Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 3-19-20 E-edition

Thursday, March 19, 2020 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
Fred Hall — Publisher
In my OPINION Listen to the medical
experts and professionals
“Nothing is as terrible as fear it- self!”
Keep calm and informed, continue precautions during COVID-19 crisis
Rick Curiel — Sanger Editor Jon Earnest — Reedley Editor Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
QUOTE
“Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with, that it's compounding a felony.”
— Robert Benchley (1889-1945)
The concept and words, although
originally penned by Sir Francis Ba-
con, were paraphrased and made fa-
mous by President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt in his 1933 inaugural ad-
dress. Roosevelt used his iteration
in an attempt to strengthen the will
and encourage the American People
during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Since then, Americans have faced-down a world war, various and assorted levels of exotic viruses and diseases which have been wildly successful at killing mankind. Ebola, MIRS, SARS, H1N1 (swine flu) and the avian flu and guess what — we're still here!
Mankind always seems to have the ingenuity and resilience in all these forms to deal with extreme ad- versity. Sadly, there also is a tendency for panic to sit in and bring out the very worst in the human race. Hoarders, purveyors of panic in the name of politics, and those who would offer fraudulent cures and solu- tions are absolute “bottom feeders.”
Now that we are once again facing the unimaginable with the coronavirus from China (COVID-19), there ap- pears to be an overreaction on the part of many, in- cluding the press, social media and a politicization of the illness by far too many politicians. Nancy Pelosi has made such strong, reassuring comments as “this could be the end of civilization as we know it! That's the same Nancy Pelosi who attempted to sneak in ad- ditional funding for Planned Parenthood and the forces for abortion into funding to fight the coronavirus.
I realize that it is an entirely separate issue but I can't understand — for the life of me — how, why or when abortion became the “Holy Grail” of the entire Democratic Party. What kind of society have we be- come when Hollywood and the entire entertainment industry has made the death of an unborn child some- thing to be celebrated. It seems to me that the Supreme Court stretched the “right of privacy” a helluva long way to include killing babies. Incidentally, we can't find a right to privacy in the Constitution.
Truthfully, at this point, the coronavirus seems to only kill older citizens as it attacks weakened respira- tory systems. All indications are that the recovery rate is certainly at an acceptable level and the number of documented cases of COVID-19 are manageable by our health professionals.
You can help by ignoring the suggestions, finger point- ing and blame sharing by all the talking heads on televi- sion and some newspaper columnists. Jennifer Rubin, of the once-respectable Washington Post, recently postu- lated that more Republicans would die than Democrats in the form of some kind of retribution for “Republican han- dling” of the situation. That doesn't even take into consid- eration the vast number of nuts who inhabit Twitter-dom. Remember that your internet has been vetted by no one.
America has met far worse challenges head-on be- fore, with obvious success. We're a tougher, more resil- ient people than I see at the moment raiding our stores for toilet tissue, bottled water and ammunition. Water is readily available from your tap at home, extra ammo makes no sense and as far as toilet tissue goes — I ad- mittedly have no idea why it's important to have 40 or 50 rolls stashed away in the closet.
The best defense against this viral intruder from China is listen to the medical experts and professionals. Practice good hygiene by regularly washing your hands and attempt to avoid touching your nose or mouth. Hand sanitizers are a good preventative if you can find them. Hoarders and price gougers have already moved on this one.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself! But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
By Melissa Hurtado
Guest editorial
I remain concerned about the public health and safety issues that COVID-19 is cre- ating and support the gover- nor and president in adopting public health guidelines to protect the well-being of my constituents. We encourage you to stay calm and keep informed about what to do during this time. Everyone is under a strong advisory to adhere to social distancing and do our part to help keep everyone healthy during this time.
My offices are open, as- sisting the community, and providing regular updates through things like social me- dia and press releases. Please refer to credible resources to stay informed, such as the California Department of Public Health, for the most up-to-date information.
We are in close contact with local leaders, elected officials, and our community and are actively monitoring these ever-changing issues. We are hyper-vigilant regard- ing issues like our access to water, price gouging, a ro- bust healthcare network, how
to assist displaced workers, and food insecurity. Senate District 14 is the breadbasket for the state and many parts of the world. I will continue to be vigilant to protect the supply chain of food that my district helps provide.
I remain concerned about our most vulnerable and am asking that we consider our neighbors during this diffi- cult time. Please keep oth- ers in mind when shopping and only take what you need during this time because ev- eryone suffers when people stockpile.
The effects that this will have on our economy are still to be seen, but I encourage you to continue to support our local businesses during this time in new and creative ways. Curbside pickups and buying gift cards will help small businesses and pro- tect jobs. I am working with larger employers at the state level to help mitigate the fi- nancial effects of this event.
As the chair of the Senate Committee on Human Ser- vices I am closely monitoring the efforts to reduce impacts on recipients of essential safety net benefits that serve our most vulnerable popula-
tions. These
are programs
that impact
older adults
and their care-
givers, child-
care providers,
families with
low incomes,
and people with developmen- tal disabilities.
Government leaders and advocates are exploring ways to take advantage of the flexibility given to these safety net programs thru the executive orders issued at the state and federal level. My office will share updates on CalFresh, CalWORKs and the like as they become avail- able.
The situation is changing quickly and it is essential that we all do our part to sup- port and protect our constitu- ents, our colleagues and our families by complying with the guidance issued by our leaders.
Sanger native Melissa Hurtado is state senator for California's 14th District that includes Mid Valley Times cities Dinuba, Reedley and Sanger.
Fred Hall
Melissa Hurtado
Call for Sanger to wait on regular council meetings
Editor:
I acknowledge Gov. New- som’s Executive Order N-25- 20. However, just because the city of Sanger may have been given the power to hold a regu- larly scheduled meeting does not mean it should, or should be done in this community.
Many members of our com- munity who may want to par- ticipate will not be able to. As you may know from reading the proposed updated General Plan, a vast swath of the citi- zens of Sanger are economical- ly disadvantaged. Because of this they may not have access to a computer at home, and
thus may not see how the agen- da has been updated to reflect the phone and email address. Further, is this really the gov- ernment that we want, a gov- ernment that does not adjust, a government that just keeps with business as usual, even though the times are unusual?
As I have stated previous- ly, nothing on the agenda has any effect on the pandemic, or to the health and safety of the people of Sanger during this pandemic. Nothing on the agenda can be considered an “emergency”. Everything on the agenda can wait until the pandemic passes.
Why go through with the extraordinary measures to have a “regular” meeting?
Why not wait? Conversely, if there is something that is truly an “emergency” then, by all means, please use the emergency measures to have a meeting, but not for the agen- da items posted.
People need to have faith in their government. Canceling City Council meetings until the pandemic is over will provide faith to the people of Sanger in their government by showing that the city is not trying to pull a fast one. Save the emergen- cy measures of participating remotely for matters that are truly emergencies, not to just keep doing business as usual.
Vincent Wall Sanger
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