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Banning ‘safe and sane’
fireworks goes too far
In response to your editorial about banning fireworks sales, I have to disagree on one point.
Most of us agree and pray that enforcing the ban on illegal fireworks is the action needed. However, the “Safe-and-Sane” fireworks are different. While those may be the cause of a few fires and injuries, I don’t think they are the problem.
The issue is the illegal fireworks which go off for hours in the evening and are an annoyance to most of us and our pets. Your suggestion is akin to throwing out the bathwater with the baby.
Jim Sartor
Bay Point
True Republicans should
oppose Newsom recall
California Republicans, your state needs you to support GOP principles and the values of former President Donald Trump in the recall election. That means supporting Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Republicans idolize Trump’s alleged financial acumen, so to be consistent, they should credit Newsom for California’s surging economy. California added 1.3 million jobs in the last year, the most of any state. Household income increased $164 billion and the state’s GDP outpaced the United States.
Republicans claim to care about financial discipline, though under Trump, the federal deficit skyrocketed above $3 trillion in 2020. In California, Newsom delivered a $75 billion surplus. Happy about Trump’s $1 trillion tax cut? By cutting deductions, the plan increased taxes on a million Californians by $12 billion. Newsom’s California Comeback Plan delivers $12 billion in tax rebates to families.
Keep California great. Stop the steal.
Matt Johanson
Castro Valley
Bay Area should lead
on optional masking
The percentage of Bay Area vaccinated adults is now more than 70%, with some counties above 80%. Most all adults who have wanted to get vaccinated have done so. We will never get 100% vaccination or even 85%.
The Bay Area has the opportunity to lead California into the next phase of the COVID recovery. Most larger stores have dropped their mandatory mask requirements while encouraging unvaccinated to stay masked. So why aren’t more fully vaccinated people leaving their masks in the car when patronizing local stores? Let the Bay Area lead the way with our high vaccination rates and go maskless where allowed.
JD Sorensen
Newark
Cheney’s courage on
insurrection is honorable
Politically, I’ll never agree with Liz Cheney, but I admire her courage for standing up for what’s right and serving on the Jan. 6 committee.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is desperately trying to discredit the committee. I guess he has to because when the truth comes out, some Republicans will be in a very uncomfortable position. McCarthy would have to describe his desperate phone call to Trump, when he begged for help and Trump blew him off, and those who aided the insurrectionists will be exposed.
Jim Peterson
Walnut Creek
Regulator must take
strong particulate action
On July 21st the elected directors of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District will vote on Regulation 6 rule 5 establishing stronger controls on the emission of fine carbon particles from refinery catalytic cracking units.
These particles are known to cause many bad health effects including asthma, heart disease, and cancer when inhaled. The district’s own Technical Advisory Council said that there is no safe limit for these particles and, accordingly, demanded that the district take all possible action to limit their emission.
The BAAQMD Directors must support the strongest possible PM controls, which would require installation of wet gas scrubber technology to protect public health rather than refinery profits.
Stephen Rosenblum
Palo Alto
Supreme Court no longer
serves all of the U.S.
The Supreme Court on July 1 proved in their decision regarding the Voting Rights Act that they are no longer the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Instead, they are the Supreme Court of the Conservative States of America.
The SCOTUS that has served the United States extremely well since the inception of our Constitution has been replaced with SCOTCS. You can’t even pronounce it. A sad day for America.
Don Fernandez
San Jose
