corporate drug pushers to influence public opinion.

I'm not sure that the interests of William Randolph Hearst are not being represented. He was the man responsible for getting marijuana declared a dangerous drug to precipitate its being made illegal to eliminate the rapidly burgeoning commercial hemp industry from effectively capsizing his timber industry profits. To wipe out the vast and cheap multitude of hemp products threatening his empire, he initiated the attack by focusing on the accepted medical use of marijuana at the time and generated the brainwashing of generations to its dangers.

Certainly the pharmaceutical companies consider medical marijuana a threat to their profits, and the misuse of science for commercial gain is increasing exponentially.

As I said at the beginning, I'm not questioning the findings so much as why the study was conducted at all. Who stood to gain financially – that's always the first question to ask. Perhaps a study is in order to determine whether or not people who hate their jobs are at increased risk of psychosis, or whether people stressed by being unable to meet healthcare bills or day to day economic realities might be more apt to suffer psychosis.

I haven't seen these studies. Why not? Because it isn't really about protecting the public – it's about influencing public opinion for economic gain. Read critically, the fine print often unintentionally reverses the impact of the lead line.

James BlueWolf lives in Nice.

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As an unreconstructed cheesehead from Wisconsin, the Mississippi River has always been a special place to me. It's one of my personal permanent wonders of the world.

Never more so than tonight, when several thousand miles away as I was writing my daughter, who lives in St. Paul with her husband and their child, my first and only (so far) grandchild, I got one of those shocks we foolish mortals are prone to getting.

I was telling her about Jerry Day on this Sunday (Aug. 5) in San Francisco, where Melvin Seals of the Jerry Garcia Band, a wonderfully named Deadhead group called Workingman's Ed, and another – Jelly – are playing a free concert from noon to 7 p.m. (Check out JerryDay.org for info).

And I was listening to our 21st Century Edward R. Murrow, Keith Olbermann, whose editorials spoken into the camera directly to us and the Doofus in the White House I try to seldom miss. Then, there was a bulletin about a bridge collapse over the Mississippi near the University of Minnesota.

Like anyone who was here in 1989, I thought of Loma Prieta. A friend was running that day near a creek in Pescadero. She said the creek sort of gurgled up and shook all over kingdom come. God was willin' and the creek did rise. In Sonoma, where my family lived at the time, the intersection I was driving through changed directions – sort of – as our home shook, rattled and rolled. We had a foreign student from Austria at the time and she was there alone and ran screaming out into the street. They don't have a lot of earthquakes in "Wienna." She knew about Arnold already, of course, and arrived wearing a "Free James Brown!" T-Shirt. Everyone in Austria knew about Arnold. Now, it's our turn.

But what really stopped my heart and took the breath out of me was worry about how my daughter, son-in-law, and grandson, who looks like a 6-six-month old Dr. Evil in the photo I have of him on my dresser, were. He has a finger on his mouth. Can you say: "One million dollars?"

I called right away and got my son-in-law. Everyone was OK though they had driven across the bridge in question precisely, give or take a few hours, one day earlier. I was more than relieved, but have remained a wee bit shook up ever since.

I've seen my grandson once and I want to see him again in December when he and his parents come home to my son-in-law's hometown, Palo Alto, and stay with his magnificent family. He calls home "Shallow Alto" and went to New College as did my daughter. (Yes, people meet in jazz ensembles.) And he could have gone to Stanford for free since his father is a professor of surgery there. I didn't go to the main University of Wisconsin campus because I would have had to live at home. I went to the one in Milwaukee instead, so what else is new?

What else is new it that I'm eternally grateful to whoever I should be eternally grateful to for the safety of my children and their child and about as aware as we all need to get everyday about how much the people you love mean to you.

Hug somebody if you've got someone to hug.

I'm in my retirement apartment in Belmont unable to sleep. But I'm thinking of them and I'm thinking about the Mississippi.

We had to learn to spell it in school back there. I lived near it and was on it many times. I went to many sites from Mark Twain's Life On The Mississippi – the harbor in Dubuque, Nauvoo, the Mormon settlement that is now a living history museum; the Crescent City, the place where U.S. soldiers massacred the old and young of the Sauk-Fox tribe, and so on.

I love taking Amtrak to Chicago and finally crossing the Big Muddy at last. When I moved to Alaska my then 7-year-old son and I saw lots of eagles on the river crossing from Wisconsin to Minnesota. And, in Alaska at Haines, which has the largest eagle population in the world. Or, did. Now, you see them on The Colbert Report.

