Letters to the Editor 2/22

Rethink warning shot

To whoever it was who fired the warning shot Sunday morning in Black Lake Canyon after I respected and turned back at your “No Trespassing” sign, and was well on my way back on the main trail with my two dogs: I know the shot was intended for me, your yelling carried down the canyon.

I don’t know who discharged the firearm but I know where it was discharged from and if it was a live round; what goes up must come down. You may want to rethink your action.

Mike Van Belleghem

Arroyo Grande

Attacks at ASH

More attacks at Atascadero State Hospital! People are admitted to ASH for treatment. They must not be assessed appropriately or receive appropriate treatment, or there wouldn’t be so many attacks.

If the patient won’t take medication he needs, where’s the court order?

There are two types of victims here: the patient, because of mistreatment or missed treatment, and the staff, because of the same causes.

The patient who didn’t receive treatment may go to prison. How about the people who don’t provide appropriate treatment? Are they held responsible?

Lucille Craig

Morro Bay

Testing the waters

The Tribune has provided several articles describing budgetary cutbacks and newly proposed regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency.

A new EPA proposal states it is acceptable for 1 in 28 people to get sick when they go to the beach. Children are especially vulnerable, perhaps because they tend to submerge their heads more often and are more likely to swallow water when swimming.

EPA’s proposal also al lows water testing to be averaged over a period as long as 90 days and for one in every four samples to exceed safe levels before pollution reduction is required. Both of these approaches could expose beach-goers to unnecessary risk of illness.

Public health will suffer at the hands of polluters until problems with slack regulations and weakened enforcement are resolved. So, the Surfrider Foundation in our county will conduct independent sampling and testing of county waters through our Blue Water Task Force. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. We’re looking for people in our community who want to be part of the solution. Please contact slo@surfrider.org   if you’d like to learn more.

Brad Snook

Chair, Executive Committee of Surfrider, San Luis Obispo

Barn Conservancy?

As someone who has supported and contributed to numerous Land Conservancy causes, I am concerned about its latest drive: the restoration of the Octagon Barn on South Higuera Street.

The restoration would include an events center, a museum, a classroom and a community room. The project would accommodate docent-led tours, community group meetings and corporate retreats. Also to be added is a 1,000-square-foot general purpose building and 112 parking spaces. The Land Conservancy would lease the land as well as build and maintain the museum.

I believe this project is totally unnecessary and completely outside of the Land Conservancy’s original mission, which, as its name implies, is to conserve land, not restore old buildings.

Lou Robinson

San Luis Obispo

Ron Paul has my vote

Say, do you plan to vote in the primary election? I’m voting for Ron Paul, a Republican.

We have open primaries in California, so anyone can vote for any party.

Ron Paul wants to legalize all drugs. He’s got my vote. The only way to successfully end the “war on drugs” is to legalize them all. That way the prisons will be half empty, if not more so. The corruption will slow way down among politicians and police officers.

Gangs will disappear overnight. Who’s going to be willing to pay ridiculously jacked up prices for something you can either grow yourself or go down to the corner drug store and buy for pennies?

People are going to continue to use drugs no matter how “illegal” they are. Again, the only way to win the war on drugs is to legalize them. This is why I urge everyone to please consider voting for Ron Paul for president.

David E. Murray

Templeton

Support for children

On behalf of the San Luis Obispo County Child Abuse Prevention Council board of directors, I want to thank Central Coast Funds for Children for its generous support of our Talking About Touching and RealCare Parenting Programs.

Central Coast Funds for Children is a long-standing community partner committed to funding childfocused programs in San Luis Obispo County. With its support, the San Luis Obispo County Child Abuse Prevention Council educates more than 2,500 school-age children and their parents on safe/unsafe touching rules with the Talking About Touching curriculum and provides RealCare infant simulators, shaken baby syndrome education and Empathy Belly resources to high schools and community groups upon request.

All of the services described above are provided free in all regions of San Luis Obispo County.

Please join me in building safe and healthy communities by supporting Central Coast Funds for Children. Its support makes it possible to bring uninterrupted delivery of programs such as Talking About Touching and Real-Care Parenting.

Lisa Fraser

Executive Director, SLO County Child Abuse Prevention Council

Ditch the bags

Thank you for your brickbat to the “Save the Plastic Bag Coalition,” a thoughtless group working against a positive step forward for our community. Now, I wonder, perhaps The Tribune could continue its environmental leaning, review its own plastic bag policies and limit the use of plastic for paper carriers.

We subscribe to both The Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. The Times comes wrapped in nothing but a rubber band unless it’s raining, while The Tribune is in a plastic bag every day of the year.

Andy Pease

San Luis Obispo

No-win lawsuit

Now that the proponents of plastic bags have filed a lawsuit, I believe they are in a no-win situation. In the event they win, there is nothing to compel the merchants to distribute them free.

Jim Paglia

Atascadero