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Letters
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- Written by: Olga Martin Steele
Human trafficking is a serious and growing problem – big thanks to law enforcement for addressing it.
Last summer the Soroptimist International of Clear Lake Club partnered with Redwood Community Services Inc. to host Elle Snow, a human trafficking survivor. The event was held at the Lodge at Blue Lakes, courtesy of owners Peter and Maryann Schmid.
Elle spoke to the need for awareness, intervention and prevention and bravely told her story of capture, escape and survival.
Elle made a lasting impression on the audience including a number of community leaders. In attendance that night were Brock Falkenberg, county superintendent of schools, who partnered with the Soroptimist on the event; county supervisors Jim Steele and Tina Scott, both sponsors of the event; the Lake County Family Resource Center, event partners; and District Attorney Don Anderson; Sheriff Brian Martin; interim Clearlake Police Chief Tim Celli and then-Lakeport Mayor Pro Tem, Mireya Turner.
Since that time Elle has conducted a number of human trafficking workshops in Lake County. One, specifically tailored for law enforcement officers, was hosted by Sheriff Brian Martin.
Coming to Lake County in April is the anti-human trafficking play, “Jane Doe In Wonderland.” Created by Elle Snow and playwrights Kate Tobie, Erin Johnston and Grace Booth, the play toured in 2017 to packed houses and will tour Northern California and Southern Oregon in March and April of this year.
The Soroptimist club is sponsoring the play on April 14 at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport. Look for details in the near future about this opportunity to learn how to identify and stop human trafficking.
A sad commentary on the human condition, human trafficking thrives because there is a demand. It is creeping into rural communities and will continue to do so if we don’t take the threat seriously. Fortunately, Lake County leaders do, as evidenced by the recent sting and the interest they demonstrated in attending Lake County’s first human trafficking awareness event last summer.
A quote by DA Don Anderson in the article I read indicates that human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the United States and California. He’s right. According to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, it is estimated to be a $32 billion a year global industry.
Considered to be a modern form of slavery human trafficking is not just a big city problem. The team that set up the sting in Clearlake deserves notice and gratitude, as do our county and city leaders who support efforts to keep human trafficking from taking hold in our community. Hats off to them!
Olga Martin Steele lives in Clearlake Oaks, Calif., and is a member of Soroptimist of Clear Lake, which won the Spirit of Lake County Award at the Stars of Lake County Award ceremony in Lakeport on Saturday, Feb. 17.
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- Written by: Tom Sawyer
I’m an electrical engineer with 27 years in the industry and a Life Member of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers).
IEEE Spectrum in a 2011 article stated, “After a working group of 31 scientists from 14 countries reviewed the latest research data, the IARC announced that it has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from cellphones “as possibly carcinogenic to humans based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer.”
The World Health Organization classified cellphone radiation as a Group 2B carcinogen and stated there are particular risks to children and fetal development.
Aside from RF microwave radiation, having a cellphone tower in your neighborhood could reduce your property value. A peer reviewed study published in The Appraisal Journal 2005, quantified residential properties within 300 feet of a cellphone tower as being devaluated by 20 to 25 percent due to fears of RF radiation and aesthetics.
California’s SB649, which was drafted by the telecommunications industry to ease permits for cell towers while keeping cell towers away from fire stations, bypasses local government ordinances pertaining to cell towers. This would allow cities to issue permits without a design review. However, Gov. Brown vetoed the bill at the last minute.
Keep in mind, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 only allows telecommunications companies to preempt local governments when they have requested to install cell towers due to the lack of coverage, but not due to the lack of bandwidth (capacity).
Verizon in their presentation to the city council stated its reason for requesting more pole-mounted cell towers was to increase coverage and bandwidth in preparation for 4G/5G services. However, as far as we can tell, Verizon has not provided documented evidence regarding lack of coverage for the already permitted PMCT sites in Santa Rosa. Furthermore, new neighborhood cell towers do not necessarily guarantee faster web/video services.
What the city appears to be doing is fast-tracking permits for Verizon to install PMCT’s without a design review. However, Council Policy 300-04 specifies Verizon must follow Ordinance 20-44 and preform a design review for each PMCT installation. So what happened?
The city may have opened itself up to legal issues – time will tell. Right now the best thing you can do to keep these not-so-pleasing-to-look-at, RF radiating cell towers out of Santa Rosa neighborhoods is to write, email and phone the mayor, the city council and the city manager’s office and let them know you don’t want cell towers in residential neighborhoods.
Please attend Tuesday evening at 5 p.m. city council meetings and let them know, we want no cell towers in neighborhoods or near schools.
Get the word out to everyone you know.
Tom Sawyer lives in Santa Rosa, Calif.
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- Written by: Leona Butts
Did you realize that there will be a new accounting of homeless in Lake County on Jan. 23?. In 2017 Point-In-Time counted 401 people who met the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s description of homeless. As the homeless register, they receive many considerations of value.
More than one-quarter of the total homeless population nationwide lives in California, roughly 114,000. Homeless in California continues to rise at a steady clip.
My question is why, with a county population of around 64,000, do we have so many homeless? There is always the – why is this happening? Can anyone tell us why? Will there be an increase in the 2018 count?
Another stat that seems to be true – do you remember the 2008 vote to build a bullet train, or what is now being called the “train to nowhere,” that was estimated cost was $43 billion? It was anticipated that about one-third of the money to build the bullet-train system would come from the state bond, about one-third from the federal government, and about one-third from private investment.
For the last few years, the estimates have hovered in the mid-$60 billion range. I have picked up reported facts from by Tim Sheehan,
Now with Gov. Brown making California a sanctuary state, how will the financing all turn out? Think on that one for a while.
We can even look at a stat very close to home, actually in your neighborhood and mine. If you care for yourself, family and neighbors, you might want to look at the names on the list of Lake County registered sex offenders. Their addresses and photos are also listed. At this time there are 251 Registered Sex Offenders in a county population of around 64,000. How many such people are not registered?
We are always left with a question.
Leona Butts lives in Clearlake Oaks, Calif.
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- Written by: James C. Walker
These do NOT include automated enforcement with speed and red light cameras. Those expensive cameras are operated by for-profit companies and require the traffic safety engineering parameters of the speed limits and traffic light timing be deliberately mis-engineered to produce enough tickets given to mostly safe drivers for the total fines to even cover the high camera costs.
If speed and red light cameras ticketed only hazardous drivers, no one would object. But then there would be no speed and red light cameras because they would lose too much money, and without profits the ticket camera industry would cease to exist.
James C. Walker is a life member of the National Motorists Association, and board member and executive director of the National Motorists Association Foundation based in Ann Arbor, Mich.