And once just before crossing the river Huck and Jim haunt, on the train again, an old farmer from Iowa woke up all the residents in the Sicko car (I had fallen down the steps of Old Main at my daughter's college during student orientation when I took her to Antioch by train and plane and was on crutches). The farmer insisted everyone in that train wake up and listen to the song he wanted us all to hear. It was 5 a.m.

He played Spike Jones on the radio and that is one moment I will never forget.

My children both can sing most of the Spike Jones songbook forced on them at a young age by me as my father had forced it on me. Something for which I remain most grateful.

Thanks, Dad, for Stan Freberg, too and for my grandson – your great-grandson – Orion Sage Sibley's intense blue eyes. He just turned 1 and this Christmas he's learning "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."

Gary Peterson lives in Belmont. 

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There are many idealistic visions when it comes to public lake access, open shoreline, and city/county parks.

The recent commentary (“Lakeport’s destiny is everyone’s business,” Victoria Brandon) is certainly one of many that most would agree with, at least conceptually. And why not, especially when we look at the extremes: would you rather have a commercial property with a locked gate blocking all view of the lake and available to only the wealthy who can afford to rent a room, or would you prefer another Library Park with complete access to all? Simple decision.

However, it gets more complex when one investigates the reality of when Lakeport (with or without county assistance) would be able to fund the development of another park, let alone have the funds to maintain it. Even open space is costly to provide, maintain, insure, etc.

When it comes time to spend money on this idealistic vision, priorities such as paving roads and filling potholes will trump another waterfront park in Lakeport.

However, it does not have to be black or white as described above. Many waterfront commercial properties (e.g. Lake Tahoe, San Francisco Bay, Southern California) are now developed commercially in such a manner that the water frontage is maintained for public access, viewing, fishing, etc., at no expense to the community.

Visualize commercial development of the Willopoint property, the Natural High Property and the Dutch Harbor property in a manner that resulted in a lake promenade connecting all of them with Library Park, including benches, walkways, bike paths, beaches and wetlands. The public sector part of this property is, for the most part, already developed. The commercial part will be funded by developers adhering to an architected plan approved by all of us. Most of the property will be generating rather than using tax revenues.

Such a plan is a workable solution (not a never-to-be-funded vision) that is a compromise between the extremes described above.

Below is a summary of a “Lakeshore Redevelopment Plan” provided last year to the city of Lakeport by the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee (CLAS), towards the goal of providing long-term sustainable public lake access.

This collection of properties on the shoreline of Lakeport could easily be one of the premier waterfronts in the entire state of California. It is up to us because Lakeport’s destiny is everyone’s business.

CLAS LAKESHORE REDEVELOPMENT PLAN

Introduction

The goal of this plan is to manage the development of several key properties and to combine them with other strategic public properties into an architected lakeshore redevelopment zone. The consistency and predictability of this total area plan reduces the financial risk as compared to individual infill development projects thus promoting private investment while ensuring enhanced public access to Clear Lake for county residents and county visitors.

This plan is designed to enhance the commercial success of the private developments while meeting the responsibility of the public sector to provide cost effective access to the lake. All of these key properties will be required to provide and maintain public access as defined in the plan and in return will participate in a planned and controlled shoreline revitalization that will be mutually beneficial to the success of the commercial ventures and to the community.

Location

The area of this redevelopment plan extends along the Lakeport shoreline of Clear Lake. On the southern boundary is the Willopoint property (privately owned), on the northern boundary is the Dutch Harbor property (now owned by the city of Lakeport). Included within the redevelopment zone are many significant Lakeport public properties including Library Park, Lakefront Park, the Third and Fifth Street boat ramps, lakefront public parking areas, and Natural High School and grounds.

Historical Land Use

This stretch of shoreline has provided both formal and informal public access to the lake for many years. The Willopoint property has housed various commercial enterprises (e.g. Will-O-Point Resort) that has allowed various levels of lake access as part of their operations.

Library Park has long been a publicly provided premier lake access point for residents and visitors alike. Three boat ramps in this zone have provided no-cost boat launching to the public.

Natural High’s property has long provided both informal and arranged-event lake access. Commercial ventures (e.g. on Willopoint and Dutch Harbor properties) have been challenging and have had problems with sustained profitable operation. While the Natural High property currently provides a school facility, it is assumed the school will be relocated and improved as part of the redevelopment process.

