The filibuster is racist and needs to go

Dear editor:
Year after year, we see politicians in Congress make promises about what they can do for constituents like me. And year after year, the progress is usually less than we hoped for.
The solution is clear: It’s time to get rid of the filibuster — a Senate rule that allows a minority of senators to block any piece of legislation. Democrats have introduced some great bills that would help a vast majority of Americans. Right now, the Senate is deciding whether to pass the For the People Act, for instance, a big reform bill that addresses everything from making voting more accessible and streamlined to getting rid of corruption in government. But the fate of the For the People Act is uncertain as long as it can be filibustered by senators like Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham.
And that’s only one bill. Imagine all the progress that’s being held up in Congress because the filibuster stands in the way.
For me, for my community, and for communities like mine all across America, I’m asking senators to do away with the filibuster once and for all.

Sandra Smith
92596

Campfires

Dear editor:
Every year I expend just enough effort to get nothing at all done about the lack of restrictions on campfires in the Idyllwild County Park campground. I cannot understand why the County Park allows open-burn wood fires at their 100 or so campsites throughout the summer while the State Park and U.S. Forest Service campgrounds restrict campfires when the fire danger becomes extreme.
It is only May and we have been consistently at HIGH risk for fires, according to the Forest Service signs along Highway 243. On warm summer nights, I occasionally walk through the campground and I routinely see unattended flickering fires in the fire pits. Even at 6 a.m., it is not uncommon to see ribbons of smoke rising from the non-extinguished fires from the night before.
All it would take is a sudden onset of high wind to kick these unattended fires back to life and potentially ignite a wildfire right in the middle of Idyllwild. I have witnessed a few fires that burned right up to the edge of Idyllwild. Brave fire crews and airborne fire assaults from the sky were able to stop those fires at the edge of town with minimal losses. These fires were mobilized and fought over a span of days … sometimes weeks. Now just imagine that a forest fire starts at 1 a.m. in the Idyllwild County Park.
It is so easy for me to envision scenes like the ones we witnessed when a night fire leveled the town of Paradise. We are fortunate to have a superb firefighting team right here in this small town. I am hoping that my fellow citizens of Idyllwild and local authorities will try to balance the aesthetic needs of local campers with the risk they pose to this town. I hope to ensure that we never have to look back over the charred remains of Idyllwild, or mourn the dead of its wonderful citizens and ask ourselves … “Why did we not restrict wood-burning campfires during the hottest, driest months of summer?” Propane fire rings are available for purchase at reasonable cost to campers. Perhaps the park could consider renting these to campers when a wood-fire burn is in place.
Please help me urge county officials and other local agencies to implement wood-fire bans in the County Park when burn-restrictions are mandated by the local U.S. Forest Service and State Park.

Eric Adams
Idyllwild

Water discrepancy

Dear editor:
In reading last week’s TC, I was shocked to read about Dan and Nancy Swanson’s misfortune of the 64,000-gallon water discrepancy they had in March. Idyllwild Water District (IWD) claimed their “water was stolen,” and it was their responsibility to pay the $1,305 bill.
In January, we had a water bill that did not match our usage either. It was a much smaller mistake, but it turned out to be a clerical one, and IWD was happy to resolve it. Even after that, when our water bill still did not match our usage (we were only home about three days a month from December until mid-March), we had a supervisor come to the house, check our meter and take readings. No leaks. No real answers. Shortly after, IWD replaced our aging meter and the readings became more normal.
Contrary to what IWD said about their water being stolen, the Swansons’ security cameras showed no suspicious activity during the month in question around their property. With full-time residents on both sides of them and one across the street, something of that magnitude would not have gone unnoticed in this tightly knit neighborhood. Nancy told me it would take four days to pump out that much water, enough to fill three to four swimming pools.
I urge the Swansons to continue their fight against IWD. I also urge all residents, especially part-time or absentee owners, to check their water meters and their monthly bills regularly for anything that seems off. Make sure your meter is clear of debris so you can see the dial spin and read the numbers clearly. Turn off the water at the meter if you are gone for a long period of time. Leaks do occur, stolen water sometimes, but let’s not rule out that errors can occur too.

