The following organizations and events deserved a thumbs up or
thumbs down this week:
The following organizations and events deserved a thumbs up or thumbs down this week:
For the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life crew who Wednesday kicked off the fund raising for August’s 24-hour walk-a-thon. Anyone who has had a loved one with cancer or has had it themselves knows how terrifying the disease is and how important finding a cure is. Organizers, wanting to build on last year’s huge success, set their goals high. They racked in $164,000 in 2003 and want to raise $175,000 this year. We wish them the best of luck.
For drastic cuts looming over recreation programs because of the sinkhole that is the city budget. As of now, 60 percent of recreation programs are on the chopping block. Mayor Tony Bruscia wants to eliminate the entire recreation division. The possibility of no softball, basketball or arts and crafts classes casts a pall over the summer to come.
For the Hollister Rotary Club. For the second year, Rotarians have donated $100 emergency caller units to 25 local seniors. The units are worn around the neck, and if the owner is in trouble, he simply has to tug on the cord to call for emergency help. That’s a good cause and a kind gesture by the Rotary Club.
For the safe return of Army Specialist Brenda Godoy of Hollister and her husband, Eddie Gonzalez. They met in the Army and were stationed about 30 miles from Fallujah, Iraq in the dangerous Sunni Triangle. Godoy extended her enlistment three times to stay with her husband. That’s commitment, and proof that love, for all aridity and disenchantment, is as perennial as the grass.
For the possibility of cutting the police resource officer from area schools. The D.A.R.E. program fell victim to the budget axe in January, diminishing the positive role police can play in schools. Losing a resource officer would be another unwelcome blow.
A police presence in our school is an absolute necessity to keep things in order and to teach children respect for the law. A resource officer is essential to sending our students in a positive direction and keeping them out of the system later in life.
For the Tres Pinos e3 Foundation and their fund-raising efforts at the Tres Pinos School. How nice to see a community come to the aid of its school during tough financial times. School districts always battle between what they need to teach and what they can afford to teach but every school could always do a little more. With e3’s help, Tres Pinos can. Most importantly, their efforts benefit the ones who truly need it the most – the kids.
For the Governator and all the suits in the legislature for turning the workers’ comp bill into the law of the land. With Marich Confectionery reporting workers’ compensation increases of more than 400 percent in just a few years, the new policy is obviously necessary to foster a strong economy in a state with unlimited business potential. Leadership like this from Gov. Schwarzenegger and support from our local representatives is exactly what the state needs to back on the economic track.
To respond to this editorial or comment on this issue, please send or bring letters to Editor, Hollister Free Lance, 350 Sixth St., Hollister, Calif. 95023 or fax to 637-4104 or e-mail
ed****@fr***********.com