Why a Redevelopment Plan

The Willopoint property, the Dutch Harbor property and the Natural High property are each being considered for private development. Collectively these properties, should they be developed in a manner that is inconsistent with proper public lake access, will result in a negative change to the lake-access dynamics that have been key to Lakeport (and Lake County) residents and visitors for many years. The proper plan will enhance the local economy, the probability of commercial development success, and ensure and enhance the lake access experience.

Why not make these strategic properties part of Lakeport’s park system?

In a perfect world where local governments have funds to provide all desired as well as mandatory programs, government purchase of all of this lakeshore zone as public park lands would be a viable option. However, in reality, public funding is not sufficient to procure, develop and maintain these properties. A much more feasible plan is to ensure that the development of these properties is done in a way that offers satisfactory public lake access while owned, developed and maintained with private sector funds. It is best for all if these properties generate tax revenues as opposed to using tax revenues.

Redevelopment Plan Overview

The essence of the plan is best described by a fictitious but potential description of this area following the proposed redevelopment: The result is a significant stretch of developed shoreline all of which is connected by a water front promenade. Within the area is a major hotel-conference center which provides Lakeport with its first complete destination resort. At the other end of the zone and the lake front walkway is a hotel/motel property with nicely landscaped RV/camp sites nestled within a natural shoreline setting. Restaurant and retail shopping as well as some premium commercial office space are integrated into these properties.

The water frontage walkway is similar to the existing path along Library Park but supports both bicycle and pedestrian traffic while providing access to many lake view benches. It is obvious the area was developed per an architected plan and not the result of random efforts. The architectural themes are consistent, parking is where needed, and visitors and residents intermingle in a vibrant successful environment.

The draw of the convention business and interest in the new visitor lodging options has resulted in additional foot traffic and business for the existing downtown Lakeport restaurants and shops. The seamless integration of the public access to the newly developed properties and the town access to visitors staying at these new properties is working to the benefit of all. The new businesses have provided defined visitor dockage at their marinas resulting in enhanced boat access to Lakeport.

This access and the new destinations to visit have again made Lakeport a premier Clear Lake boating destination, and these boat-in visitors frequent existing as well as new businesses.

In addition to the interest at new and existing businesses, those wishing to just enjoy the lake, do a little fishing, or paddle a kayak have also had their lake experience enhanced. The Willopoint property has maintained sufficient wetlands and riparian areas to provide nature-walk trails with fishing and lake-gazing space. All admire the joint development that was needed to make all of this happen. In reality almost all of the public development was completed prior to the redevelopment effort.

By carefully specifying the private fill-in development and by ensuring careful teamwork between the local agencies and the private developers, almost 100 percent of the redevelopment cost was privately funded and that private investment proved to be a wise investment.

What is the next step?

While it is easy (and necessary) to conceptually describe a redevelopment plan, a specific plan with details of proposed commercial ventures, architectural guidelines, and defined roles of the public and private sector must be carefully and completely defined. This plan must result from the latest marketing insight into the dynamics of the county and the state to insure that the proposed zone can succeed and that the expectations of the community as well as the return-on-investment goals of the developers are all met or exceeded.

Artist renderings of the area as well as detailed maps and drawings are required for the community to understand and appreciate the plan and for developers to participate and fund the effort. An architectural consulting firm must soon be commissioned to define and complete all aspects of this redevelopment plan.

Time is of the essence, as the key properties are now being considered for development and should any of these current proposals be executed in a manner inconsistent with this plan, the value of this proposal and the quality of the final result will be diminished if not eliminated.

Ed Calkins is chairman of the Clear Lake Advisory Subcommittee. He lives in Kelseyville.

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Attending the oldest and largest animal rights conference in Los Angeles July 19-23 (www.arconference.org) yielded more surprising information than I expected.

The conference also provided me the chance to meet with many grass roots animal rights

people advocating for humane treatment of animals, veganism and better animal protection legislation. These people are truly inspirational because many of them devote their lives to help non-human species who can't help themselves ... that's truly altruistic and compassionate. We really need more people like them in the world.