Sandii C. Daigh
Idyllwild

A newspaper should provoke conversation

Dear editor:
Congratulations for your bravery by publishing an opinion piece written by a real board-certified medical doctor “Op-Ed: Information about the COVID-19 ‘vaccine’ you may not be hearing” by David L. Greene, MD, FACOG, that doesn’t align 100% with the pushed narrative by our government officials. A newspaper is supposed to publish opinions from a variety of sources and angles in order to provoke conversation and thought. Your paper has succeeded!
The current cancel culture is pervasive and powerful. Pushing propaganda is much easier than printing opinions that spark intelligent conversations with others and with their doctors when it comes to an experimental drug delivery technology that is not FDA-approved, only EUA (emergency use authorized). There is a big difference between EUA and FDA-approved. The data collected during this world-wide clinical trial will determine the future of vaccination.
I believe in vaccines. My children receive FDA-approved vaccines per CDC and their pediatrician’s guidelines. I was pressured to take the COVID-19 shot. Why? We are taught at a young age to resist peer pressure (government campaign against smoking, Oct. 2010). Women are taught from a young age to trust their guts.
My gut says being offered drugs (Washington), cash (West Virginia, Maryland), alcohol (New Jersey), and fatty foods (New York) is a bad thing. If these vaccines are so safe, why are such vices being offered when this country is experiencing a very real epidemic of alcoholism, drug addiction and obesity? Why are incentives being offered at all? Could it be that certain politicians turned a pandemic into a political tool? Could it be that the constant hypocrisy from our politicians and their “do as I say not as I do” mentality has caused the public to view politicians as agenda-driven hypocrites who are fearmongering to remain in control?
My childrens’ pediatrician will not subject her children to this worldwide clinical trial; nor will I. We are not willing to take risks with our childrens’ future health. It makes no sense to require fully-vaccinated people to mask up. Masks have their place, including helping eradicate flu.
Your editor’s risky bravery should be rewarded. I no longer live nearby but am so impressed that I would like a one-year subscription. I support local journalism from a variety of areas, and your paper is worth supporting.

Mary Ann Morris
Illinois

Is censorship what you’re looking for?

Dear editor:
I have lived in Idyllwild for 21 years. In those 21 years, I have had the opportunity to disagree with the Town Crier, as they with me. Each of those times we agreed to disagree, but we allowed each other to voice our opinions.
Therefore, I was a bit dismayed at the letters to the editor in last week’s Town Crier. After reading Dr. Greene’s “opinion” piece, which was run as exactly that, “an opinion,” I took it upon myself to do some research, as it appears did several others. The difference is that I found the information available out there has supported both sides of this highly contentious argument.
However, what bothered me the most was not the idea that this vaccine is being both hailed as nothing short of amazing while being challenged and opposed by those who do not think that it is safe. What bothered me the most was the response to the Op-Ed.
Would these readers, who each made several opinion statements of their own, truly suggest or prefer that the Town Crier or any other news outlet refuse to print any opposing position to their own?
The statement that “One can only wonder what the Town Crier will publish in the future” or “should never have been published” lead me to believe that these readers would actually prefer that our news be censored or filtered to agree only with their way of thinking, thereby aligning any news with their opinions only and not those of others. I am thankful that the Town Crier editor has shown the courage to present different sides of these arguments and has not chosen to censor our news.
At the risk of being censored myself, I might add that the publishers should not have explained what “opinions” are or mean, and then go on to exclaim that they were “embarrassed” by the editor’s running of Greene’s “opinion” and “better to have gone to press with a blank space there instead” (?). As to the vaccine argument, research as much as you can, then make an informed decision as to whether you will get the vaccine or not.
Please continue to be brave enough to publish each side of each argument. The right thing to do is not often popular, but the right thing should always be done.

Dan Messina
Idyllwild