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Opinion Letters to the editor for April 20, 2011
Letters to the editor for April 20, 2011
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Bypass wasteful To the Editor: My thanks to Mr. Alan Haack for his excellent guest opinion that ran March 10 of the wastefulness of the Phase II extension of the Highway 108 Bypass. As he pointed out, we have much more immediate needs. We have two critical bottlenecks. Traffic from Highway 49 clogs Washington Street to reach Highway 108 and all points East. Not much can be done there. However, all traffic to and from the valley: commercial, commuter, personal and vacationers must traverse the one-and-a-half mile bottleneck between Jamestown and Sonora before they disperse in all directions. Twenty years ago, that stretch was part of a pleasant country highway leading to the only traffic light in the county. Today it is a teeming through fare with difficult entry from the side streets. Future growth will have a corresponding traffic increase leading to gridlock unless our leaders raise it to the top of the list today. Margaret Bittrolff Jamestown Dance instructor court ruling To the Editor: What’s going on with our courts, or maybe it’s Calaveras County? How can they let a 32-year-old adult plead no contest to a felony conviction for having sex with a minor, even a woman. What kind of a prosecutor or judge would do that? If this was a male instructor, he would do at least 20 years. She's not even required to register as a sex offender. Her friends came to her rescue, but I bet if it was one of their children involved they would change their tune. He may have stated he wasn't forced into it but he is only 16. She is a 32-year-old adult and should have known better and now the courts are giving her a plea deal. My heart goes out to that 16-year-old and his family. Kenneth Hance Sonora Power outages/PG&E To the Editor: The recent storms in the area left many of us without electrical power for a few to several days. My home and two of my neighbor's homes were without power from 10:15 p.m. Feb. 17 till after 11 p.m. Feb. 23. Many were without power even longer. The PG&E crews and phone operators work hard in bad weather and long hours. We appreciate those efforts. My PG&E statement is dated Feb. 12 to March 14, which includes the days my home was without power. I heat and cook with propane. When I opened the bill I had expected it to be slightly lower than the previous months, due to not having power for almost a week, but the bill had gone up considerably. The day before the power outage my meter recorded that I used up 6.7 times the normal power my house has used per day since I moved here a year and a half ago. I called PG&E to review my bill. They stated that it was my heater, etc. Remember I use propane. After 50 minutes, the PG&E rep said he would get back to me in 7 to 9 days; no one got back to me. The bill came due so on the due day I went to the PG&E local office. I disputed the bill there also. They still just wanted it paid and said the meter doesn't lie. My next move is to write The Union Democrat and share this information with my neighbors. Then call and write the PUC Public Utility Commission, 505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102. Check your bill, and I urge you to call, write and let's keep them honest. Mariann Coyle Sonora |
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