There were more than 100 sessions, and here are some of these altruistic speakers and their organizations' Web sites: Karen Davis, United Poultry Concerns (www.upc-online.org); Howard Lyman, Voice for Viable Future (www.madcowboy.com/01_VVF.000.html); Anteneh Roba, Amsale Gessesse Foundation (www.amsalefoundation.org); Marianne Thieme, Parliament member, The Netherlands (www.partijvoordedieren.nl/content/view/129); Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (www.seashepherd.org); Shirley McGreal, International Primate Protection League (www.ippl.org); Christine Morrissey, East Bay Animal Advocates (www.eastbayanimaladvocates.org/wst_page4.html); Eliot Katz, In Defense of Animals (www.idausa.org); Virginia Handley, California's Political Action Committee for Animals (www.pawpac.org).

In addition to learning about updates to the campaigns above, the fact that Farm Animals have very few (if any) legal protections, and there is little legal precedent for current lawyers to use in prosecuting

animal abusers, some additional new surprising information was shared with all conference attendees: animal agriculture causes more greenhouse gases than transportation.

According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions than transport (www.biteglobalwarming.org).

In addition, Japanese scientists discovered that eating beef produces more greenhouse gases than driving. "Most of the greenhouse gas emissions are in the form of methane released from the animals'

digestive systems,” New Scientist magazine reported.

More than two thirds of the energy used goes towards producing and transporting cattle feed, said the study, which was led by Akifumi Ogino from the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba, Japan.

Su Taylor, the press officer for the Vegetarian Society, told New Scientist: "Everybody is trying to come up with different ways to reduce carbon footprints, but one of the easiest things you can do is

to stop eating meat.”

I've personally attended several scientific conferences in the last few months, including the February AAAS conference in San Francisco, but the seriousness of animal agriculture's impact on climate change was not strongly communicated. This is why I'm writing. so I can communicate this data to you.

Many of us have thought about reducing our meat consumption for various health or animal cruelty reasons. The climate change impact is another reason.

Let's all make a difference and reduce all of our meat consumption and spread the word to your friends and neighbors to do the same. Our country and our Earth depend on it.

References:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/19/nbeef119.xml

http://environment.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19526134.500&feedId=earth_rss20

www.arconference.org

www.biteglobalwarming.org

Mary Vincent is a senior program sanager at Sun Microsystems. She was in the US Peace Corps in Hungary. She contributes articles and commentary on animal rights issues to Lake County News.

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It occurred to me, that once we begin asking the right questions about where we're headed in the future, we should participate in a process of suggesting solutions: particularly as to policy and planning in the areas of development, expansion, and commitment to sustainable and self-sufficient infrastructure.

One of the common values I sense in Lake County residents is that of appreciation for all the open areas of land in the county. Obviously there is room for some growth left in most areas, but the decisions must come soon regarding what the limits are. Certainly the more pristine the county remains, the better, especially as long as the main industries are tourism and agriculture.

Lots of formerly rural counties have quickly grown into bedroom urban communities. They didn’t intend it that way. It just happened. No one wanted to be the ones to challenge the policy of progress – shop till you drop, develop until you run out of room, grow until you can't sustain the resources locally and then tie into a national economy – driven and controlled by outside forces.

Then, one day (it takes awhile), they looked around and discovered that they indeed had progress. It was all around them. It was so around them that the very qualities that had once given them peace of mind had disappeared, particularly the quality of open land and space. They no longer had public land, only fences and “no trespassing” signs.

In Lake County, we not only still have land we can share together, we have treasure in our soil. The treasures of arable land and water represent a fragile but potent and powerful resource for human beings living here. Fruit, nut, berry, herb, fish, acorn, vegetable, grass, hay, hemp, strawberries, organic beef, buffalo and wine. Even peaches and avocados grow in Lake County. The land and water is our primary treasure.

So, if we agree that limits on large-scale expansion of towns and commercial and residential development around the lake is the only way to insure that the qualities of environment we appreciate; the elements that give Lake County its special character and atmosphere are to be preserved – then we have to begin discussing those limits and their implementation.

This is, of course, a challenge to the traditional American commitment to “progress” as defined by a cycle of “endless, continual growth and commercial and residential development” (at least until every resource is strained and urbanization develops).

So, where can allowable growth occur? I have heard rumors of discussions that our communities should grow implosively – utilizing all available lands adjacent to already developed areas. More specifically it might demand the redevelopment and utilization of already developed properties, particularly empty or unused buildings and shopping centers. These prime properties are taking up space in areas that either need to be redeveloped and used as commercial property – or restored to their natural state.

