Fresno tow-truck driver needs book thrown at him for fatal DUI | Letters to the editor
Reform DUI laws
The justice system finally found and charged the tow-truck driver who brutally murdered the driver of car after running a red light, a light that had been red for 13 seconds.
He had a high concentration of methamphetamine in his system. While driving without a driver’s license or insurance, and genuinely having no right to be in a motor vehicle of any type, let alone a vehicle that could cause the destruction that it did.
He will be charged with DUI and vehicular manslaughter and then get a slap on the wrist.
The citizens of the state of California demand that people who take lives while under the influence of alcohol or drugs be held accountable. There needs to be real reform of the justice system when dealing with what comes down to a choice the person is making to drink or take the drugs and then get behind the wheel.
As Californians we need to say to our elected representatives to fix the problem. Change is needed now.
Duane Opie, Clovis
How to end vehicle pollution
Pete Buttigieg has one of the hardest assignments in the country, maybe the world, being transportation secretary while over a billion cars are caught up every day in the worldwide pollute commute spouting fumes, wasting resources, costing time, money, and our environment.
But there’s things that have not occurred to him. There’s a logistical way to get these polluters off our roads. We could reduce our driving by over 90% to help ease the curse of global warming by using the internet aimed at the commute. Our governments could be coaxed to inspire us to work close to home by rewarding those who do, or requiring employers to keep their employees close to home. Or a law that says that if someone commutes more than 5 or 10 miles that they have to trade like jobs with someone who lives near where they work, enabling them to both end their commute and have more time, money, and resources saved.
Opinion
But even better, before that happens, some ordinary person with some internet and organization skills could make a fortune by putting people together who have the same jobs and commute so they can trade jobs and end their commute.
Jim Hockley, Mariposa
PG&E greed must be curbed
I urge the California Public Utilities Commission in the strongest possible terms to reject the A.23-12-001 proposal. This is a back door attempt to block something that was already denied. Enough is enough of this PG&E greed.
This gambit can only be described as stacking (piling on). Why are consumers responsible for PG&E negligence? Why are ratepayers responsible for PG&E credit problems?
Clearly, PG&E administrators pursued a program based on junk science of “climate change.” Yet no one is in jail for malfeasance. Why are consumers responsible to guarantee PG&E investors dividends? Doesn’t Investing have a element of risk?
PG&E is a monopoly and has achieved a status of too big to fail. My concern is for fairness. Ratepaying consumers are not PG&E’s limitless slush-fund.
Robert L. Havay, Clovis
Warning for America
The following is an excerpt from Will and Ariel Durant’s “The Lessons of History,” published in 1968:
“In England and the United States, in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, in Switzerland and Canada, democracy is today sounder than ever before. It has defended itself with courage and energy against the assaults of foreign dictatorship, and has not yielded to dictatorship at home.
“But if war continues to exorbitant and dominate, or if the itch to rule the world requires a large military establishment and appropriation, the freedoms of democracy may one by one succumb to the discipline of arms and strife. If race or class war divides us into hostile camps, changing political argument into blind heat, one side or the other may overturn the hustings with the rule of the sword.
“If our economy of freedom fails to distribute wealth as ably as it has created it, the road to dictatorship will be open to any man who can persuasively promise security to all; and a martial government, under whatever charming phrases, will engulf the democratic world.”
Sounds like America today.
Richard Telles, Fresno
Democratic rule biggest threat
Democrats and Gov. Newsom are the greatest threat to the U.S. Constitution and freedoms. Instead of addressing illegal gun use by enforcing highly restrictive and excessively burdensome gun laws on the books already, they are now penalizing law-abiding California gun owners again who do not commit gun crimes.
Confiscatory taxes, burdensome laws and regulations that do not improve but degrade the quality of life in California and the U.S. and enrich the political class is an authoritarian, oligarchy form of government.
This is the paramount threat to this country.
Earl Barnett, Visalia
Kids need food
A tale of three school districts:
Clovis Unified will not offer free meals during the winter break. Why? “Our winter break is two weeks as opposed to the longer break observed by neighboring districts.”
In the Central District: “Students who participate in winter school will be the only ones receiving meals. Only a specific group of students will be participating. This is by invitation only.”
These quotes appear in the Dec. 15th edition of The Bee, page 3A. I guess food-challenged students in Clovis Unified don’t get hungry for two weeks and noninvited students in Central Unified don’t get hungry at all.
Fresno Unified will provide meals starting Dec. 18th through Jan. 5th to any child ages 1-18, and you don’t have to be a student in Fresno Unified.
A teaching moment about the true meaning of Christmas.
David Martin, Fresno
Biden does us a favor
Ever notice how the TV good guys are physically attractive? Could that have anything to do with President Biden’ low ratings, that is, he is not pretty enough for the TV brainwashed? Not to mention a poorly trained population in civics? The journalists have missed the “pretty” boat, a crucial factor, on this one.
Biden has done us a favor with his Inflation Reduction Act offering tax credits for wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, battery storage, and much more. Within five years solar and wind energy in the U.S. will be the cheapest in the world.
With Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act the U.S. already has moral standing to prod other countries to respond more aggressively to climate change. Not going to happen with another egomaniac Trump kissing up to big oil and the billionaires.
I will vote for Joe Biden.
Mike Starry, Fresno
Red Cross needs you
The holidays are a time for community. As we come together with loved ones this season, it’s important for us to remember the ways that we can be a beacon of hope for those who need our support.
I think of the families whose lives have been turned upside down by emergencies, especially by the growing frequency and intensity of disasters. 2023 is a record year of extreme weather events, with each causing losses exceeding $1 billion — including the devastating floods that impacted the Central Valley.
Year-round, local volunteers from the American Red Cross-Central Valley Chapter answered the call to help in people’s darkest hours, providing refuge and comfort for communities across the country devastated by disasters.
But with no signs of extreme disasters slowing down, we must work together to do more.
Please join us to give comfort and hope by visiting redcross.org to make a financial donation or by becoming a Red Cross volunteer.
It takes all of us to care for one another. During the holiday season, turn your compassion into action for the families who depend on our collective support.
Lori Wilson, executive director, American Red Cross-Central Valley Chapter
