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Protect Department of Education and our public schools
The proposed changes to the U.S. Department of Education present a serious challenge to our community. Beyond budgetary concerns, we must consider the profound impact on the fundamental role of public education.
Our public schools serve as vital centers of community, fostering collaboration and shared understanding among children from diverse backgrounds. They are where future citizens learn to engage in informed discourse and where the seeds of innovation are sown.
Eliminating the Department of Education would trigger significant disruptions:
* Severe funding implications: Public schools would face substantial reductions in federal funding, including Title I and crucial support for special education programs. This would place considerable financial strain on state and local governments, potentially leading to increased taxes or reductions in other essential services.
* Diminished oversight and equity: The absence of federal oversight would weaken civil rights protections and create inconsistencies in educational standards. This could result in increased discrimination and unequal opportunities for students nationwide.
We have a responsibility to advocate for the preservation of the Department of Education and our public schools. This is an investment in our collective future, and we must urge our leaders to prioritize it.
— Jessica OBalle
Kaiser service reductions
The Tri-Valley’s population is losing Kaiser services when there is not a Kaiser hospital closer than Walnut Creek or Fremont?
They have also stripped the short-lived but most welcome retina clinic from the Pleasanton facility, forcing patients again to travel either to Walnut Creek or Fremont. And retina patients who regularly receive treatment for macular degeneration are left to find someone to drive them great distances every six weeks or so, since they cannot drive following the procedure. Same with many outpatient procedures.
Kaiser builds facilities all around us, moves IT and other administrative offices to Pleasanton, yet fails to address the real needs of real people in the Tri-Valley.
What a shame.
— Linda Kelly
Prom is here: don’t drink and drive
Activities come for juniors and seniors now. For instance, Foothill High School in Pleasanton will have junior prom on March 22.
When 16 in 1992, a drunken driver hit me. I could not attend prom and many celebrations. Three hospitals and therapy in San Jose made up half of my teenage life.
I can walk OK, and it is a strain dealing with the injuries I received 30-plus years ago: my hearing is damaged, I cannot drive and speak clearly, etc.
For 19-plus years, I have been trying to bring drinking intelligence to all. Alcohol makes you impaired and people know this. It puzzles me why they, especially teenagers, decide to drive after drinking? Innocent lives have been injured or killed because of behavior like this.
Give any event a noteworthy memory: prevent yourself and others from driving after drinking. You just saved a life.
— Lori Martin
Danville skate park
I am a middle schooler who went to the town hall meeting and read the article on the skate park. When I went to the meeting, I saw mostly adults or high schoolers speaking about the skate park. I did not see any middle schoolers. At school, I have heard no one talk about wanting a skate park.
And this brings me to think that not many teenagers really want a skate park. No one at my school skateboards to school. We all bike. If we need bike jumps, we build them. I see no reason for a skate park. Instead the town should focus on letting us build bike jumps at the creek or have an area for bike jumps.
Thank you for reading this. I am a Boy Scout, and I am writing this also for a communication merit badge.
— Luca Damian
Ban ‘steer tailing’
Unbeknownst to the general public, there are 70 California charro associations which annually sponsor some 800 Mexican-style rodeos (“charreadas”) throughout the state, mostly April to October.
Charreadas feature nine scored events, one of which — “steer tailing” — is likely illegal, according to a 1996 opinion from the Legislative Counsel of California, citing CA Penal Code 597. “Steer tailing” is not a standard ranching practice anywhere in the U.S.
In this brutal event, a mounted cowboy (“charro”) grabs a running steer by the tail, wraps the tail around his leg, then rides off at an angle, attempting to slam the hapless steer to the ground. Steers’ tails are routinely stripped to the bone (“degloved”), broken, even torn off.
I worked on a 2010 case near Denver in which seven steers had their tails “degloved” in one afternoon; two others suffered a broken pelvis and leg, both requiring euthanasia. No veterinarian present for any of this.
“Steer tailing” was banned in the early 1990s by both Alameda and Contra Costa counties; Nebraska outlawed the event in 2006. Other jurisdictions should follow suit: city, county, state.
In the interim, local animal control agencies, humane societies and SPCA’s should be monitoring these events, and citing those responsible. Lawsuits are in order to help curtail this blatant abuse. Even Cesar Chavez was an outspoken critic.
— Eric Mills, coordinator, Action for Animals
Trump’s fantastic speech
Last week President Donald Trump gave the best speech that America has heard since Reagan or JFK! He shared his plans for economic growth, border security, peace for Ukraine, and that he wants to lower taxes for all Americans, especially the working middle class. With the help of the DOGE team, we will continue to stop the waste, fraud and abuse.
Survey polls by CBS News and CNN showed an approval rating of President Trump’s speech was 76%.
President Trump introduced many special guests and during the introductions, the Republicans stood and applauded, and all of America who watched were brought to tears, but all of the Democrats in the House sat on their hands in a deplorable display of disrespect and indecency.
Who in their right mind would not acknowledge these human accomplishments and sacrifices? The foolish and out-of-touch Dems in Congress that’s who.
— David Ott