County government needs to take seriously its role as steward of all the land in the county. If our land is indeed the treasure we have declared it to be, then commercially-held land that is developed and then abandoned should be forced into redevelopment or should revert to the public trust rather than simply providing a tax write-off.

This is a reasonable idea. If we assert that every inch of Lake County is valuable to us as individuals, and as communities; and if we take responsibility for determining that foremost among our policies will be the certainty that growth beyond certain boundaries is unacceptable until all property within existing developed areas be utilized or returned to a natural state – then a similar demand for projects of renovation, redevelopment and naturalization would likewise be reasonable.

These policies would continue to encourage continual demolition, construction and remodeling – with the added bonus that we could begin thinking ultimately of redesigning of our communities to function as self-sufficient infrastructures utilizing myriad forms of public transportation, alternate energy vehicles, and green technologies.

I know that I'm treading sacrosanct waters when I begin espousing the ideal of communal responsibility for the land and encourage dictating to owners what they can and can't do with private property, but this isn't the 19th century. The open land doesn't extend to the horizon. There aren't any more native peoples' lands to rip off. We're seeing the finite nature of resources and we need to begin planning for that finality.

Certain realities begin to thrust themselves into our consciousness.

Gasoline is no longer 19 cents a gallon. Roadways are expensive to build and maintain. Too many private vehicles on a road results in gridlock and tension headaches. A sizable number of our citizens cannot afford vehicles, insurance or gas. Many have substance abuse problems and shouldn't be driving anyway. Add all that together and we can see a demand for an innovative and comprehensive public transportation system. Solar electric ferries on the lake, maybe a high speed rail system, and certainly alternatively fueled buses and taxi schedules.

Right now, should the transportation system into Lake County be compromised for any reason, stocks on supermarket shelves would begin to significantly disappear within three days. Costs for food and necessities will only increase as transportation costs increase.

A sizable amount of our food supply is already genetically altered – a fact that is alarming to some portion of our citizenry. With major advances in genetic manipulation already accomplished, in only a few years a majority of the meat that is distributed nationally will come from cloned stock. There is no proof yet that this would be harmful, but wouldn't you rather have your grandchildren eating organically grown, pesticide and hormone free, genetically natural meats, fruits and vegetables? Isn't that a best case scenario for their health?

The recent announcement of long-term studies that prove organic farming can produce harvests that surpass commercial farms that depend on chemical and petroleum products supports our contention that organic agriculture is, as we thought it to be, a superior technology. The opportunity to utilize our local agricultural treasures to develop a significant independence with a 100-percent organic, locally controlled food supply seems not only prudent, but possible.

We should encourage the entrepreneurial family farm system, develop local packaging and sales through cooperatives and covet protectively all our agricultural lands and water.

Since green energy is no longer just a hippy dippy sideshow but a huge and burgeoning industry, Lake County needs to jump on the bandwagon early. Commit to solar and wind power, alternative electric generation and tourism based on those principles and marketed as our premier gift to the future.

Our hospitality and convention centers could appeal directly to the green global entrepreneurs and their product lines. Why couldn't they come here for their conventions, their new product shows and demonstrations? We have the hotels and entertainment to show them a good time. If we marketed our commitment to their industries with the same fervor we show the sport fishing community we could certainly be competitive.

We could attract the gamut of green industry representatives from wind, water, and solar electric energy and power systems, innovative vehicles and boats, biodiesel and bioagricultural fuels, sustainable organic agriculture, mitigating and cleaning pollutants in soils and water, etc. etc.

The sky is the limit – especially if we began to encourage the use of these technologies in the county and incorporate them into our planning and development strategies. Incredible discoveries are being made everyday in these fields – what if we were to become the primary hub, the central clearinghouse and information center to draw together all these new technologies and systems? Wouldn't that support our grandchildrens' future?

And the best thing about that type of industry is that when the meetings, demonstrations, seminars and conventions are over – the participants go home – leaving our county intact, not overpopulated and overdeveloped. And the technologies we learn about through those connections would undoubtedly provide us with a myriad of ideas and connections on what kind of new businesses could be developed locally around information and technology that would not require the urbanization of our county.

We could do it. It is a realizable goal. We just have to make commitments and brainstorm the strategies and solutions to implement them. Ideas are where it starts.

James BlueWolf lives in Nice.

