Thursday’s Letters to the Editor

Enforce noise laws

EDITOR: You can run, but you can’t hide from the incessant noise generated by an abundance of Harleys, modified car exhaust systems, gas-powered leaf blowers, etc. I sympathize with Laurie Seale (“Too loud to stay,” Letters, Aug. 3) as that is the issue that drove me from my Healdsburg home 10 years ago.

Today, here in Fort Bragg, where I now reside, legions of Harleys and other modified sport bikes have descended on our formerly quiet community as they run the gantlet up Highway 1. The California Vehicle Code as well as local noise pollution codes specifically outlaw these nuisances. Law enforcement needs encouragement and new tools to deal with this growing community problem.

A group called Noise Free America (noisefree.org) provides many strategies and solutions to address this growing social and public health problem. Concerned citizens need to contact law enforcement so they understand this is a problem that needs to be addressed with stiff fines for violations.

TIM McCLURE

Fort Bragg

A final question?

EDITOR: Do persons about to die or suffering long-term debilitating effects of COVID-19 wish they could change their decision to not take the vaccine for their benefit, their loved ones, their friends or their community?

BARBARA YOUNG

Santa Rosa

A family’s perspective

EDITOR: I have a unique perspective on the attempted recall of District Attorney Jill Ravitch. My mother was one of those abandoned at Villa Capri as the Tubbs fire approached, and she is only alive today due to the bravery of heroes who risked their lives to save her and so many others. And, having worked for our district attorney for five years as her director of victim services, I was able to see firsthand her dedication to justice as well as the compassion she showed to the victims of crimes and their families.

Now the owner of the company who left my mother to die is furious that our DA investigated him and his company, so he is spending what seems to be a significant amount of his wealth to try to oust her. His vindictiveness is nothing short of bullying and is an outright assault on our District Attorney’s Office.

I implore you to join me in voting no on this revenge recall.

GLORIA M. EUROTAS

Santa Rosa

Reckless endangerment?

EDITOR: This question may have already been covered, but I will ask it anyway: Has anyone in a government agency considered prosecuting those who refused a COVID vaccination for reckless endangerment or depraved indifference? If not, why wouldn't this type of statute apply?

I am not a lawyer, but it seems like a reasonable course of action. If one were to knowingly endanger a person with a car or a dangerous animal, how would that differ from a person with the virus (masked or not) knowingly walking into a classroom full of 9-year-olds who, as we all know, can't get the vaccine?

It seems pretty straight forward to me. I recall as a child hearing the old saying that went something like “your right to swing your fist stops at the end of my nose.” Rights are not just rights, they also carry responsibilities.

MARK ALLEN REED

Sebastopol

Powering electric cars

EDITOR: All of the initiatives for adopting electric cars have a glaring omission. How is our overstressed grid going to handle them? While we’ve shut down one of the only true greenhouse-gas-free electrical generators, the San Onofre nuclear power plant, the Orville Dam hydro power plant was shut down due to low water.

In 2024-25, the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant comes up for re-licensing. Are we going to shut it down and have a lot less greenhouse-gas-free power? What about when people get home from work during those crucial hours when solar power is ebbing, air conditioning is needed, their cars need a charge, and there is a rotating power outage.

Add the ever-increasing safety outages and PG&E shareholders’ refusal to bear the burden of increasing costs, and we have a dilemma. Electric cars powered by nuclear energy properly done would be wonderful. The current plan is definitely California dreaming.

JORDON BERKOVE

Guerneville

For the common good

EDITOR: Ezra Klein’s Aug. 1 column was well researched and balanced, with ample pros and cons and examples of each (“What if the unvaccinated can’t be persuaded?”). However, I don’t agree with Klein’s conclusion, which he admits is a “middle ground” one. His proposal emphasizes increased “vaccination passports” and employer requirements to boost vaccination numbers. It’s a reasonable step, but one I don’t think will work.

My solution is a federal mandate, as has been used historically, e.g., smallpox, diphtheria, typhoid, polio, etc., to address public health crises.

There are times when a nation must impose common-sense requirements (seat belts, alcohol limits for driving, age limitations and so on) to restrain or impose certain human behaviors. Practically every government on Earth follows some of these dictums. Make not getting vaccinated (barring medical necessity) a danger to public health that can result in serious illness or death. Period.

There are times when plain common sense must prevail for the sake of all, and this is one of them. It’s an old saw that a person’s rights end when that action interferes with another’s right not to be harmed. That is the situation in which we all are in now, and unfortunately it must be corrected for the common good of all.

WILL SHONBRUN

Sonoma

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.