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Newspapers do best when they report news and are not news, themselves. Some publishers don’t understand but their papers can make news headlines, themselves, when they hide news from their readers. Yes, there are papers that hide news. They think it’s OK to keep readers in the dark. Some call it “spiking.” More and more publishers are falling into this trap; publishers of big papers and little papers. Civics students say they’re “part-of-the-news” papers instead of “news” papers.

The New York Times, one of the biggest papers, is itself a stinky story, these days. They no longer publish, “the news, the whole news, and nothing but the news.” They print stories that are flattering to friends or a certain political party and spike reports that are hostile. Some observers say, big advertisers and government agencies apply pressure to kill stories at the Times. Other reports tell how editors slant stories and print opinions disguised as stories in the news section. Apparently, editors think their readers are too dumb to know. It’s embarrassing to watch. Some say it’s no longer a newspaper but a party line for the communist left. Times’ reports have become a tainted tale others are telling.

Most subscribers aren’t dumb and eventually find out when their daily goes off the track. They may be helped in their discovery by the publisher of a rival paper. Good journalists print all the news all the time, even when it’s about another paper. They never cave in to big promoters or government representatives who want stories killed. Trustworthy papers can in fact make money telling horrible stories like that of the Times fiasco.

One Internet newspaper, the Drudge Report, has become a huge success by posting stories other papers spiked. Readers’ ears perk up when they hear a paper is hiding news. Like the elephant, they never forget.

Second-rate publishers think they’re doing nothing wrong when they print part of the news. It’s my paper and I’ll print what I want, they suppose as they entrench themselves in tall ivory towers and lock the doors. Big companies will always send in big checks to pay for big adds, they assume. Little subscribers who made them successful are forgotten. They’re surprised when big advertisers stop sending big checks because little subscribers stop buying a party line rag.

When circulation numbers drop, foolish publishers do all the wrong things to reverse the decline. Sometimes, they think readers want to be entertained so they print entertainment instead of news. Other times, they imagine sex sells so they hire glamorous representatives who look like call girls. They “dumb down and tart up” in a vain effort to stop the slide. Nothing works, however, until they go back to printing all the news all the time and make a sincere effort to rebuild trust with readers.

Good journalists work their trade like a marriage with subscribers. They know the connection between reporting and civic duty. In first year journalism, they learned the Founding Fathers gave American reporters Free Press security with an obligation to use it. Yes, Free Press is a duty as well as a privilege. Free Press guarantees government can’t control reporters to hide part of the news from the people. First-rate publishers practice this freedom and never develop comfy relationships with government agents. Government has three branches; judicial, legislative, and executive. Judges, policemen, congressmen, governors, district attorneys, sheriffs, presidents, council members, school boards, and school superintendents, are all some of the government’s employees. Publishers who’re seduced into informal relationships with government representatives are two-timing their readers. They’re sleeping with the enemy. They betray constituents in the community. Voters can’t vote the rascals out if they don’t know who the rascals are. Disloyal dailies, themselves, make unpleasant news stories that need to be told.

Faithful editors also apply the “Free Press” principle to business promoters who try to control news by canceling adds. Wise editors know, advertising income is directly related to readership numbers so they stay loyal to readers and hang up on fat-cat marketers who want to get them in bed. Dedicated newspapers protect their reputations and are always, of the subscriber, by the subscriber, and for the subscriber.

Unfortunately, two local papers, (Lake County Record-Bee and Observer-American) are following in the footsteps of the New York Times. It’s a great tragedy for local voters and taxpayers. They can‘t get the information they need to make democracy work. Publisher Gregg McConnell has made himself a tall ivory tower and shut himself in. Apparently, he believes he has no civic duty. He’s rapidly losing the respect of his “little” subscribers. It’s a terrible mess and another interesting story worth reading.

McConnell started bad when he came to Lake County, by assigning a daft reporter to code enforcement who immediately developed a comfy relationship with government authorities. Front page stories began to appear showing government is good and taxpayers are bad. One unfortunate Clearlake Oaks resident found his picture on the front page of McConnell’s paper because he had an old car in the yard and a roof leak. Code enforcement red tagged his house. Everyone who took a high school civics class was alarmed. McConnell’s articles made government agents look like heroes and citizens look like criminals. It was clear from the beginning, McConnell understands Free Press backwards. He protects government from the people.

One concerned citizen called McConnell on his infidelity to subscribers. A letter writer from Kelseyville, Darrell Watkins, wrote a civics letter and submitted it for the opinion page. McConnell saw it as criticism and didn’t print it. Watkins also purchased four copies of “We the People” and sent them to McConnell and his top employees for remedial civics training. A credentialed teacher, he also volunteered to tutor McConnell and his editors. McConnell thought this was the height of haughtiness and didn’t accept the offer. Some good did come out of Watkins’ effort, however. McConnell stopped going out with county code enforcement officers and coming home late with government lipstick on his collar. Unfortunately, reports say he’s become an “item” with other government agents and fat-cat marketers around town. Subscribers have a right to know about these indiscretions. He just can’t keep his journalistic pants zipped up.

McConnell’s most recent and ongoing affair is with government representatives at Konocti Unified School District. President Bush’s no-child-left-behind law identified failing schools in that district. Minds are a terrible things to waste and children left behind should make very, very big headlines. A Free Press would ring alarm bells long and loud until everyone knows KUSD trustees are a bunch of rascals. They could quickly be voted out of office. Taxpayers are paying tens of millions of dollars every year to provide schools for their children and they‘re not getting their money‘s worth. Unfortunately, McConnell‘s papers aren’t a Free Press. He can’t keep his journalistic marriage vows with his readers because he and some of his reporters are sleeping with the enemy.

Some readers were utterly bowled over when McConnell splashed the front pages of two papers (March 20, 2007) with the glowing picture of Louise Nan, superintendent of KUSD. Louise was “woman of the year“ burbled McConnell’s reporters for spending “years working in the KUSD.” Her district has failed Lake County for years and she receives front page fame. What was McConnell thinking? Should Lake County taxpayers believe failure is success? Should a government representative of a failed school district receive great honor from the Free Press? Questions continue and the story gets worse.

Nan returned the award favor. Nan nominated and Observer-American editor Cynthia Parkhill received, the prestigious “award of appreciation” from the “Association of California Schools Administrators.” How cozy! Newspaper editor Parkhill puts government leader Nan on the front page of her paper and government leader Nan nominates Parkhill for a grand award from her school organization. One hand washes another. What a snug little relationship! Yes, Parkhill’s own paper did her write up.

From all this, it’s apparent Parkhill has been assigned to cover school news. When she writes a school story (like a recent report on Pomo Elementary) most readers think the schools are getting recognition when they’re failing. Parkhill’s stories lull taxpayers to sleep. She’s like the watchman that whispered when he saw the enemy and the watchdog that ran under the house when burglars came. Education thieves are stealing knowledge from her master’s kids in broad daylight and Parkhill doesn’t want to “alarm” anyone. She returns home late at night to her readers with rumpled hair and government cigar smoke all over her clothes and thinks nobody will notice. Civics students do notice, however. They understand how softball coverage of important news is directly related to cozy relationships between government and the Free Press. Unfortunately, Lake County taxpayers continue to spend tens of millions of dollars for schools that continue to fail.

Former Lower Lake High School (chemistry and physics) teacher, Russell Hunt, wrote about the sad state of Konocti schools in a “Speak Your Mind” letter: “The children are wild and running the school. There is absolutely no discipline and little or no learning going on. The average child is … graduating with an eighth-grade education. Bottom of the barrel state test scores are evidence of this.” This is the news that McConnell hides in a small letter on the opinion page.

McConnell recently added another paramour to his government harem. He met recently with the new Clearlake police chief, Allan McClain (Observer-American, July 18, 2007). McClain, like most highly paid government agents, is very smart. He understands McConnell’s weakness. He knows courting the “Free Press” means job security for him. Yes, McConnell responded. “Police Chief McCain should be applauded for his efforts to reintroduce a personal connection between the citizens of Clearlake and the peace officers who work to keep them safe,” ardently cooed the publisher in his report. How sweet. Unfortunately, McConnell didn’t take the opportunity to report on drug trafficking, burglaries, missing persons, and unsolved murders in Clearlake.

Democracy could work in Lake County. It can’t until the Free Press returns. McConnell needs to find another line of work. Civics students hope the new publisher will be loyal to his readers. They pray papers will print all the news all the time and stop consorting with government fanciers. Voters will get enough information to throw the rascals out when they don’t get what they pay for.

Darrell Watkins is a graduate of Ambassador College, Brickett Wood, UK and a graduate of Pepperdine University School of Education, Los Angeles. He lives in Kelseyville.

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